On January 10th, the entire United States publicly announces its undying affection for bittersweet chocolate, and what better way to celebrate than with a smorgasbord of the best of the best? On National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, however, the celebration isn’t limited to merely indulging in the sweet stuff; rather, it’s also an opportunity to educate oneself about the origins and development of this distinct variety of chocolate.
Learn the history of bittersweet chocolate, why it’s grown so popular, and where to get your hands on some of the best goods on the market today in this informative and entertaining blog post. In a few short hours, it will be National Bittersweet Chocolate Day, and we want you to join in the revelry.
Chocolate lovers, it is time to celebrate once again as January 10 every year is celebrated as National Bitter Chocolate Day. (National Day of Bitter Chocolate with Almonds is observed on November 7th.)
Chocolate originated from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cocoa, which has been cultivated for at least three millennia, is grown in Mexico, Central America and northern South America. The use of cocoa beans has been traced back to about 1100 BC. Cocoa beans are extremely bitter before fermentation, but after the flavour has developed, they are delicious.
After Fermenting, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. After roasting, the pods are removed to generate cacao nibs. The cocoa nibs are next processed into a cocoa mass which is pure chocolate in its raw state.
Typically, the liquefied cocoa mass is subsequently moulded with or without other components. This is dubbed chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor can then be processed into two ingredients: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.
Bitter chocolate is a chocolate liquor with additional sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla. It has less sugar and more alcohol than half a week of chocolate. However, when cooking, you can substitute either one.
What Bittersweet Chocolate is?
For Americans, January 10 is National Bittersweet Chocolate Day. For chocolate to be classified as “bittersweet,” it must include at least 35% cocoa solids and no more than 50% sugar. It is commonly used in baking and chocolate delicacies due to its robust, bittersweet flavour.
Cacao beans are roasted and then mashed into a paste to make bittersweet chocolate. A final chocolate product is made by mixing the paste with sugar, milk, and other components. Different brands of bittersweet chocolate may have different minimum cocoa solids percentages, but all of them should be at least 35%.
National Bittersweet Chocolate Day History
Neither the date nor the reason for celebrating bittersweet chocolate is known, but chocolate has a long and storied past. The Aztecs allegedly discovered chocolate when they brewed a bitter beverage from pulverised cocoa beans. They named the dish “xocolatl” because it was commonly prepared with maize and pepper. This is where our contemporary word “chocolate” comes from.
The Europeans discovered the Aztec civilisation and their ‘xocolatl’ chocolate a few centuries ago during their transoceanic expeditions. This was because they found the Aztec drink to be too harsh. Back in Europe, they ground up the cocoa beans and mixed them with sugar. This resulted in the development of the chocolate we enjoy today.
After thereafter, chocolate began to take on a variety of shapes, sizes, flavours, and even colours, eventually leading to the hundreds of chocolate brands available today. Do we really need a designated day to rejoice and eat chocolate when we do it every day? The addition of bittersweet chocolate merely serves as an excuse to indulge ourselves.
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How to celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate Day?
No matter if you’re celebrating on your own or with a bunch of pals, today is a good day to have a good time. Choose something as basic as a chocolate bar, or go all out with a party to celebrate the occasion! Anyway, it’s a good day to party. Put these suggestions to the test:
Devour a Bar of Dark, Bitter Chocolate
If you have a preference for the more bitter flavours in life, then picking up a bar of bittersweet chocolate and enjoying it is the perfect way to commemorate National Bittersweet Chocolate Day. One of its many advantages is that a small amount of it may go a long way in terms of flavour.
Do you want to know what bittersweet chocolate is? The guidelines for determining which things belong in which categories may be unclear. However, as a rule of thumb, chocolate must have at least 35% cacao and fewer than 12% milk solids in order to be classified as bittersweet, dark, or semisweet. In contrast, several luxury dark chocolate brands currently on the market produce chocolate bars with percentages of cocoa solids in the 70% range or higher.
Now that single-origin chocolate bars are all the rage, it would be a good idea to try a few from different parts of the world to choose your favourite.
| YEAR | DATE | Weekday |
| 2023 | January 10 | Tuesday |
| 2024 | January 10 | Wednesday |
| 2025 | January 10 | Friday |
| 2026 | January 10 | Saturday |
| 2027 | January 10 | Sunday |
FAQs
Q. Is Bittersweet chocolate and Dark Chocolate the same?
Yes, though the exact percentage of cacao used may vary by brand. Chocolate with at least 35% cacao is considered bittersweet. You may know it as semisweet chocolate.
Q. What are the other days that celebrate bittersweet chocolate?
Yes. On February 1st, we celebrate National Dark Chocolate Day.
Q. Is Bittersweet chocolate the purest form of Chocolate?
The most authentic flavour of chocolate, bittersweet is prized for its authenticity. It has less sugar and more cocoa than regular chocolate. Chocolate with a bitter aftertaste is commonly utilised in culinary applications. Only a small percentage of the population consumes chocolate in this form without any preparation.
