Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate

Mountaineers, hikers, and other adventurers have long known the magical properties of good dark chocolate. Rejuvenating to both body and spirit this Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate is great for a mid-day snack or campsite treat. It travels well even on long hot days.

The Trader Joe's Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate is a very usable, no frills, imported chunk of chocolate. As the name implies it weighs in at 17.6oz or a nice round 500g, though maybe I should say square since it is easily divided into smaller squares.

I've cut into a square in this picture to give you an idea of the type of chocolate in terms of texture. At 72% it finds a nice balance between bitter and sweet with little of the creaminess one finds in a milk chocolate. You can see the pressure of the knife shattered rather than melted. The chocolate does begin to melt in my mouth as I eat it without any sense of being waxy.

The package lists a 3 square portion which is more than I usually eat at once. At that size you are talking a hefty 230 calories with 130 coming from fat. Weighing 1.3oz/38g by their numbers you have a nicely condensed bit of fuel that makes for a tasty treat as well.

A major plus I've found with this chocolate is it has a very high melting point. I had the unfortunate joy of taking it along on a very hot trip this summer and was amazed to find that it was still a brittle solid long after I had melted. I don't have a scientific measure of how hot it was in my pack but I know the air temp was around 90°f and not only didn't it melt in my pack or in my hand but it still snapped when I bit into it.

Coming in such a large package I break the bars up into smaller chunks and store in zip bags. I have some that have been stored at room temperature for months without any loss of texture or flavor.  This stuff is full of good calories plus travels well so I recommend it especially for those on the long haul. Being such a treat for those who like pretty good Belgian chocolate at a low budget price I can recommend it to everyone else too. I take it on both my solo death marches as survival chow and family trips where my wife and I share it with some wine after dinner.