Author Archive: Bryn Kirk
Seroogy’s Shock Rock Meltaway Bar
April 10, 2017
What do research chemist William A. Mitchell and Seroogy’s Chocolate have in common?
Popping Candy!
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Tanzania 73%
April 4, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Tanzania
Tanzania is a country in Eastern Africa bordered by Uganda and Kenya to the north. Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are to the west, while Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique lie to the south.
Germans brought cacao to Tanzania in the 1880s, and although there is a long history of growing cacao, the yield is fairly small. It’s about half the amount grown in the West African countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana. But Tanzanian cocoa production is growing.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – São Tomé 70%
March 27, 2017
Chocolate of the week: São Tomé
The island nation of São Tomé & Príncipe is located in the Gulf of Guinea off the western coast of Central Africa. It is one of the smallest countries in Africa.
The main language is Portuguese, having been settled by Portugal throughout the 1600s. The rich volcanic soil is ideal for sugar, coffee, and cacao. São Tomé became independent 1975.
The Portuguese brought cacao from Brazil to Principe and Sao Tomé in the early 1800s.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Papua New Guinea 70%
March 20, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean and occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea.
Chocolates made from the local cocoa beans are somewhat hard to find because the volume of cacao grown and exported from PNG is pretty low compared to other cacao growing nations.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Dominican Republic 70%
March 13, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Dominican Republic
Today’s chocolate bar is a 70% dark chocolate from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic shares the tropical island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Ghana 70%
March 6, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Ghana
Ghana is a West African nation located on the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ghana shares a border with the Ivory Coast in the west, Togo in the east, and Burkina Faso in the north.
Cacao is Ghana’s main cash crop to export. It is the world’s second largest exporter of cocoa beans. The number one exporter is their neighbor, Ivory Coast.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Venezuela 70%
February 27, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Venezuela
Venezuela sits along the northern coast of South America. Colombia borders on the west, Guyana on the east, Brazil on the south. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are off the northeast border.
Like many cacao growing countries, Venezuela has regional climates that produce cacao of different flavor profiles.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Ecuador 66%
February 20, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Ecuador
Ecuador (situated in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean) is known for its very special regional cocoa beans called Arriba.
These cocoa beans have a finer flavor and aroma than “bulk” cocoa beans grown in other countries.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport – Peru 60%
February 13, 2017
Chocolate of the week: Peru
Peru is situated in western South America, bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and the Pacific Ocean.
Cacao is grown in many regions throughout the country. (As an interesting aside, in 2007, a rare variety of cacao called Pure Nacional was rediscovered in Peru. Decades earlier, disease had destroyed 100% of these trees, or so it was thought. Pure Nacional was put on the extinct species list. Pure Nacional is a white cocoa bean, not the common purple color.)
Peru’s diverse microclimates provide unique growing conditions for cacao - different varieties of cacao growing at different altitudes.
Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport
February 6, 2017
This blog post marks the beginning of my series on single-origin chocolates from Trader Joe’s Chocolate Passport variety pack.
Each week I will review one of these country of origin chocolates: Peru 60%, Ecuador 66%, Ghana 70%, Venezuela 70%, Dominican Republic 70%, Papua New Guinea 70%, Sao Tome 70%, and Tanzania 73%.