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: with initial vanilla flavor note that includes 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 …