Author: Kelley

I’ve run into this chocolate maker at 2 different chocolate festivals–Northwest Chocolate Festival and Midwest Chocolate Festival. The NWCF was my 1st chocolate festival and it was, frankly, just short of overwhelming. I remember tasting their chocolate and buying a few bars, but don’t remember meeting anyone from their team. However, later at the Midwest Chocolate Festival in IN, I was sure to talk to them. Liang is just about as sweet as her chocolate–she gifted me 2 beautiful origami cranes. Let me introduce you to Kessho Craft Chocolate and Gelato. Its co-founders are Liang Wang and Mark Huetsch. Liang studied pastry and chocolate making in Tokyo. Mark studied computer science and Chinese studies at Stanford. They met in 2009, then opened Pantry’s Best, a bakery known for reimagining Asian ingredients into Western-style desserts. They launched their chocolate making brand in 2019, then relocated to Austin, Texas in 2023. “Kessho” translates to “Crystal” in Japanese. It’s a symbol of clarity, purity, and finding the right balance of elements. Kessho has won 33 awards from the Academy of Chocolate, International Chocolate Awards, and Good Food Awards since their start in 2019.

Now let me introduce you to Kessho’s 70% Kokoa Kamili Tanzania chocolate bar. These cacao beans are from the Mbingu area, a thriving market town located in the Kilombero District of the Morogoro Region in central Tanzania. The town is known as a center for organic cacao farming. These beans are trinitario and have been sun-dried on mesh tables.

Sight: clean molding with glossy shine; dark brown with a hint of red; on-point mold design; on the outside, colorful packaging that uses a traditional Chinese watercolor technique, and on the inside, a simplified look at the process of chocolate making along with the origin of these particular beans
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: fruity and strong
Mouth Feel: texture is smooth with the occasional sugar crystal; easy melt with thin coverage
Taste: plum and more plum! then a hint of lime and finishes with a fudgy chocolate flavor
Astringency: barely a hint

Summary: I mentioned the occasional sugar crystal in an otherwise perfectly smooth texture. It’s not accidental. It’s brilliant. It keeps my mouth engaged on different levels without being an unwelcome disruption to that silky smooth texture. And that plum flavor is amazing, then mellows with the help of the lime and blends so nicely with the dark fudgy flavor. I ate the original bar from the NWCF almost immediately after purchase. The one I tasted for this review was a replacement purchase–replaced 4 times over.

The chocolate community seems to be full of do-gooders, and the Semilla Cacao Group is the best of examples. Let me introduce you to Semilla Escuela De Cacao. I remember meeting this group at the NWCF. Keep in mind, I was there for chocolate. They were there to educate, and not necessarily about chocolate. Don’t mistake me, they know the chocolate making process, but they were there for a different purpose. Semilla Escuela De Cacao is essentially a school based in Managua, Nicaragua. It’s dedicated to training cacao farmers and cooperatives across Central America, with the goal of helping them transform cacao into high-value chocolate to create economic opportunities for them and their communities. The students make chocolate and sell it, for experience and profit. And because this teaching group knows a few things about chocolate making, they make their own chocolate products to sell along with the student products. Apparently, a student group finished a batch of chocolate just prior to the festival last year. Booth workers were very honest and said it wasn’t good chocolate–I tasted it and agreed. However, they brought it and others to sell. While I talked to one of the workers, they sold at least 3 of those bad chocolate bars. Each worker told everyone the same thing–it’s not good chocolate–but it was made by a group of 1st time, all female, chocolate making students from a very poor community. And people bought that awful chocolate to support them. Proof that the chocolate community is full of do-gooders, from makers to consumers.

Now let me introduce you to the Semilla Cacao Group’s Oscuro 80% chocolate bar. This is NOT the bad chocolate bar mentioned above. This bar is made by the teachers and with cacao from Waslala, Nicaragua. Waslala is a town located in the North Caribbean Coastal Region of Nicaragua and is known as a hub for flavorful cacao production. The area contributes to over 50% of Nicaragua’s national cacao bean output. This bar is made with 3 ingredients: single origin cacao, cocoa butter, and sugar.

Sight: dark brown; clean molding with good bar design; partially shiny
Smell: moderate intensity and earthy, chocolate-y
Sound: great snap with break
Mouth Feel: thin melt, creamy
Taste: at first it’s sweet and nutty, then deeply chocolate-y with a little nut husk flavor that adds some bitterness
Astringency: mild to moderate

Summary: It’s initial sweetness is surprising for an 80% bar, and it’s so very chocolate-y. The mild bitterness didn’t detract, but instead added character to its flavor profile.

Ok, I was a little busy. First, I had another cold. Another one! I must have done something bad in a previous life to warrant 2 colds over 2 months. Or, maybe I just need to increase my vitamin C… Anyway, after the cold, spring hit. Spring hit suddenly (or maybe it just felt like it), and now I’m trying to do all the spring things, including lawn, vegetable garden, and flower garden. I feel like I’m behind already for the season! Anyway, it’s about time for some chocolate talk. Let me introduce you to Luisa Abram Chocolates. I know Luisa Abram chocolate, and I’m a fan. I don’t know her personally, so I can’t call her my bestie, but I wish I could. If she’s anything like her chocolate, she’s worth knowing. Here’s the background. Luisa Abram was born in Coventry, England. She and her family moved back to São Paulo, Brazil when Luisa was 3 years old. In 2013, she decided to enroll in the gastronomy program at Anhembi Morumbi University in São Paulo with the intention of opening a specialty food shop. Fortunately for us, she changed her focus to chocolate making. She still wanted to deliver unusual Brazilian flavors though, so she sought wild cacao. Luisa Abram Chocolates was founded in 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil by Luisa Abram, and the company is now run by her and her family. The company exclusively focuses on wild grown cacao from the Amazon Rainforest. Because the wild fruit yields are small, and more difficult to forecast, Luisa and her family work with the foragers (not technically farmers) to help them improve the way they handle the beans to improve their product. And the company pays the foragers 4-5 times more for their improved wild cacao than the much lower industrial price. Luisa Abram’s has won more than 20 awards from the International Chocolate Awards and Academy of Chocolate since 2018.

Now let me introduce you to Luisa Abram’s 70% Rio Purus chocolate bar. This chocolate is from a cooperative of 300 river dwellers who farm the wild cacao flourishing on the banks of the Purus River. This cooperative is called Cooperar.

Sight: clean molding, glossy finish; color is moderate brown; packaging is modern and appealing
Sound: a slightly soft snap with break
Smell: mild intensity; pleasant and sweet
Mouth Feel: smooth, even melt
Taste: light floral taste that’s a combination of jasmine and vanilla, with a honey/light caramel secondary flavor
Astringency: none

Summary: It doesn’t disappoint. From its smooth texture to mild and not overpowering floral sweetness, this bar is just tasty. I’m glad I have a little left after the multiple tastings I did, but I might have to order more…

Let me introduce you to Finca Manantiales Monticristi. I couldn’t find much information about this chocolate maker, but I believe it is a family-run cacao farm, located in Monticristi, Ecuador. Montecristi is a town in the coastal region of the Manabí province in Ecuador, and it’s the capital of Montecristi Canton. Montecristi was formed during the first years of the Spanish conquest, around 1536. The area is renowned for exceptional cacao growing conditions. The Finca Manantiales farm has been a cacao producing family-run farm for at least two generations. The family started making chocolate in 2023 and use exclusively the Nacional-Fino de Aroma (cacao Arriba) cacao grown on their farm. Finca Manantiales Monticristi has won 2 awards, both from the International Chocolate Awards in 2025.

Now let me introduce you to Finca Manantiales’ 74% chocolate bar. It’s made from only 3 ingredients: single origin cacao from their farm, cane sugar, and cacao butter.

Sight: clean molding, mostly shiny finish, dark brown color (I apologize for my photography skills–I’m seeking profession help)
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: mild/moderate intensity; pleasant and chocolatey
Mouth Feel: mildly chalky texture with thin melt
Taste: it has an intensely chocolate flavor with earthy and nutty notes, but then adds a note of honey
Astringency: mild

Summary: It’s a bar that at first I thought would fall into my “nice chocolate” list. You know the list–good quality, didn’t taste bad, but… With multiple samplings over the last few days, I’ve recognized it for what it is–complex and more than just nice. Deep chocolate flavor, along with an earthiness and nuttiness that finishes with a very pleasant creamy honey flavor? Come on. Now that’s a good bar of chocolate.

While waiting in line for the NWCF in October, I talked with fellow chocolate enthusiasts. Among other things, I asked a few veteran festival goers, “Which booths do I absolutely need to hit?” Many said, “Mestico!” Let me introduce you to Mestico Chocolates. Mestico was founded in 2017 by Rogério Kamei and his wife, Claudia, in Bahia, Brazil. Their cacao farm, Bonança Farm, is located within the municipality of Itacaré, where the Rio de Contas meets the ocean. The area is known for its stunning beaches and amazing surf culture. Rogerio is a third-generation cacao farmer and former mechanical engineer, who established the brand to add value to his family’s cacao farm. His goal was to create a stable income amid fluctuating cacao prices and promote sustainable farming practices. Mestico was one of the first companies to use its own cocoa butter in its chocolate bars. Most bean to bar brands buy deodorized cocoa butter that was produced from ordinary cacao by other manufacturers. Mestico Chocolates has won 28 awards through the International Chocolate Awards, Academy of Chocolate Awards, and Bean to Bar Brazil Award.

Now let me introduce you to Mestico’s Hidromel 77% Intense Dark chocolate bar. As mentioned, the cacao is single origin from Bonanca Farm in Brazil. Besides using their own pressed cocoa butter, they also use a honey-infusing fermentation process for the cacao. The process begins with fresh cacao fruits, which are opened and combined with water and honey in a fermentation tank. The beans undergo a two-month fermentation in the honey and water solution. Then the cacao continues with the regular process of being dried, roasted, and processed into chocolate.

Sight: dark brown with shiny surface; clean, sharp molding; outer packaging attractive, but the inside is wonderfully informative
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity, chocolatey
Mouth feel: creamy and smooth, soft melt
Taste: an initial deep cocoa flavor with a secondary note that’s tangy like yogurt along with a light flora honey flavor
Astringency: none

Summary: This is a deliciously complicated bar–chocolate paired with a delicately floral mead flavor. I’m trying to figure a way to get more without flying to WA state for the next NWCF. Darn it, I might just have to go back to the NWCF next year.

Special edition: This is not a chocolate that was at the NWCF in Oct 2025. A friend recently went to Egypt. And as true friends do, she brought me chocolate. Let me introduce you to Masison Choc. Maison Choc was founded by Clara Dayoub. She was a business major in college but had chocolate dreams. Literally. So she went to the Le Cordon Bleu in France and studied chocolate making. She went back to Egypt and founded her store, Maison Choc, in 2020. The store makes its own bean to bar chocolate bars and other tasty treats. Clara currently sources cacao beans from five countries—Guatemala, Madagascar, Venezuela, Uganda, and Vietnam. My search was not exhaustive, but no awards for her chocolate were found.

Now let me introduce you to Maison Choc’s 70% Bolivia Sugar Free chocolate bar. I naturally shied away from this bar because, well, it’s sugar free. Yuck. It’s sweetened with monk fruit. Yuck. Of note, I thought I was allergic to monk fruit, but I guess I’m not ’cause I ate this whole bar without trouble. The cacao beans are from ElCeibo–a group of >1200 small farmers that grow organic cacao beans.

Sight: good molding with clean lines and good surface shine especially considering the multiple flights in a carry-on bag that this bar endured; dark brown with reddish tint; the packaging is excellent–it’s simple and elegant on the outside while the inside is packed with information and your very own tasting card with instructions and flavor wheel
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity and sweet
Mouth Feel: creamy and smooth with even melt
Taste: initial vanilla flavor notes that include an oaky-ness that reminds me of bourbon, and finishes with a soft delicious combo of vanilla and chocolate
Astringency: none

Summary: I definitely recommend this bar. Such a smooth bar with a wonderfully sweet, oaky, vanilla flavor–much like a bourbon flavor. It was such a pleasant surprise and changed my natural distrust of chocolates with the phrase “sugar free”. Now to see if I can get my hands on more of it …

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.