Kakawa Chocolates

Update Review, December 2023

When you stay at hotels as much as I do for work, and you stay loyal to one hotel chain, they often reward you for that loyalty with welcome gifts.  It is frequently a fruit bowl and bottle of sparkling wine, but long ago I let my preferred hotel chain (Marriott, previously Starwood) know that I'm a red wine and chocolates sort of girl, and thus, now I often receive chocolates instead, frequently from a local chocolatier, which I always appreciate.   Plus, great material for the blog!

Thus, I was excited when during my recent trip to Sydney, the Sheraton Grand provided me with a welcome gift from Kakawa Chocolates, as I'd enjoyed them before (see my original review below).

Welcome Gift: Assorted Chocolates.

The Sheraton Grand offered up a selection of chocolates from Kakawa Chocolates.  I've truly enjoyed them all, and look forward to this aspect of my Sheraton stays.

Australian Truffle. $2.50.

"Australian truffle is one of our popular single origin truffles. This truffle made with Australian origin 70% dark chocolate that have intense cacao with fruity undertone. Begins with mango and banana flavour and end with silky cacao."

This is a lovely piece of chocolate.  It has a snappy shell, and a smooth, creamy, intense ganache filling.  Clearly dark chocolate.  The cocoa powder on the exterior amps up the intense flavor even further.

This is a piece to savor, as you let the inside melt slowly on your tongue.  ****+.

Update: I've had several of these, and truly adore them every time.  My favorite of the pieces.

Espresso Wattleseed. $2.50.

"Wattle seed and espresso cup is espresso coffee infused ganache, balanced with Madagascar origin chocolate. Acidity and fruitiness of Madagascar origin chocolate highlight the coffee aromas and wattle seed give extra coffee flavors and texture."

This was a really lovely piece too, although I didn't actually taste much (any?) espresso or coffee element, and as I'm not particularly familiar with wattleseed, I didn't pinpoint that either.  But it was still a really nice piece of chocolate, with 64% milk chocolate ganache, which was remarkably smooth and creamy.  Such a smooth mouthfeel.

If you are looking for a chocolate that is strongly flavored with espresso, this may not be the best choice for you. However, if you are looking for a smooth, creamy chocolate with a hint of coffee flavor, then I would recommend giving it a try, and I'd gladly have more.

****.

Caramelized Macadamia.

"Caramelised macadamia rolled in dark chocolate 9 times, lightly roasted buttery macadamias with semi bitter dark chocolate and finished with powdered sugar."

The next one I tried was quite different from the truffle and the ganache.  This was a full, large roasted macadamia nut, with a slight candied coating, and then super thin layers of dark chocolate (9 of them!), and powdered sugar.  The chocolate only made up probably 15% of the piece, so it was a nut forward piece, with chocolate secondary.

The nut itself was good - great crunch, quite rich and buttery.  A quality macadamia.  The chocolate, nice dark chocolate, and a hard shell style, not smooth and creamy like the previous pieces.  Overall it ate fairly sweet, from both the caramelized interior and the powdered sugar coating.

I enjoyed this, and it was far more interesting than a more common chocolate covered peanut, but I preferred the other more chocolate based pieces. ***+.

Cherry Rocky Road. $13.50/slab.

"Handmade rocky road with egg free marshmallow rolled in chocolates, topped with almond, hazelnuts and cranberry. Really light and fluffy like cloud, melt away with smooth dark chocolate."

I'll admit that I don't have many fancy rocky road comparison points, but, this was certainly the best I've ever had.  The cherry flavored marshmallow inside was light, fluffy, and sweet, the dark chocolate coating had intense depth and nice shine with a bit of snap to it, and all the little goodies added either crunch or chew to make it a really enjoyable eating experience.  Delightful, and perfect alongside a cup of coffee for a not too sweet treat.  ****+.

Passionfruit Rocky Road. $13.50/slab.

"Handmade rocky road with egg free marshmallow rolled in chocolates, topped with almond, hazelnuts and cranberry. Really light and fluffy like cloud, melt away with smooth dark chocolate."

Next up was the passionfruit version, the only difference here was the flavor of the marshmallow inside.  The toppings (hazelnuts, almonds, coconut, pumpkin seeds, coconut) remained the same.

This one had a more fruity nature to it, and was slightly tart.  I think I preferred the cherry, but only slightly, and again, I really enjoyed eating this.  ****.

Original Review, October 2021

I start every morning with a piece of chocolate, alongside my coffee.  It is a ritual I started ages ago, and I have no intention of stopping it.  The joy of a piece of chocolate, often a truffle or new brand to try, just really helps get me up and out of bed in the morning!  Thus, I've eaten, and reviewed, a lot of chocolate over the years.

Last week I reviewed Koko Black, an Australian chocolate brand.  This week, I bring you another chocolatier from the land down under: Kakawa.  I assumed the name, Kakawa, was just an Australian word, or had Australian ties, but it doesn't, at all.

"The word Kakawa originally comes from the South American Olmec civilization and dates back to roughly 1000 BC. well before the Aztecs and Mayans The Olmec were the first civilization to cultivate cocoa beans and called them Kakawa. They grew their cocoa plants on the luscious east coast of Mexico."

And now you at least understand the company name.  

Kakawa makes an impressive lineup, of slabs, bars, bonbons, and special holiday items.  They make more than 40 kinds of individual chocolates, ranging from fruity lychee, mango & coconut, yuzu, and wild lemon to boozy champagne, apple & calvados, caramelized fig & port, or orange & cointreau to caffeinated green tea or earl grey tea, with fun sounding items like caramelised banana, cashew & crunch coconut, and even caramelised olive (!).  If you really want Australian themed, they have a tonka and vanilla piece, or another with wattle seed and espresso.  So many great sounding pieces.

Boxes.

I did not pick my pieces however, so those exotic flavors I did not try.  Instead, I was given a gift box with just two kinds inside, the milk chocolate bonbon and strawberry cream.

I enjoyed the pieces I tried, far above average, and would love to try more.

Milk Chocolate Bonbon.

This was a pretty nice piece.

The shell was simple milk chocolate, smooth, creamy, nice snap to it.  The spiky edges were just for show, there was nothing in it besides milk chocolate.

Inside, super smooth and creamy chocolate ganache.

I liked this quite a bit.

****.

Strawberry Cream.

The strawberry cream pieces contained no chocolate, rather, a white chocolate shell, with a strawberry white chocolate ganache inside.  Smooth and creamy, fruity.

The red edge of one side of the heart was a nice touch.

I gave a second one to a friend who cannot have caffeine, so no real chocolate, and he evaluated it, "Thanks! That was nommy!"

Another nice piece.  ****.