When we think about Madison, Wisconsin, we think about beautiful landscapes. And the beloved Kringle dessert. But we never paired Wisconsin with chocolate… That is, until now. Please say hello to Wm. Chocolate, a craft chocolate maker from the upper Midwest, USA.
Continue reading “Wm. Chocolate Delivers Delicious Chocolate From Madison, Wisconsin”
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…!
Continue reading “Musings; Zotter’s Labooko Dark Chocolate, 90% Bolivia”
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.
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.
Continue reading “Just How Good is “Beyond Good” (Madecasse) Chocolate?”
What are cocoa nibs and how can you add them to your daily recipes? Cocoa nibs are chocolate. Perhaps even the healthiest form of chocolate because they are 100% cocoa. Why? Cocoa nibs are small pieces of cocoa beans with their shells removed. The shell removal happens in a step in the chocolate-making process called “winnowing.”
Did you know that chocolate is a “superfood”? It has one of the highest sources of magnesium of all foods, provides calcium, and has higher antioxidants per gram than goji berries, red wine or pomegranates! Check out this article for more health facts about cacao. When you enjoy cocoa nibs without added sugar, you’re basically enjoying chocolate in its purest form. You can also enjoy cocoa nibs on top of craft chocolate bars.
Check out our list of chocolate bars topped with cocoa nibs and eight ideas for how to use cocoa nibs in your recipes.
Try these cocoa nibs from Marou Chocolate.
For a craft chocolate bar topped with nibs, we might suggest one of the bars, below.
{Award-Winning} Fu Wan Taiwan 62% Nibs
{Award-Winning} Hogarth 66% Manuka Honey & Cacao Nibs
Escazu Chocolates Roasted Cocoa 65% Nibs
Raaka Maple & Nibs 75% Unroasted Dark Chocolate
Atypic Heart of Pacific 88% with Nibs
Dick Taylor Brown Butter 73% with Nibs & Sea Salt (yum!)
To learn more about Marou Chocolate, a Vietnam-based chocolate company, check out the video below and/or read our article on Marou.
Lastly, we enjoyed the video below from CraftChocolateTV with Manoa Chocolate. They have even more ideas on how to use cocoa nibs, like making cocoa nib tea!
Be sure to practice food safety with cocoa nibs (and in general), and note that nothing on this post is making any health claims. When you change your daily routine, please consult your doctor or accredited medical professional.
Hope that these ideas provided some recipe inspiration! Let us know how you enjoyed cocoa nibs – post a comment below!
This post contains just a few affiliate links, which means that if you click through and buy something, you may help support an insatiable coffee and chocolate habit 🙂 Any written opinions here are by time cupsoul/our own.
How long has it been since we’ve written a review/musing? COVID-19 has us all cooped up inside, washing our hands, and wearing a mask when we take occasional (safe-as-possible) walks. And on top of the virus, what is happening in the USA right now is so heavy. There’s just no other way to say it. We frequently turn to chocolate to comfort and nourish our souls during these strange and difficult times.
Before COVID-19 and physical distancing, we were at The Chocolate House in DC and picked up a chocolate stash (fate would have it + you can still order from them online). It was very difficult to choose between the Antidote bars; each one looked better than the last and many bars matched with ancient gods and goddesses. How unique was this?! Chocolate and ancient folklore. Something we’ve been researching during COVID!
Continue reading “Doting on Antidote’s Dark Chocolate Ginger Bar”
The Goodnow Farms Chocolate Single Origin, Small Batch, 70% Cacao Asochivite Premium Dark Chocolate from Guatemala with Maple Sugar, was a gift from a beloved family member this holiday season. We’re so thankful.
Maple sugar?! We’d never had chocolate with maple sugar. What kind of decadence awaited our taste buds?! This was simply too exciting.
The chocolate packaging featured two layers — a beautiful, textured paper with the branding label on the exterior, and on the interior, a golden wrapper hugging the cocoa.
Continue reading “Goodnow Farms Asochivite Chocolate with Maple Sugar – Sure to Delight”
International Chocolate Day, another beautiful chocolate holiday in the yearly calendar. Which chocolate bar did you enjoy this day? We hope it brought you a time cupsoul, a moment of inspiration and serenity.
Time Cupsoul celebrated with a bar from Harper Macaw. This ins’t a new feat. We’ve already been harping on Harper Macaw, first breaking the news of their holiday bar, Winter’s Cheer, last season, and also, naming them as a truly must-visit/must-taste DC chocolate maker in this guide. Yet, we simply must harp some more. And if we had a real harp, well yes, we would henceforth strum its beautiful strings and sing a romantic ballad to this DC brand.
Continue reading “Harping on Harper Macaw, DC Chocolate Maker”
