Kallari Chocolate Review

Have you ever heard of Kallari Chocolate? I was down at my local food co-op today and a representative for them was there sampling chocolates!

Kallari is a cooperative group of cocoa farmers from the rainforest in Ecuador. Back in 2008, the New York Times ran a story about them! Rather than selling their beans to a larger company, Kallari's farmers instead produce their own chocolate in a factory only four hours away from where they grow the beans! This reduces the amount of impact on the environment, as the cocoa beans don't have to travel across the world for processing. The farmers are indigineous Kichwa families and live in the Upper Napo Region of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. They grow the beans in traditional, biodiverse ways on rich volcanic soil, in family gardens rather than huge plantations. While still down in South America, chocolate from Kallari also has a much shorter distance to travel than fancy European bars.

They grow and use organic beans, of an heirloom varietal called Cacao Nacional de Arriba that's prized for flavor rather than hardiness and production like many of the common cocoa beans used in more mainstream chocolates, and I think the flavor difference really pays off. The cocoa is lower in tannins, which means it has less of the bitterness that other dark chocolates sometimes have - the woman I talked to at the co-op mentioned that they're 70% dark is good for "converting" milk chocolate lovers to the dark side! Personally, I've always enjoyed dark chocolate - it's got such a rich, complex flavor that gets drowned out by milk and sugar in lighter milk chocolates, plus dark chocolate is often vegan, which I like. You can find out more about the cocoa beans at this link.

Anyway, on to the chocolate itself:

They had three varieties on offer - a 70% dark, 75% dark and 85% dark. Seeing as I'm a huge dark chocolate buff, I started out with the 85% (it's vegan!).

It's got a surprisingly mellow, fruity flavor, with nice nutty undertones to it. the best way to enjoy this chocolate, rather than biting off a piece, is just letting it melt on your tongue, eating a square at a time. The squares on these bars are small enough that you can just enjoy a single piece - other bars I've eaten have much larger squares, making it inconvenient. This one's easily portioned.

I was really pleased with this chocolate's flavor, and there's just enough sweetness from the vanilla and sugar to keep it from being overpowering so you still know you're eating a chocolate bar rather than something more savory with cocoa (maybe that'll be another post - savory cocoa recipes?!).

The 75% was nice as well - a little sweeter. I only had one piece of this, but I liked it. I mentioned offhandedly to the woman offering samples that my mom HATES dark, and she recommended the 70%, so I gave that a shot too - I think if you don't usually like dark, it's definitely worth giving this a shot!

The 70% is a lot sweeter than I usually prefer my chocolates, but tastes closer to a 55% or 60% cocoa bar. The sweetness is delicate, but not excessive, and the chocolate has an incredibly smooth mouthfeel as it melts in your mouth! If you're not already converted to the world of dark chocolate, give this one a shot.

I ended up buying an 85% bar, and I'm really happy with my purchase. I think it would pair well with fruit or cheese, though I've just been eating it on its own. This stuff is super good, and worth a shot if you're willing to drop a fair bit of money on a bar of chocolate. Considering how terrible the cocoa industry often is to its farmers, I think it's worth paying a little more and eating chocolate a little less often to support farmer owned cooperatives. I'll probably make a post about the effects of the chocolate industry later ... but just know you can feel pretty good about these guys.

Apparently you can buy Kallari at Whole Foods market, but check your local food co-op first to see if they sell it. If no, you could always tell them about it and see if they're interested.

Trader Joe's

Is anyone else obsessed with Trader Joe's? Because, seriously, it is possibly the greatest grocery store ever invented - or at least in a neck and neck race with Aldi. That makes sense, though, since they're both owned by the same company. Trader Joe's always has lots of fun stuff, and the prices are almost universally fantastic.

One of my friends complains about the cost of meat there, but being a vegetarian means I don't actually care that much. Frozen fruit here is a steal, and the bread prices are decidedly tolerable. Also, a dollar for a pound of pasta is good enough for me these days - though I definitely miss when it was less! Sometimes other places will have sales, but Trader Joe's is great for the consistency of their pricing.

Also, their produce?  Yeah. Go to Joe if you need some bananas. Those puppies are cheap as heck.

Trader Joe's is compact, and not cluttered up with ten thousand brands and options - nearly everything they have is own-brand, which helps both to keep the costs down and make choices easy. I tend to get a little overwhelmed in normal supermarkets, trying to work out the pros and cons of the ten thousand different types and brands of bread - at Trader Joe's, it's all the same brand, so you don't have as much thinking to do.

I'll admit it, I don't really like thinking when I'm out grocery shopping. I want to see good stuff, buy good stuff, and take it home to eat. I can do that here. It's the best.

Plus, seriously, the frozen fruit is a godsend. Frozen pineapple is way cheaper than fresh and tastes AWESOME, without having to worry about slicing up a huge pineapple and getting rid of the skin and leaves yourself. I dunno, I like low-effort food, too. Eating shouldn't be hard work, I don't think.

While there are certainly some aspects of eating and cooking that should and do require more effort, I also like the easier solutions. So: frozen.

If you have a Trader Joe's near you and haven't been, check it out! If not ... well, I kinda pity you. See if you can hit one up on vacation sometime. It rules.