Author: time cupsoul

Marou Chocolat: A Flavor Journey

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This post was written in 2017 and updated in 2020.

Marou Chocolat: Faiseurs de Chocolat bars are fairly small in size with gorgeous packaging and a thin weight.The experience of tasting this bar was a definite time cupsoul and deserves some attention.

The package for the Marou, Tien Giang 70% single origin dark chocolate bar, is a beautiful rich purple colored paper with shiny gold lettering and cocoa bean drawings. Glimmering gold paper enveloping the chocolate bar peeks out from underneath of the purple wrapping, and it’s easy to slide the bar out slowly or simply to tear the paper right off. Unwrap the packaging from around the chocolate and discover the thin chocolate rectangle with diamonds.

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Musings; Zotter’s Labooko Dark Chocolate, 90% Bolivia

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This post was written in 2018 and updated in 2020.

Good morning from Washington, DC.

Yesterday was a nice 60 degree weather day. Time Cupsoul walked around the National Mall, exploring new coffee and chocolate shops in this great city.

Time cupsouls — experiencing them — are about inspiration and serenity at the same time. It’s about finding the quiet moment and receiving some answers, some clarity.

This week, a friend was relaying that most ingenious ideas are first sparked alone. This means that ideas are less formed in group brainstorming sessions and what’s ideal for breakthrough is to spend time alone and then bring the novelty to a group for feedback. So, this is Time Cupsoul bringing the very soul of “time cupsoul” to you, readers. How can Time Cupsoul’s site be better? What would you like to see more of? What can change? Please send a message or leave a comment on this article.

On to the chocolate…!

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SOMA Chocolatemaker: Embodying the Essence of Chocolate

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This article was written in 2018 and updated in 2020.

The 70 percent dark chocolate bar from Dreketi, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji, by Soma Chocolatemaker had a big reputation to live up to…

  1. Time Cupsoul had never eaten chocolate from Fiji
    • According to the brands’ packaging, Fiji’s national flag touts a cacao pod in lions paws (reputation signal and/or national pride, perhaps?) and also explains that, the Fijian concept of “vanua” means the land as an “extension of oneself; including one’s life, sustenance and culture”
  2. The tasting notes on the bar were listed as “chocolate, honey and grapefruit”
  3. The Soma Chocolatemaker chocolate molding is one of the most whimsical in the industry, notable for intricate details and a romantic rendition of the cacao forest (cacao pods, tropical birds, and cacao flowers)
aerial view of beach and huts
Photo by Damon Hall on Pexels.com

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Just How Good is “Beyond Good” (Madecasse) Chocolate?

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This post is dedicated to a dear friend who was returning to Asia when we first wrote this post in 2017. She loves lemurs from Madagascar.

Beyond Good’s (formerly Madecasse) Madagascar Pure Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa bar is not just beyond good, it’s amazing. It’s made with heirloom cocoa, which is “one of Earth’s original varieties of cocoa,” is a direct trade bar, and is bean-to-bar. The bar is gluten free, vegan, kosher and uses no GMOs, as according to the packaging. The company is based out of Brooklyn, NYC, the United States.

What drew Time Cupsoul to Madecasse? Probably the amazing lemur logo that holds a cocoa bean, and the soft pink color that surrounds the packaging. The bar (branding) looked bright, friendly and happy.

white and black long coated animal
Photo by Flickr on Pexels.com

Opening the aluminum wrapper, the chocolate bar was revealed. The Beyond Good molding (shape of the chocolate) is a sequence of squares with lines. Nothing like the fancy molding of La Naya, but still a beautifully presented bar.

After snapping a small portion off of the bar, it soon lingered on the tongue and began to slowly unfold in elegant, excitable flavors. Initially, the first overall impression that came through was: fruity.

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