Nói Siríus 70% Extra Dark Chocolate

Manufacturer: Nói Siríus
Cocoa Content: 70%
Manufacturer Website
Rating: B-

The fourth and final chocolate from my recent trip to Whole Foods is a 70% cocoa dark chocolate from Noi Sirius. Nói Siríus is a chocolate maker from Iceland, which adds to my curiosity about this product. I can't say I've ever had food from Iceland before. The packaging is pretty unique too. The chocolate bars (there are 2 in the package) are wrapped in wax paper, which is then wrapped in the product's outer label.

The chocolate bar has a nice firm snap to it. The color is a very dark brown, with a lot of redness visible on the snap line. The nose has a distinctive aroma of coconut, with a bit of vanilla detectable as well. The main flavors I detect are bitter chocolate notes and peanut butter. There is a thick, creamy mouthfeel that adds to the peanut butter sensation as well. There is virtually no acidity to note here. The finish seems to cling to the tongue with roast peanut notes as well as bitter chocolate/espresso notes. Chewing the chocolate brings some vanilla flavors to the mix. Not a bad chocolate, but seems a bit flat to me due to the lack of acidity.

S. A. Prüm "Essence" Riesling

Winery: S. A. Prüm
Varietal: Riesling
Appellation: Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Winery website
Rating: B+

Last night I enjoyed a fantastic dinner for my wife's birthday at Ruth's Chris Steak House. I wasn't in a steak mood so I ordered a Riesling to match the lighter fare I was ordering. My wife was nice enough to let me interrupt our dinner for a few minutes to jot down some notes as I tasted my wine.

The Essence Riesling by S. A. Prüm (aka SA Pruem) is a very light, clear honey-straw color. The nose is rather light with graprefruit and herbal notes. On the palate this Riesling is slightly sweet with tangy grapefruit as the dominant flavor. There are also some mineral and herbal notes. There is a slight fizziness and a very juicy mouthfeel. The acidity gives a pleasant zing on the tip of the tongue. The Essence Riesling leaves a fairly long citrus finish.

While the "Essence" is fairly one-dimensional, it has a lot going for it. The acidity and slight fizz make it easy and fun to drink. It has a light grapefruit-spritzer quality that makes it a great aperitif and pairs with seafood quite well. It was just sweet enough without being too syrupy and would be a good choice served ice cold on a hot summer day.

Hale Groves Tangelo (Hand-Squeezed Juice)

Grower: Hale Groves
Variety: Tangelo
Grower website

The tangelo is a hybrid of a tangerine and a red grapefruit (or sometimes a pommelo, thus the name tangelo). The skin color ranges from a dark tangerine orange to a lighter navel orange color. The first thing you notice when you cut into one is that they're loaded with juice. I got nearly twice as much juice from three tangelos as I did from three red navels. They're also loaded with seeds so be careful if you're feeding these to your kids.

The juice is a yellow orange color, similar to a yellow peach. The aroma is sweet with both tangerine and grapefruit scents readily discernible. The flavor of the juice is quite sweet as well. The sweet tangerine taste seems to be the dominant character here, but there is a nice red grapefruit kick as well. The sweetness of this juice along with some of the interesting undertones would make this an excellent choice for tropical drinks like a rum runner or mai tai. I think you could substitute it not only for orange juice in drink recipes, but for pineapple juice as well because of the sweetness. Definitely worth a try.

Lake Champlain Sao Thome Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa

Produced by: Lake Champlain Chocolates
Cocoa content: 70%
Manufacturer website
Rating: A+

I was eager to taste my next chocolate bar during a brief reprieve while my head cold medication has kicked in. Tonight's selection is from Lake Champlain Chocolates. This bar is from their "Select Origin" collection. The source of the cocoa in this bar is from Sao Thome (also spelled Sao Tome), which is an island of the west coast of central Africa.

The chocolate bar has a nice firm snap to it. The color is a dark mahogany, with a hint of red where the bar was snapped. The aroma is of roasted chocolate with a noticeable vanilla scent. The flavor is rich chocolate with a pleasant bitter kick. There are smoky, roasted notes as well as a fruity, citrus acidity. After the initial flavors start to fade, a pleasant earthiness complimented by salt and vanilla starts to show through. Chewing the chocolate really accentuates the vanilla flavors in this bar. This chocolate bar has a velvety mouthfeel and a nice finish with sweet cocoa and a hint of roast coffee on the palate.

So far, my recent trip to Whole Foods has provided me with an impressive selection of dark chocolate. This most recent tasting was one of the best new chocolates I've tried in a while. After trying the Sao Thome Dark Chocolate from Lake Champlain, I can't wait to get my hands on some of the other bars in their Select Origin chocolates.

Hale Groves Red Navel Orange (Hand-Squeezed Juice)

Grower: Hale Groves
Variety: Western Red Navel ("Ravel")
Grower website

So this one definitely falls under the "anything else interesting" category. My inlaws sent us a nice selection of oranges for Christmas. While I'm not a big fan of eating oranges out-of-hand, I could drink OJ all day long. I decided to hand-squeeze some juice from a few of the varieties to give them a taste. I figured I'd give them the old Critical Tastings treatment here. I tried to Google "how to taste orange juice" and "orange juice tasting" to see if there was any expert advice available on juice tastings, but I didn't find much useful info. Maybe we can start our own trend here...

Prior to juicing, I grated off the zest with a microplane. I figured I'd try to get as much as I could from these oranges, so I saved the zest in the freezer for later use. I then gave the uncut oranges a few hard squeezes on the counter to get the juices flowing. Since I don't like pulpy juice, I squeezed the oranges cut-side up over my second hand to catch as much of the seeds/pulp as I can. Squeezing them cut-side down (after removing the seeds) will net you more juice as well as more pulp. FYI - be prepared for your kitchen to smell awesome if you try this yourself. I then put my fresh-squeezed juice in the fridge to chill. (Tip: room-temperature oranges will give you more juice than chilled ones.)

These Red Navels look just like a navel orange in their outward appearance, but when you cut into them the flesh is a pinkish-red, like cutting into a red grapefruit. Interestingly, the juice itself is golden orange, much like any store-bought OJ. There is only the faintest hint of pink. The aroma of the juice is just like a fresh-cut orange (no surprises here). The juice is quite sweet, with fairly light acidity. I do detect a hint of bitterness, but I suspect this is from the oils in the skin that I released by zesting the oranges prior to juicing. It's not too distracting, but I think I'll wait to grate off the zest until after I juice the next batch. All in all, this is a nice sweet juice with a natural low acidity. It may be a bit of work, but it rivals any premium store-bought juice in flavor.

Chocolate Tasting Tips

I'm sure many of you, like myself, have been to various brewpubs, wineries, and possibly the occasional scotch or cigar tasting. Over the years, I've learned many wine and beer tasting tips from vintners, distillers, brewers and sommeliers. I have not, however, had much prior experience with chocolate tastings. I recently found this article at guardian.co.uk and thought it was a good primer on chocolate tasting.

Even as a kid, I always noticed that chocolate tasted different whether you chewed it or let it melt in your mouth. I'll definitely start being a bit more deliberate in that regard with my tastings. Also, I found Paul Young's notes on color interesting. That's something I will be sure to pay closer attention to in the future well.

Thomas Hardy's Ale 2004 Vintage

Brewer: O'Hanlon's Brewing Company Ltd
Style: Barleywine
Location: England
Brewer website
Rating: A+

What better way to bring in the new year than with an old beer? Tonight I'm dipping into my secret stash and cracking into a bottle of 2004 Thomas Hardy's Ale. It is with great sadness that I recently learned that the Thomas Hardy Ale will no longer be produced. This is truly a one-of-a-kind beer, and I hope a new brewery decides to pick up production of this ale in the near future. Tonight I am tasting bottle No. P49102.

The Thomas Hardy Ale is a deep molasses brown. With no head to speak of, it looks remarkably similar to black coffee. The nose brings scents of bread and raisins, with a caramelized sweetness. It has the aroma of a fine sherry.

Sweetness, acidity and bitter notes are all present on the palate in delicate balance. There are flavors of raisins, caramel, honey and bread. There are both bitter and fruity hops notes as well. Despite 5+ years in the bottle, the Thomas Hardy still has a ever-so-slight bit of carbonation. This faint hint of a fizz quickly gives way to a light syrupy mouthfeel that clings to the tongue pleasantly. The finish is reminiscent of dark wheat toast covered with honey and jam.

This is truly a classic beer that will be sorely missed. While this isn't a beer for everyone, it's proof that a well-crafted beer can stand the test of time and age as well as a vintage port. If this beer interests you, I strongly suggest you snap up a few bottles if you can still find them. I am already eagerly awaiting 2014 to open my next bottle and celebrate its 10th anniversary.