jwink wrote:A couple of months ago I got an "education" regarding dark chocolate from America's Test Kitchen, and have a question relating to that.

One thing I learned the most from them is that when any dark chocolate says "XX%" it's not what we all thought it meant. That figure includes the total of both the cocoa solids and the cocoa butter. [White chocolate for example has zero cocoa solids and only cocoa butter, with sugar, etc.] What is the ratio of cocoa solids to butter that you use; i.e. what is the percentage of cocoa solids? More curious than anything else also my understanding is the antioxidant qualities in chocolate come from the solids not the butter.

Thanks for the earlier post about bean type I was going to ask that as well. The story sounds like a sassafrass tree which has 3 different leaves all on the same tree.

Some quotes from the ATK site (they tested 60% Dark): "When chocolate makers grind shelled cacao beans, known as nibs, to create the thick paste called chocolate liquor, this paste contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Most manufacturers then add even more cocoa butter, in varying amounts, to help create the texture of the final chocolate. A few also add extra cocoa solids to intensify the chocolate flavor. Ultimately, however, the cacao percentage on the label of a chocolate bar is a total that includes both cocoa solids and cocoa butter—meaning that different chocolates can have different proportions of each and still share the 60% percent cacao designation. As our lab tests showed, the cocoa solids in our lineup ranged from about 17 percent of a bar's total weight to more than 30 percent, while fat ranged from a third of the weight to nearly half of it. Sugar levels varied by nearly 20 percent as well."

Their tasting results showed: "In fact, our lab results revealed that the chocolate with the lowest fat won the day, while the one with the most fat came in dead last. And would having the most cocoa solids make a chocolate superior? Again, no. Our tasters preferred chocolates with only a moderate amount. Sweetness wasn't the explanation, either: Chocolates in the middle range of sugar levels were preferred over those with the most sugar, though overall the top half of the rankings had more sugar than the bottom half. In the end, we preferred dark chocolate that achieved the best balance of all three major components—cocoa butter, cocoa solids, and sugar."

For those that want the full article (you'll have to supply your email address to ATK; and that's it) here is the link: http://www.americastestkitchentv.com/tasting/overview.asp?tastingid=616&iSeason=

Considering that the cane juice is before the additional cocoa butter in the ingredients, i'm pretty confident that this will not be overly fatty in the mouth..

Nate650 wrote:Not sure if any company representatives are aboard, but is the soy lecithin in this genetically-modified? And what is the process of producing soy lecithin?

I'm going to bet its both GM (most soy unavoidably is...) and hexane extracted... I'm a pessimist!

Either way, RainRepublic said it comprises less than 2% of the chocolate... I'm sure there's more and worse stuff in the air I breathe.

This chocolate is going to be AWESOME. I FEEL IT... DO YOU FEEL IT?!?!!!!!

teknomls wrote:How long before these expire/start to noticeably go bad? I'd like to use some as a mothers day gift, but can it survive sitting out (or in the freezer) for a month?

Oh a month is fine. But NEVER freeze good chocolate, and refrigerating is not recommended either. woot and dry. Out of sunlight (obviously). And away from mice, ants and Indian rice Moths! (highly-sealed container: some tupperware isn't good enough)

I'd love it if Rain Republic told us something about the physical / chemical properties of their chocolate, and chocolate in general, as to why it's bad to keep it too cold. It's something about precipitating out ingredients, and separation of the chocolate.

vinithehat wrote:YEAH MAN!! I TOTALLY FEEL IT!!!

Great question. 100% Natural means no hexane gas either. We try for non-GMO soy beans but sometimes the farmers are tricked so no one can really guarantee it. Heat, pressure and spinning do the trick here in Guate'. Also, we use less than half a percent so, it's a super low amount.

richardhod wrote:Oh a month is fine. But NEVER freeze good chocolate, and refrigerating is not recommended either. woot and dry. Out of sunlight (obviously). And away from mice, ants and Indian rice Moths! (highly-sealed container: some tupperware isn't good enough)

Dude... you need these guys...

vinithehat wrote:I'm going to bet its both GM (most soy unavoidably is...) and hexane extracted........

This chocolate is going to be AWESOME. I FEEL IT... DO YOU FEEL IT?!?!!!!!

Right on bro... Put your hand on the electric computing machine and feel the power of the almighty chocolate-gods! I will remain in stand-by mode waiting for the candy man to deliver.

I as well am not concerned with the soy lecithin. Rain Republic obviously is really "into" chocolate and understands quality. If one wants something ultra-pure and ultra-fresh, go to your local chocolatier or make it yourself, but if one is manufacturing an excellent packaged product that has enough shelf-life and ship-ability to allow many more humans to enjoy it, and enjoy it over time and over geographical space.... well I'm all for that! Even with a smidgen of soy lecithin.

RR, for Quetzalcoatl's sake please send chocolate post-haste, got the shaky fever!

There are some pictures of the grinding process on the facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?pid=767600&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=152129738015&id=1042578997

rainrepublic wrote:Great question. 100% Natural means no hexane gas either. We try for non-GMO soy beans but sometimes the farmers are tricked so no one can really guarantee it. Heat, pressure and spinning do the trick here in Guate'. Also, we use less than half a percent so, it's a super low amount.

You're getting me very excited about this chocolate. Thank god this isn't a epic adventure... I won't have to wait a month for it!

vinithehat wrote:You're getting me very excited about this chocolate. Thank god this isn't a epic adventure... I won't have to wait a month for it!

All this talk is making me wish I had ordered two instead of just one. Of course, an email to the wootsters would solve that....

There's quite a bit of good discussion going on here, I had to sift through a bit of it to get the info that I wanted. At the very least, these will make good gifts...

I don't know. I bought 20 of these things and frankly, don't get what you snotty chocolate connoisseurs see in dark chocolate. I'd take some cheap fast break bar, or it's "chocolate" exterior way above most fancy schmancy expensive dark stuff. Just saying...

Believe me, I'm pretty appreciative of fancy schmancy cheese, and wine, and cars, and lots of other things. Just don't get dark chocolate.

Can I melt it all down in the microwave and add something to make it more light, and cheap-like?





Vladimir Gosla
Hazleton, Pennsylvania

(falcon trainer)

Would they at least work well enough to make smores?

You know, with all of this hoopola about how dam natural and rain forrestey it is, I've got to ask, how do I know it's free of fecal matter? It's not like "chocolate lewak" or anything now, is it? Certain? How would we know for sure???






Vladimir Gosla
Hazleton, Pennsylvania

(falcon trainer)

gosla wrote:I don't know. I bought 20 of these things and frankly, don't get what you snotty chocolate connoisseurs see in dark chocolate. I'd take some cheap fast break bar, or it's "chocolate" exterior way above most fancy schmancy expensive dark stuff. Just saying...

Believe me, I'm pretty appreciative of fancy schmancy cheese, and wine, and cars, and lots of other things. Just don't get dark chocolate.

Can I melt it all down in the microwave and add something to make it more light, and cheap-like?

I used to be skeptical of good chocolate, until I had some. It took quite some looking to find the good stuff that appeals to me, but I found it. I've found that I like a bit of fruitiness in my chocolate, and I only really get that in the nicer bars of chocolate. The cheaper bars all kind of have a uniform chocolate-y taste that I enjoy, but it doesn't quite measure up some chocolate I've found recently.

Lately I've been enjoying some locally made chocolate bars in NYC, Mast Brothers Chocolate. It's a bit pricey, but I've found that I'm satisfied with MUCH LESS of it vs a cheaper bar, and it's sublime tasting.

gosla wrote:I don't know. I bought 20 of these things and frankly, don't get what you snotty chocolate connoisseurs see in dark chocolate. I'd take some cheap fast break bar, or it's "chocolate" exterior way above most fancy schmancy expensive dark stuff. Just saying...

Believe me, I'm pretty appreciative of fancy schmancy cheese, and wine, and cars, and lots of other things. Just don't get dark chocolate.

Can I melt it all down in the microwave and add something to make it more light, and cheap-like?





Vladimir Gosla
Hazleton, Pennsylvania

(falcon trainer)

The way I see it, you're too close to Hershey, Pennsylvania (and Three Mile Island)... you need to get out more...

Dear Wooter's,

Thank you so much for making this a wonderful experience. We know you will enjoy this dark chocolate and we hope to see you soon.

You can send us follow up questions to info@rainrepublic.com, join us on facebook and if you have the opportunity visit us here in the land of eternal spring and the source of chocolate-Guatemala.

Sincerely,

The People of Guatemala and Rain Republic

Time for sad puppies and orphans:

Please sir, may we have a clue?

Happy Easter WD...just a little clue?

Winedavid39 wrote:Happy Easter !

Clue?

Dave minus a thousand.

Thousand Oaks Winery...or is that too on the nose?? Or could it be Thousand Islands?

Hmmm i'm out no clue?

Winedavid39 wrote:Happy Easter !

Clue?

Dave minus a thousand.

I've been playing with "Letterman" minus the M (Roman numeral 1000)....but can't come up with anything fully using the remaining letters

One Thousand One (KR) Pinot, of course!

Winedavid39 wrote:Dave minus a thousand.

Dave-K? That doesn't make any sense.

WineDavid-961. Hmph. I guess have to wait two more minutes to figure this one.

jkdaaa wrote:One Thousand One (KR) Pinot, of course!

Great call!

Winedavid39 wrote:Happy Easter !

Clue?

Dave minus a thousand.

Wow that is good WD one thousand one minus one thousand makes you number 1!

Cheers!

And thanks for another great offering!

Anyone get a ship notice yet? Any idea when this will ship?

lilbrownbat wrote:Anyone get a ship notice yet? Any idea when this will ship?

I was wondering the same thing - still in the order status, no ship yet.

It's only been 5 days (3 business days) since the item went on sale. Things on wine.woot tend to take a little bit longer than normal to ship!

I got a Fedex tracking number. No delivery date yet.

lilbrownbat wrote:Anyone get a ship notice yet? Any idea when this will ship?

cfowler06 wrote:I was wondering the same thing - still in the order status, no ship yet.

alien88 wrote:It's only been 5 days (3 business days) since the item went on sale. Things on wine.woot tend to take a little bit longer than normal to ship!

Red_Six wrote:I got a Fedex tracking number. No delivery date yet.

i can't tell you how less than thrilled i am - my delivery notice shows a ship date of April 7 and a projected arrival date of

wait for it...

(and i will...)

April 19 - TWELVE DAYS LATER, including TWO count 'em TWO weekends.

so far the tracking shows it arrived in Sacramento CA just before midnight on the 9th and left just after on the 10th. So maybe that's the plan, like the Newfie Rocket to the Sun
("you can't send a rocket to the sun, you'll burn up!"
"That's why we're goin' at night.")

o joy.

Mine says it will Bowl of Cereal

Mine has arrived in San Diego today - decently packed in packing peanuts, and greatly testing my self-control.

Galaxie, I think you've inadvertently come across a bug in the filter system. Congratulations. I'll report it.

Got mine today (Monday, April 12; my birthday!) and am quite pleased. I don't know much about chocolate other than I like it and this suits me just fine. 4 squares (1/2 bar) after dinner and it was soothing and fun!

I've got a projected arrival date of April 19 too. Frankly, if I'd known they were shipping by slow boat, I probably wouldn't have bothered. The Pony Express would have done a better job with this. I hope it's in reasonable shape when it arrives although it's doubtful. I know for sure that I won't be home that week to receive it, so it'll sit on the doorstep and get spoiled some more, OR get sent back. I'm not overjoyed. If that's the way things go, no more wine.woot purchases for me.

lilbrownbat wrote:I've got a projected arrival date of April 19 too. Frankly, if I'd known they were shipping by slow boat, I probably wouldn't have bothered. The Pony Express would have done a better job with this. I hope it's in reasonable shape when it arrives although it's doubtful. I know for sure that I won't be home that week to receive it, so it'll sit on the doorstep and get spoiled some more, OR get sent back. I'm not overjoyed. If that's the way things go, no more wine.woot purchases for me.

Most items are not sent SmartPost (stupid post) on wine.woot.com. Items that are heat sensitive (wines, cheeses, etc) during the hot months are shipped via refig trucks to a local distribution point and then dropped off, assuming they can be delivered prior to the weekend. Otherwise during regular months, items are typically sent via FedEx or UPS..

I am pretty sure after spending 2 weeks in and out of hot Fedex warehouses and trucks this chocolate will not be eatable. Sad that I wasted my money. I will never wine.woot again!


Estimated delivery Apr 20, 2010
Apr 13 13, 2010 5:30 AM
Departed FedEx location
LOS ANGELES, CA
Apr 12, 2010 6:47 PM
Arrived at FedEx locationLOS ANGELES, CA
Apr 9, 2010 11:09 PM
Departed FedEx locationSACRAMENTO, CA
Apr 9, 2010 11:33 PM
Arrived at FedEx locationSACRAMENTO, CA

thaywoody wrote:I am pretty sure after spending 2 weeks in and out of hot Fedex warehouses and trucks this chocolate will not be eatable. Sad that I wasted my money. I will never wine.woot again!


Estimated delivery Apr 20, 2010
Apr 13 13, 2010 5:30 AM
Departed FedEx location
LOS ANGELES, CA
Apr 12, 2010 6:47 PM
Arrived at FedEx locationLOS ANGELES, CA
Apr 9, 2010 11:09 PM
Departed FedEx locationSACRAMENTO, CA
Apr 9, 2010 11:33 PM
Arrived at FedEx locationSACRAMENTO, CA

I agree. If you can't ship it right for $5 then charge what you need rather than wasting my time and money. In the past two weeks I've had orders from Holland and Australia show up faster than this.

I received my chocolate today. It's fantastic!


Now the hard part is limiting myself to less then one bar per day. 76% daily value Sat. Fat yikes!

I cant believe how long this is taking to get here. Its not scheduled to get to me until the 19th! I hope it has not ruined from the changing temperatures.

My wife has her own account and she wooted wine the other day I thought that took long this is taking even longer