{"id":37419,"date":"2023-03-06T05:28:48","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T13:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=37419"},"modified":"2023-03-16T10:07:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T17:07:19","slug":"pop-in-on-a-j-street-chocolate-popup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/pop-in-on-a-j-street-chocolate-popup\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop in on a J Street Chocolate popup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local food upcycle maven\/chocolatier Julia Street is always experimenting with food byproducts\/foraged food\/fermented food inclusions in her bean to bar chocolate, and a good way to explore what she is doing is to go to a\u00a0J Street Chocolate<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0popup. Cacaopod and I went to one of her 2023 Valentine\u2019s edition popups and got to sample the 4 featured bars plus one of her staples that we had missed before.<\/p>\n

\"Julia
Julia Street at Oaktown Spice Shop popup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The popups are a great way to explore these unique bars: Julia brings plenty of samples and is happy to answer all your food inclusion and chocolate questions. You can buy what you like on the spot, plus some of the popup locations carry a selection of J Street Chocolate bars on the regular so you can refill your stash between events.<\/p>\n

The 4 featured bars in February included 2 white chocolates: Hella Tropical and Save Some for Sesame! Plus 2 dark chocolates: 69% Let\u2019s Go On a Funky Date and\u00a072% INNA Mood for Ginger. All 4 bars were vegan (all J Street Chocolate is vegan). And all of the ingredients were organic except the locally foraged ones (which probably were too, just not certified organic).<\/p>\n

Hella Tropical<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0Hella Tropical<\/strong>\u00a0bar was sold out before we got there (snooze ya lose with these limited edition bars), but we got to taste samples. The bar was a white chocolate made with cocoa butter infused with locally foraged makrut lime leaves and topped with cubes of locally foraged pineapple guava paste and ground\u00a0makrut lime leaves.<\/p>\n

The piece I sampled didn\u2019t have the pineapple guava on it, so it was a citrus white chocolate that tasted\u00a0a little nutty from toasted oats and coconut that Julia added to the bar to make the soft cocoa butter base more sturdy. Cacaopod got a sample piece that included a bit of the guava paste and he thought it tasted very pineapple-y at first, then citrusy. Sadly, Julia said she probably won\u2019t make the bar again because the pineapple guava paste pieces were really labor intensive.<\/p>\n

Save Some for Sesame!<\/h2>\n
\"Save
Save Some for Sesame!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other white bar at the popup was\u00a0Save Some for Sesame!<\/strong>\u00a0When I asked about the ingredients, Julia said that the preserved lemon was made from locally foraged Meyer lemons that she preserved and candied the peels herself. The sesame was\u00a0organic sesame seeds that she toasted. And she added \u201ca small amount of toasted oats to give the bar some integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bar is accurately named: Sesame was the dominant ingredient. I could\u00a0smell the sesame before I took the bar out of its package. The buff colored bar had visible sesame seeds and a lot of sesame flavor. It had a soft break, this is not a snappy chocolate, but it had lots of crunchy texture. It was sweet and salty, and made me think I tasted a little celery in the lemon\/sesame combo.<\/p>\n

As coincidence would have it, Julia said she was experimenting with a celery based chocolate now. Inspired by a love of celery soda, she showed us a pic on her phone of vibrant green chocolate in her melanger. Sounds interesting, will have to keep an eye on her site for any developments.<\/p>\n

Lets Go on a Funky Date<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Let\u2019s Go On a Funky Date<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 69% Let\u2019s Go on a Funky Date<\/strong>\u00a0was probably the most unusual bar in this selection. The dark chocolate bar was sweetened with date sugar and contained finely chopped dates and black garlic. Julia said she used to make a date and black garlic spread before she started J Street and thought she could add a \u201cchocolatey-ness\u201d to it.\u00a0\u201cIt turned out to be a good pairing,\u201d she said. \u201cBut date sugar is such a subtle sweetness, it needed more. Then I remembered I have dates…\u201d<\/p>\n

She added chopped Rancho Meladuco dates which livened up the bar: I could\u00a0smell the dates when opening the package. The bar had a good snap and a smooth texture with little chewy date bits as it went along. The\u00a0garlic taste was under the chocolate and dates, but it lingered, even got a little hot in the aftertaste. The bean Julia chose for the bar \u2014\u00a0Camino Verde cacao \u2014 was good as a savory contrast\/compliment to the other ingredients.<\/p>\n

We liked this bar. If you hesitate because *garlic* just know that black garlic is fermented so it\u2019s not as strong as raw white garlic. I wouldn\u2019t call it sweet \u2014 it still tastes like garlic \u2014\u00a0but it\u2019s more mellow. If you like savory chocolate, give it a try.<\/p>\n

INNA Mood for Ginger<\/h2>\n
\"INNA
INNA Mood for Ginger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last new spring 2023 bar, the\u00a072% INNA Mood for Ginger,<\/strong>\u00a0upcycled ginger leftovers from INNA<\/a>, the local jam\/pickle company. INNA makes candied ginger snacks and Julia gets the pieces that are not big enough for snacking on but perfect for grinding down and adding to chocolate.<\/p>\n

On first whiff, the bar smelled\u00a0fruity not gingery, but the ginger flavor came up as soon as the chocolate started to melt. Little bits of gritty sugary ginger appeared as the chocolate melted further. INNA sells the snacks as \u201csuper spicy ginger\u201d and the bar did have a good ginger heat that lingered.<\/p>\n

This bar also used the Camino Verde cacao which I think is a good choice: The not very sweet chocolate balanced the sugary ginger inclusion.<\/p>\n

I liked this bar with its novel candied ginger sugary texture \u2014 usually chocolate and ginger combos are chocolate covered slices or bite size bits spread over a bar. This bar instead had a good spicy ginger chocolate taste but with a more even distribution of the 2 ingredients. I didn\u2019t even mind the few stray bits of\u00a0sugary grit that stuck in my teeth. It just made the flavor linger longer.<\/p>\n

Sourdough Crunch<\/h2>\n
\"\"
Back of Sourdough Crunch bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last bar we got was a J Street regular that we missed before due to supply chain issues. The\u00a074% Sourdough Crunch<\/strong> is made with\u00a0upcycled sourdough bread from Fox and Lion Bread<\/a>\u00a0in SF. Julia makes crispy bread crumbs from the bread and adds it to bean to bar chocolate she makes from Madagascar cacao.<\/p>\n

This cacao has a totally different flavor than the Camino Verde cacao. The bar smelled fermented and like the other dark chocolate bars it had a good snap. It had a fermented, raisiny\/berry taste. It wasn\u2019t too sweet or bitter.<\/p>\n

With Crunch in the name, you know this is more of a chewing chocolate than a melting chocolate. You can start chewing immediately or delay it to savor the assertive chocolate flavor more, but at some point you gotta experience its tiny crispy crunchiness. The bar is packed with crunchy bread crumbs which add a slightly yeasty flavor along with some pops of sea salt.<\/p>\n

I love this bar! I like the distinctly fruity chocolate and the small crunch breadcrumbs. I know Julia had problems sourcing the bread crumbs while the bakery relocated, then she told us she had to switch to the Madegascar beans because she couldn\u2019t get the same beans she had used in the bar before. I\u2019m glad she persevered because this is a great snacking bar.<\/p>\n

And good news: Oaktown Spice Shop<\/a> carries the Sourdough Crunch bars along with the Caramelized\u00a0Koji Mylk<\/a> bars we reviewed last time. So we can easily get this bar on the regular now (barring any more unfortunate circumstances).<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it to one of J Street\u2019s popup events, you can order bars online and also find them in a few other places besides Oaktown Spice Shop. Check the website for the latest locations.<\/p>\n

And if you want to get the latest bars, J Street now offers quarterly subscriptions of 5 bars each quarter which include limited edition bars and some regulars. More info and sign up are on the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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