Get to know five super Brazilian Bean to Bar chocolate brands that produce 100% cocoa bars
First of all, let’s go to the basics: do you know what is 100% cocoa chocolate? It is that chocolate whose single ingredient is cocoa, without addition of sugar or any other ingredient. But let’s be honest: it’s not enough to be healthy, it must be pleasant to taste. This is the reason why, to produce 100% cocoa chocolate, one has to choose well this cocoa origin, since the fruit – yes! cocoa is a fruit – needs to be produced and harvested with extreme care, and thoroughly fermented. All that is very similar to the specialty coffee process, did you notice?
The great advantage in consuming 100% cocoa chocolate is that this food is a true ally when it comes to health. The fruit is rich in antioxidants, magnesium,
theobromine, iron, copper, manganese, chrome and zinc. And these are the elements you will find in a 100% bar.
“The 100% cocoa chocolate is very different from the chocolate consumers are used to. It is sweet, but it also contains the fruit acidity”, explains Casa Lasevicius chocolate-maker Bruno Lasevicius (read here Casa Lasevicius story).
However, in order to appreciate a 100% chocolate, one must break the standard of taste of chocolates produced in large scale, whose recipe includes a series of ingredients, little cocoa and a lot of sugar, and their role is to disguise defects.
“Cocoa fruit is, at the same time, bitter, sweet and acid, and, in a 100% chocolate, all these elements are outstanding in the bar and there’s no way to disguise them. Sugarless chocolate is not like that. If it is bad, it’s bad, if it is astringent, bitter, one can tell on the spot”, explains Bruno.
For the chocolate-maker, the ideal situation is people starting their process of tasting a 100% cocoa chocolate by matching it with a dry fruit like banana, fig, or date. “That would be a very interesting way to enter this world of 100% cocoa. That’s how I started to drink specialty coffee without sugar, and it was a very smooth transition. I recommend the same for chocolate”, he says.
The advantages of consuming 100% chocolate are many: it is healthier, doesn’t fatten, assists in the functioning of several organs, including the heart, without mentioning the richness of flavors. “If the person is used to consume only supermarket chocolates, it will take a longer time for them to be able to notice the nuance of flavors. But, if the person gives it a shot, and puts a 100% chocolate in the mouth, without hurry, tasting it, a new world of flavors and perception will be open”, he adds.
100% cocoa chocolate for celebrations
“Our 100% is a less palatable chocolate at first, in other words, made for a very specific public of people that think a lot about health or have any restriction in sugar consumption”, explains Kalapa chocolate-maker Luiza Dantas.
“I, particularly, like the 100% a lot to use in a functional way, I like to eat it. With that in mind, we made a bar with focus on the sensory aspect and we also have another product, Hóstia Meditativa (Meditative Host, in free translation), made in Host shape, which is a little different. It is made with raw cocoa that undergoes a different fermentation process to avoid very high temperatures and ends up with a very distinct profile”, she tells. Luiza explains that she uses this type of dehydration to focus on a more ritualistic use of chocolate.
“With Latin origin, cocoa was used in shamanic rituals and our idea when we produced the Host was to bring these universes closer to our daily life. This is a chocolate that did not undergo processes involving heat and, thus, it keeps better the cocoa medicinal potential. We sell a little box with seven units, one for each day of the week. You must only put it in the mouth and let it melt on the tongue. Then you start to feel the bitterness, astringency, it contains all that, on purpose. We don’t try to reduce the defects of these chocolates, because these defects are, in my opinion, cocoa potential as medicine and are much used by Sacred Feminine groups in their cocoa ceremony” (read here Tribal Shakti story) she explains.
For Vanessa Rizzi, from Raros Fazedores de Chocolates, her customers that are adept to 100% cocoa are, most of them, vegan. Two months ago the brand launched the 100% bar, whose cocoa origin is Linhares, Espírito Santo, in Fernando Buffon farm. “I chose a fruity cocoa, with a lot of flavor, exactly because the bar is sugarless. But I always recommend a transition before consuming the 100%, because, usually, people consume only super sweet chocolates. In this case the flavor transition is difficult. So, my hint is: don’t hurry, start consuming a 70%, then an 85%, and at last a 100%. Put a little piece in the mouth and let it melt. You will discover a new world”, she concludes.
Adriana Labarrère from La Barr has a very interesting experience with children. “I see many mothers that did not introduce sugar in the children’s diet and, for this reason, they love 100% chocolate. It is very pleasant to see the kid appreciating a pure chocolate”, she tells. Her 100% chocolate is prepared with cocoa from the south of Bahia, Santa Tereza farm, in Ibirapitanga.
Looking for 100% cocoa Bean to Bar chocolates? So, write down the five brands that produce the best chocolates in this category:
- Casa Lasevicius – the brand produces two different types of 100% cocoa bars. The first is 100% cocoa, pure, without additions. The second is added with cocoa honey. They both are made with micro lots from Leolinda Farm, located in Uruçuca, south of Bahia, owned by the awarded producer João Tavares. They are sold in 40 g packaging for R$ 14 on the website www.casalasevicius.com.br. To learn more read the story here.
- Kalapa – Kalapa offers three different products with 100% cocoa chocolate. The first is “Os versos do Imperador” (The Emperor Verses), made with organic and agroecological cocoa from Dois Riachões settlement, in Ibirapitanga, Bahia, developed with focus on the sensory aspect. The result is a chocolate with pleasant texture, developed for people concerned with their health or people with some type of sugar restriction. It is sold in 50g bars for R$ 15. It is also found in 1 kg bars, the 100% cocoa Superlative Bar, for R$ 140, ideal for preparation of recipes like cakes and sweets. Attention: this format is only produced on demand. The third is the Hóstia Meditativa (Meditative Host), made with 100% raw cocoa chocolate, organic and biodynamic, with origin in Santa Tereza farm, in Serra Grande, Bahia. It was developed to be used in cocoa medicine or Sacred Feminine ceremonies. The package with two 4 g units is sold for R$ 5 (www.kalapachocolate.com.br).
- Raros Fazedores de Chocolate – Raros has just launched a 100% cocoa chocolate bar, with origin in Linhares, Espírito Santo, in Fernando Buffon farm. It is sold in 50 g bar for R$ 14 on the brand website www.rarosfazedoresdechocolate.com.br. (To learn more read story here).
- La Barr – La Barr produces an 80 g bar with cocoa from the south of Bahia, Santa Tereza farm, and is sold for R$ 18 on the brand website: www.labarrchocolate.com
- AMMA – one of the first Bean to Bar chocolate brands, AMMA produces its 100% cocoa in Bahia. Their 100% cocoa chocolate bar price is R$ 17 on the brand website www.ammachocolate.com.br. It is vegan, kasher and halal. Their packaging can be composted within up to 180 days and disappear without leaving traces in the nature.
