Aspies For Freedom

As a chocolate connoisseur I have recently discovered a new and very interesting type of gourmet chocolate in the made-in-Oregon store. It is called Dagoba, and the flavors are totally unlike what you’d expect from a chocolate bar.

Now I only eat plain milk chocolate because that’s the only true way you’re going to get all the subtleties clear and present within the chocolate. And Dagoba is certainly something to write about.

Now, Godiva is what most people think of when they think gourmet chocolate. But Godiva is on the bottom end of the gourmet chocolate scale. It has no subtleties, and it leaves behind an unpleasant aftertexture, as if your tongue is coated in wax.

Any gourmet chocolate worth its money does not give you that waxy aftertexture, and in Dagoba is certainly worth its money. But what are the flavors?
The flavors could be described as unusual at best. A very strong smoke flavor is what hits you immediately. Later on, more flavors sneak up on you. I don’t know what they are exactly, but they combine with the smoke to create a kind of barbeque flavor. This might not sound very good, but the flavors mesh with the chocolate flavor amazingly well.
At one point could almost swear I was tasting blackberry, but it was probably my imagination. Actually I’m pretty sure it was my imagination.

Dagoba Chocolates are made in Oregon and are probably only available there.

I love chocolate.  Thanks for the tip.  I'm not in Oregon, but they may be online.

:shock:   From the Dagoba Chocolate website:

Quote:

What kind of chocolate did you taste?  I wanna try something safe!  :lol:

You kow what?

As soon as it was heard, Dagoba did a survay and manually -not by order- recalled every product that could possibly be contaminated with lead levels exceeding FDS guidelines -that's guidelines, not regualtions- and then put out a public notice to that effect.


Now I'm not so sure what other people might think, but I'd call that responsible business pratice.

I agree. Most companies try to deny it until the media forces a recall.  :?

I agree that Godiva's low end chocolate that gets away with insanely overpricing itself because most Americans know nothing else.
But I don't think I agree about Dagoba.

It comes in the small bars right?  Brown wrapper and colors on the sides and patterns on the top?

You can get it at any specialty food store out here.
Like Godiva, it's overpriced (one of the highest prices for that tiny bar).

It's rather grainy.

And it's far too sweet.

It's altogether too much like that sugar with a hint of fecal matter that Hershey's tries to pass off as "chocolate" to my mind.

The only American chocolate (or "chocolate") that to my mind is worth paying for is Scharfenberger.  Really expensive, but worth it.

The unsweetened chocolate makes one not want to add any sugar to it.
It's rich, weet, sour, and creamy, even in the pure form.

Though we occasionally go to the northern part of Vermont.
When Champlain chocolates sells their bars at fractional price because of some minor defect, they're worth buying.  Not particularly good, but better than the stuff the major American brands try to pass off.  And it's a decent price at $2 for about 4 oz, compared to the European brands I usually buy.

Of the European brands Michael Cluizel simply has no compare, and must be tried.  Especially the New Guinea Origin Chocolate.

World's best chocolate that.

Also has unsweetened chocolate that tastes even better than the sweetened stuff.

Isn't Dagoba where Yoda lives?

[edited coz I cant spel]

Chocolate for unknown reasons is the food highest in lead.
In my opinion kids under 6 should not eat it.

Chocolate, or "Chocolate"?

Hershey's and such puchase the chocolate that they use (in very small quantities) almost exclusively from West Africa, grown in conditions and places that make the final product questionable.

High grade chocolates, that is to say, the sensitive criollo and triandadero types,  are generally not mass-produced in a few locations, and thus, I would hope, are generally not grown in quite such poor conditions.

Though admittedly I've only found one "certified fair trade" chocolate company that was edible.

Eco-friendly brand companies I've found three brands that are palatable, so that may be easier to accomplish.

I was under the impression that the high lead chocolate was mainily
from west Africa. I e-mailed Mars to tell me the average ppm of lead
in M&M's. They wrote back some BS that all food has low levels of lead.
I wrote back thats true, but how much does their chocolate have. They
never said. Its a number their QA people know. I think most chocolate
comes from west Africa.

Most chocolate is consumed by Americans, usually in small amounts, heavily adultered by sugar.   This chocolate is the forastero strain, and inferior strain not used by the Europeans until the British had blocaded Mexico and the Dutch Venezuala.  And yes, this comes mostly from West Africa, particularly the Ivory Coast.

I'm obsessive and like to know as much about where my chocolate comes from.  I generally buy single-origin chocolates, from French, Swiss, Venezuelan, and Columbian companies, though Scharfenberger is so good that I don't care where it's from.

Pretty much all chocolate grown in Africa is forastero, however I've found the criollo taste (slightly tart taste, can't miss it once you've had it) in some Madagascar chocolate recently.

The criollo chocolates are harder to grow, and are grown primarily in Latin America (Venezuela grows pretty much only this kind), and possibly southeast Asia.

The trinadadero hybrid tastes almost like criollo but is significantly easier to grow.  It's grown in Mexico, where forastero doesn't grow, but Mexican chocolate is primarily consumed domestically.

The trinadadero is grown wherever the criollo is grown, so I'm not clear whether the Indonesia(Java)and New Guinea chocolates, which have the criollo strain are criollo or trinadadero.

Most chocolate I eat comes from Venezuela and New Guinea, (Cluizel origin bars and El Rey) so if it's only Africa then I don't think I have all too much concern.

As an adult I do not worry too much about the issue of lead in my
chocolate. The greatest danger is kids 6 and under. Their brain are
growing alot then. Lead is neurotoxic. Exposure at a young age causes
non-reversible damage. It makes me mad that a company like Mars
that has many patents on chocolates does not do anything about
lead in the food supply. They have a patent on boosting flavinoids in
chocolate(by seperating the coco butter before its roasted). The industry
funded a study showing that flavinoids lowwer blood pressure. Well lead
is proven to increase blood pressure. Mars family a bunch of billionaries
making money off the backs of third world labor and health of kids.

Isn't that more or less true of any large company though?

I learned years ago that oversight is not going to occur.

So the best solution then is to try to be informed about what you buy.

Which it seems like you already do fairly well.

That's strange, since the only place I seem to be able to find them is at the local Made in Oregon store, so I assumed it was a northwest thing.

I also learned that all of Dagoba's cacao is grown in the carribean.

Of the mass produced chocolates here, Cadbury's and Red Tulip are the nicest I think. Red Tulip mostly appears in Easter Eggs, Bunnies and the like. Nestle tends to be a bit fatty for my liking. Out of all the Nestle chocolates, I like the white and dark chocolates the best. They can be sickly too.

Mars Bars are too sweet for me too. Maybe if they put a strong mint flavour through it, that might cut into the sweetness a bit. I've never heard of lead in chocolate. I'd rather not know about these things as I worry enough already. Getting wound up about what might be in food would only be overkill.

There used to be a chocolate from Israel that was nice and used to be sold in Target. I haven't seen it for years though.

I haven't ever tried those chocolates mentioned in the first post here and don't think they are sold in Australia.