It’s National Hot Chocolate Day. That seems fitting. It was -10 degrees F when I woke up this morning. We did get to a balmy 17 degrees F at the peak of the day, so that’s something. I guess.
Sadly, there won’t be a chocolate review from me for this week as I have that most wonderful of winter time afflictions, a cold. Once my taster is back to normal, I’ll definitely get back to it!
What does one do during a snow-pocalypse? Eat chocolate, of course. (And video the dogs plowing through snow drifts.) And, of course, this weekend’s chocolate is from the NWCF. Let me introduce you to Palato Chocolate. It was founded in 2007 by Chef Mónica Pedemonte and started as a high-end catering service that, with time, shifted its focus to Honduras’ world-class cacao. All of their chocolate is made with cacao from various locations in Honduras. The company’s headquarters and production facilities are located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. They strive for sustainability and quality, but also promote the growth and modernization of cacao cultivation in Honduras, to improve the lives of thousands of producers and contribute to the nation’s economic development. Palato Chocolate has won 18 awards from the International Chocolate Awards, Chocolate Alliance Awards, and Academy of Chocolate.
Now let me introduce you to Palato’s 70% chocolate bar. This single origin bar is made from Mayan red cacao beans sourced from La Masica, Honduras.
Sight: dark brown; clean, sharp molding in a modern design
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity; chocolate
Mouth Feel: ready melt that’s a little chalky
Taste: it has an initial mild bright/tangy flavor with a little floral note, followed by an earthy dark chocolate flavor
Astringency: mild
Summary: This is a good, solid chocolate bar that’s usually moderately priced. There’s a little complexity to it, and I like what the company is doing. In short, this is an average bean to bar chocolate bar, but it knocks the socks off of anything you’d get at your local grocery store.
You can’t help but listen when this chocolate maker starts talking chocolate. He talked a group of us eager tasters through the flavors of his various beans/bars at the NWCF, and it was plain to see his enthusiasm. Let me introduce you to Foundry Chocolate, launched by David Herrick and his wife, Janelle Herrick, in 2018 in Auckland, New Zealand. Foundry is considered a micro-batch bean-to-bar craft chocolate company. Microbatch chocolate makers typically produce small quantities ranging from 5 to 100 pounds (2–45 kg) per batch, emphasizing hands-on craftsmanship, and for Foundry, to highlight the unique flavor profiles of each cacao origin. To further this, Foundry only uses 2 ingredients–cacao beans and organic sugar. Foundry Chocolate has won >34 awards from the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, Academy of Chocolate Awards London, NZ Chocolate Awards, and others.
Now let me introduce you to Foundry’s 70% Vanuatu chocolate bar. This single origin bar is made with cacao grown on the very remote island of Malekula, the second-largest island in the nation of Vanuatu. The cacao is grown by a small group of farmers from Pinalum Village.
Sight: outer packaging is attractive; dark brown in color; clean molding in classic pattern; good shine; my photography skills are declining however–the picture shows crud on the bar–that’s only in the picture and not in real life, but I’d already eaten most of the bar by the time I started this post…so a make-up picture wasn’t an option
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: mild intensity; dried fruit
Mouth Feel: creamy, even melt
Taste: initially has a deep chocolate flavor that welcomes secondary notes of dark caramel, then finishes with toast
Astringency: mild
Summary: Like the last Vanuatu origin bar I reviewed, there are no fruit flavors here. That’s not my preference in chocolate, but I love this bar. Its oh-so-rich chocolate flavor is complimented well by the notes of dark caramel and toast. This is a chocolate bar I plan to buy again and again, if I can find it as distribution in the US is frustratingly limited.
I have a confession. This chocolate maker and I are now friends. I told her we’re friends and she didn’t argue, so there you go. I didn’t know who she was, nor did I know anything about her chocolate brand, before the NWCF. I know I talked to her and her people at the festival because I distinctly remember their shiny, magenta boots. That’s hard to miss. However, we’re friends due to a shipping issue that occurred when I later placed an order to replace the bars from the festival–because they were so tasty I ate them. The issue was minor–just the chocolate maker and company owner emailing me to ensure she had the correct mailing address. Talk about customer service. It didn’t take much for me to recognize her drive, talent, and skillz. Let me introduce you to Vixen Chocolate and its founder, Sarah Delph. The company is based out of Portland, Oregon, and it makes a truly unique chocolate. Vixen infuses their chocolate with ancient Solfeggio sound frequencies, believed to harmonize the body and encourage the mind–body connection. These frequencies are widely used in modern sound healing and meditation music. Each bar is infused with a different and specific frequency. Despite being new to the game, Vixen Chocolate won a Best of Show award at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in 2025.
Now, let me introduce you to Vixen’s 72% Vanuatu chocolate bar. It’s made from beans grown in the volcanic soil on the island of Malekula in Vanuatu. Per Sarah, “Vanuatu is such a special bean. It was the very first batch of chocolate I ever made and my very first full sack of cacao beans I purchased.” This chocolate was infused with soundwaves at a frequency of 852Hz. Per Solfeggio theory, this is the frequency of intuition, clarity, and inner strength.
Sight: the packaging both outside and in, is stylish and sophisticated; sharp and well molded bar with classic pattern and shiny finish; dark brown with a hint of red; my photo makes the packaging look a bit roughed up but no, that’s just my photography
Smell: moderate intensity; fudgy and raison-y
Sound: good snap with break
Mouth Feel: creamy with a smooth melt
Taste: it starts with a fudgy, earthy flavor that’s quickly followed by the addition of a mild red fruit
Astringency: mild
Summary: Earthy isn’t usually my gig, but this bar is well balanced–its earthy, rich fudgy flavor, and fruitiness come together to create a wonderful chocolate. I don’t know if the added soundwaves make a difference, but this chocolate is better than good. From the packaging to the chocolate itself, this is a special occasion bar.
Weather is stupid. It’s cold and windy. At least the dogs look happy–both are laying on their sides with all fours sticking straight out. Guess that means I get to pass the time with chocolate. After randomly picking a chocolate bar to review out of the big bag o’ chocolate I brought back from the NWCF, I’m excited to see which one I picked. When I talked with these chocolate makers, I got a sense of their genuine commitment to making quality products, and absolute pride in their work. Let me introduce you to KAIRI Chocolate Company. KAIRI Chocolate was founded in 2017 by Deosaran Jagroo and Cherie-Anne Ramlakhan, a husband and wife team who took their passion project and turned it into an award-winning business. They exclusively use cacao grown on their family’s estate, La Carlota Estate in Guaico Tamana, Trinidad. Their chocolate is made entirely on-site from blossom to bar, or as Deosaran explained, “She’s the chocolate maker, I’m the farmer.” With a focus on quality, sustainability, and preserving traditional farming methods, they also offer training and facilities to neighboring cacao farmers to improve local cacao production. In addition, they support HEAL House, a local rehab center. From what I’ve been able to find with a brief online search, KAIRI Chocolate has won 4 awards from the Academy of Chocolate.
Now let me introduce you to KAIRI’s 70% chocolate bar. As stated, this single-estate cacao was grown, fermented, roasted, and processed on their estate in Trinidad. The cacao is Trinitario, and is grown on century-old trees.
Sight: their outer packaging has a great design–inner package includes info about Trinidad and their cacao flavor profile graph; the bar is small at 37g; clean and clear molding with a modern design; dark brown with shiny surface
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity; pleasant and floral
Mouth Feel: creamy with even and ready melt
Taste: initial jasmine and raisin/dried fruit flavors that blend with a hint of citrus and finishes with very mild bitter nuttiness
Astringency: mild
Summary: I enjoyed this bar very much and wished it was bigger so I could enjoy even more of it. Its floral-y and fruit-y notes deliciously blend with the citrus and are complimented by the mild bitterness. Knowing how tasty this bar is, I can’t wait to re-introduce myself to their Chai Spice bar…
It’s cold and snowy here. In short, I have some extra time on my hands. So let me introduce you to Levelez Chocolate. I was introduced to them for the first time at the NWCF. I like to learn about the companies I review, but I couldn’t find much on this one. Levelez chocolate is a small batch chocolate company based out of Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. It was founded by Silvia Guédez, who works hand-in-hand with local cacao farmers to craft single-origin bars that display the flavors of Mexico. They have six different origins for their cacao beans, mainly from Tabasco. Silvia began working in the chocolate business in Ecuador, where she launched Silvia Guédez Chocolatier in 2015. In 2021, she moved to Villahermosa, Mexico and started Levelez Chocolate. I know that Levelez Chocolate has at least 3 International Chocolate Awards from 2023 and 2025, but there could be more.
Now let me introduce you to the Levelez 73% chocolate bar. It combines two origins of Trinitario cacao from Mexico—beans from the valleys of Chinal, Chiapas and the mountains of Cerro Blanco, Tabasco.
Sight: dark brown, with good shine; sharp and delicate bar molding; excellent packaging–the inside of the outer package highlights the chocolate making process
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity and earthy sweet
Mouth Feel: soft, even melt with smooth texture
Taste: nutty and chocolatey with a brightness that’s a little sweet and a little tart, like grapefruit
Astringency: mild
Summary: I like this bar. It’s not overly complicated but it’s a good, solid craft chocolate bar. I would buy it again.
A couple days off for the holiday means a little down time. Eat chocolate and talk about it, or vacuum the dog hair off the sofa, again? Option 1, please. Let me introduce you to Azu Chocolate. I had never heard of Azu Chocolate before the NWCF. After doing some research, I’ve decided this place sounds pretty cool. Azu is a bakery and cafe in Caracas, Venezuela, in the state of Aragua. It was started by pastry chef, Maria Evans, who focuses on highlighting Venezuelan flavors in her bakes. Maria graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Madrid in 2015. She started Azu, the pastry shop, in 2017. Along the way, she developed an interest in chocolate making, which led her to create a line of chocolate bars. The cacao for these bars comes from the village of Chuao and 2 local Venezuelan estates. Interestingly, one of these estates, Hacienda La Sabaneta, was abandoned for over 60 years, leaving it overgrown and isolated in the jungle. In 2020, Daniela González, a fifth-generation descendant of the original estate’s family, successfully reclaimed it. Since then, she has built a reputation for producing pure, organic Venezuelan Criollo cacao.
Now let me introduce you to Azu’s Origen Hacienda La Sabaneta 70% chocolate bar. The cacao is fermented in wooden boxes made from farm-sourced wood, then dried gradually in the sun. The bar has 2 ingredients: cacao from Hacienda La Sabaneta and cane sugar.
Sight: detailed and sharp molding without blemishes (one day my photography skills will improve enough to highlight it); moderately dark brown; nice packaging
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: strong; sweet with a bit of cinnamon or cardamon
Mouth Feel: melts readily
Taste: the flavor starts with a light floral honey and a little spice, with a mild nuttiness at the end
Astringency: mild
Summary: From the smell to the taste, this is an unexpectedly and wonderfully complicated chocolate. I need to get my hands on more of this.
I’m biased a little bit. I had never heard of or sampled this chocolate before the NWCF in October ’25. While at the festival, I sampled their line of bean to bar chocolate and had such a good chat with one of the guys in the booth. I’m biased because after hearing my comments on each of the samples, he immediately talked to me about starting a chocolate blog. And he kept talking to me about it. And here we are–it’s his fault. In truth, I had thought about it before that conversation, but not seriously. Anyway, let me introduce you to ChocoMe Atelier. Gábor Mészáros, its founder and owner, studied economics and worked in the food industry as a trade marketing manager. He transitioned to making chocolate and founded ChocoMe in 2010 in Budapest, Hungary. ChocoMe branched out to create their single origin bean to bar chocolate line, which is called the ChocoMe Atelier, in 2024. A major contributing force was world-renowned chocolate expert, Chloé Doutre-Roussel, who worked closely with the company to reach this next level. And it paid off. According to an internet search, ChocoMe Atelier has won 106 international awards in competitions such as the International Chocolate Awards and the Great Taste Awards.
Now let me introduce you to ChocoMe Atelier’s 70% Kokoa Kamili chocolate bar. They use trinitario and nacional cacao beans from the Kilombero Valley, Morogoro Region in Tanzania. The beans for this bar are sourced through a social enterprise fermentary who operates by purchasing ‘wet’ cocoa beans directly from smallholder farmers, and then it ferments and dries the beans following a specific protocol. And here are the results.
Sight: the molding is sharp and a thing of beauty–just look at that bar; the packaging is beautiful too (even though it’s a little difficult to tell from my photograph); dark brown color and shiny finish
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity; sweet and fruity
Mouth Feel: smooth even melt
Taste: initially there’s a bright fruitiness that’s well balanced with a deep fudgy flavor, then comes a hint of nut husk bitterness, and it finishes with the balanced fruity, fudgy flavor
Astringency: none with a small sample but a hint with repeated sampling
Summary: This is exceptional and what I look for in a chocolate bar. It has a delicious dark chocolate flavor that’s brightened by the fruitiness, and deepened by the bitterness. I’ve ordered more bars. And I don’t plan to share.
At the NWCF, I think I met Ayissi Nyemba. That sounds weird, I should know who I met. But it was a hoppin’ place and I met a lot of people. What I remember is tasting this chocolate and discussing its bean origin with the young woman behind the table. And I remember telling her, “This tastes like chocolate, the way is should be. Very chocolately chocolate.” (Of note, the sample I tasted was in good condition–no tempering issues or bloom. See below.) The young woman thanked me profusely as I bought a couple bars. Let me introduce you to EMKAO Foods Inc. The company was started by Ayissa Nyemba in 2016. Her family’s cacao plantation, located in the Méfou-et-Afamba region of Cameroon, is 3 generations old. EMKAO Foods Inc, originally located in British Columbia, Canada, focuses on production of single-source chocolate, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, cacao nibs and paste. The company primarily serves chocolatiers, bakeries, creameries, and food service providers through wholesale and bulk distribution. EMKAO Foods Inc has recently shifted its operations to New York. Their facility in Binghamton, NY will be fully operational in early 2026. I could not find any awards for EMKAO Foods Inc products, however, the company/Ayissi has won a couple of business model awards.
Now let me introduce you to EMKAO’s Bakao single origin 70% chocolate bar. It’s made with single origin cacao beans sourced directly from smallholder farmers in Cameroon, non deodorized cocoa butter, organic cane sugar, and vanilla.
Sight: some molding defects, as seen in the photo; not well depicted in the photo was the fat bloom covering the back of the bar and some small portions of the front; I thought this odd so I opened a second bar which was purchased at the same time, and I found the second bar crumbly, with massive amounts of sugar bloom, and in desperate need of being re-tempered; the bars are small at 35g each
Sound: the first bar had moderate snap with break
Smell: mild intensity; sweet
Mouth Feel: mild graininess in the first bar; the 2nd bar was crumbling so badly due to the sugar bloom that texture couldn’t be assessed
Taste: it’s sweet with a rich chocolate flavor that finishes with a mild bitter nut husk flavor that doesn’t seem to compliment the other flavor
Astringency: moderate but short-lived
Summary: This is not a complicated bar. It’s sweet and richly chocolate at the same time. It might be a good introduction into dark chocolate for someone who is looking to expand their palate from milk to dark. However, due to the look and poor texture of the bars I had access to, it’s obvious that poor bar making was afoot. Because of this and the simplicity of the flavor profile, I would have trouble spending $ on another bar.
I do multiple tastings of the same bar prior to writing this blog. Per my usual, I did my first tasting, then the second tasting days later. I can’t lie, I was thrown. After subsequent tastings, I found a lot more complexity in this bar than expected. Let me introduce you to Spinnaker Chocolate. I was re-introduced to Spinnaker at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in October, where I saw a chocolate making demo with Melissa, one their chocolate minion. I loved talking to her! Her enthusiasm for chocolate stood out even among the chocolate festival crowd.
The founders of Spinnaker Chocolate are brothers, Chris and Kelly Van Arsdale, and it’s based out of Seattle, WA. The brothers are self-taught chocolate makers with a love of all things chocolate and sailing, hence their company name. They started the business in 2021, and a portion of each purchase goes toward ocean conservation. They also strive to reduce waste. “From our tape, labels, and boxes to our shipping insulation and bar wrapper, our packaging is compostable, biodegradable, or recyclable.” They make their chocolate a little differently too–they only roast cacao nibs not the whole beans. The more consistent size of the nibs allows for more consistent roasting results. And it has produced chocolate with at least 22 total awards from both the International Chocolate Awards and the Academy of Chocolate Awards since their start in 2021.
Now let me introduce you to Spinnaker’s 70% Puerto Rico chocolate bar. This cacao is single origin from the Hacienda Jeanmarie area in western Puerto Rico. The area is known for producing beans that have flavor combos of tropical fruit and chocolate mousse.
Sight: rich brown, beautifully molded (tricky to see with my amateur photography but I tried)
Sound: good snap during break
Smell: moderate intensity; rich chocolate
Mouth Feel: mild waxiness to start but then proceeded with a quick melt, mild texture noted
Taste: it’s initially fudgy chocolate and earthy flavors are then joined with moderate bright notes (that I can’t name), and the brightness lasts throughout aftermelt
Astringency: mild
Summary: This bar is complex. My first tasting had flavor notes more on the chocolately/earthy side, but later tastings picked up on the brightness. It’s very tasty and I look forward to tasting multiple bars of this, for research…
