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If you look at my Dec 14, 2025 post, I wrote about Argencove’s Apoyo 70% bar. It was a while ago, so I felt like I needed to re-introduce you to this Nicaraguan chocolate maker. Argencove Chocolate has won more than 76 international awards.
Now let me introduce you to Argencove’s 70% mombacho chocolate bar. The bar is named after the Mombacho Volcano, which is a dormant volcano located approximately 6 miles south of Granada. It’s made with cacao and sugar only and has won over 20 international awards.

Sight: clean and classic molding with glossy shine, and the same clean and classic packaging
Smell: strong fruity smell
Sound: good snap with break
Mouth Feel: silky smooth, thin, even melt
Taste: strong berries/fruit flavor initially that deepens into a fudgy/fruity flavor with a hint of bitterness at the end; with repeated tastings the berry/fruit tastes of blackberry and kiwi
Astringency: minimal

Summary: This bar is one of my favorites. Its silky texture is wonderful! And its deliciously fruity flavor balances with the fudgy-ness of the bar instead of overpowering the chocolate flavor. It’s a beautiful thing. Sigh.

This is my first “second bar” review–same maker as a prior post but I’m reviewing a different bar. And I just realized how much easier this is! I’ve already introduced you to this maker–you two are on a first name basis.

Now let me introduce you to Likkel More’s 70% Jamaican Thyme and Orange Peel chocolate bar. This bar is made from a mix of Criollo and Amelonado cacao beans sourced from Tulloch Estates in the St. Thomas Ye Vale valley, Jamaica. The bar uses locally sourced thyme and orange peel.

Sight: classic and clean molding; dark brown; glossy surface; the bar and packaging are colorful–right down to their signature cocoa butter splatter
Smell: moderate intensity; earthy, thyme
Sound: great snap with break
Mouth feel: smooth, thin melt with chunks of orange peel
Taste: strong thyme that gives way somewhat to a mellow orange flavor, then the thyme hits you again
Astringency: none

Summary: This is a lot of thyme. So much thyme that I feel like the cacao’s flavor notes get lost, and instead the whole bar tastes earthy and vegetal. The orange peel isn’t sweet–it’s subtle compared to the thyme and doesn’t help brighten the bar. If you’ve read some of my other reviews, you know I don’t like earthy flavors in general. I know the maker is going for savory and sweet together, but….the chocolate gets lost. I’m not sure I need to buy this bar again.

So many inclusion bars! People at the NWCF mentioned this chocolate maker’s booth as a must-visit because of its flavor line up. Let me introduce you to Likkel More Artisan Chocolate. The name of this chocolate brand comes from a Jamaican expression that roughly translates to “a little more”, because everyone enjoys a little more chocolate. It was founded by Nadine Burie, who was born on the Ivory Coast and moved to Jamaica in 2010 with her husband, Jason Sharp. Nadine fell in love with Jamaica and its people. She had taken fine pastry and chocolatier courses in Canada, as well as training in the bean to bar making process. She used her knowledge to start Likkel More in Kingston, Jamaica. Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. Nadine is committed to creating a quality product, sourcing cacao beans from local farmers and helping to reestablish the local cacao industry, as well as sustainable farming practices. Likkel More Artisan Chocolate has won 9 awards from the Academy of Chocolate Awards and the International Chocolate Awards.

Now let me introduce you to Likkle More’s 70% fresh ginger chocolate bar. This bar is locally sourced, from the single origin Jamaican cacao beans to its fresh ginger root. They use their own pressed cocoa butter too, which is not as common as you’d think.

Sight: dark brown; classic and clean molding; glossy surface; the bar and packaging are colorful and elaborate
Sound: great snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity chocolate smell with a light spiciness
Mouth Feel: smooth and thin melt
Taste: initial fudgy chocolate flavor that quickly changes to a spicy, fresh ginger flavor
Astringency: none

Summary: I love ginger in a bit of an unhealthy way, and this ginger tastes wonderfully fresh. Definitely not from an extract, which tends to taste artificial and not quite how the actual flavor should taste. So I love this bar for that. However, I prefer the lead role to be played by chocolate, and in this bar, the chocolate shines but only momentarily.

It had to happen. Eventually, I had to review an inclusion bar. And I wanted this bar to be the first one. Shane loves his chocolate, and he loves his dogs. He’s definitely one of my people. Anyway, let me introduce you to Nearynogs Chocolate, in Northern Ireland’s Lisnacree, County Down. It’s located on a repurposed potato farm at the base of the Mourne Mountains. Nearynogs was founded in 2011 by the husband and wife team of Shane and Dorothy Neary. It initially started as a flexible way to earn money while they dealt with a family member’s ongoing medical issues. Nearynogs was the first maker in Ireland to use cacao beans sourced direct from growers. And they strive for sustainability, from the packaging and manufacturing facility to the ingredients. Nearynogs has won numerous awards, but my internet search didn’t list them.

Now let me introduce you to Nearynogs’ 60% Ecuador chocolate bar with soda bread. The cacao for this bar is from Ecuador’s Hacienda Limon. It’s a single plantation/farming community with 45 farmers in all. The bar has traditional Irish soda bread, gently toasted and crushed, then swirled into the chocolate.

Sight: clean molding with well executed intricate design; dark brown with a hint of red; shiny finish; packing is modern yet with a hint of traditional Irish design
Sound: clean snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity; deep and chocolate-y
Mouth Feel: textured due to the bread crumbs and chunks; smooth and even chocolate melt
Taste: initial chocolate notes that include sweet and caramel-y notes with a hint of salted butter
Astringency: none

Summary: I’m biased because of their love of dogs, but they make great chocolate too! This bar is a happy combination–the caramel-y chocolate is complimented by the soda bread rather than pushed aside by it. And from a texture perspective, the larger sized bread chunks in this are definitely better than if they’d been fine breadcrumbs. I’ve eaten the whole bar, and I’m not sorry.

What can I say? I’m not good at keeping a schedule when the sun is shining. But I’m a problem solver. And how did I solve this one? I’m outside on my sun soaked deck with my laptop and dogs (they have a shady spot–which one takes advantage of and the other spurns), and I’m ready to talk chocolate. Sounds like a pretty good day to me! Let me introduce you to Mount Pleasant Chocolatiers, from Jamaica. Hellen Akiror French and Averell French started the business officially in 2013, however, they’d met years prior. Averell worked in the UK and was running his family’s cacao and coffee farms in Jamaica. Hellen was researching Blue Mountain coffee. They met and the idea of Mount Pleasant Chocolatiers took shape. Their chocolate is a blend of Criollo and Trinitario cacao from the Blue Mountain area of Jamaica. The Blue Mountains are in eastern Jamaica. They’re about 30 miles long and extend eastward to the Caribbean Sea. The coffee produced from this area is among the most expensive coffee in the world and is exported mainly to Japan. I met Averell and his son at the NWCF. They were such kind people! Mount Pleasant Chocolatiers has won at least 2 food awards and 2 business awards.

Now let me introduce you to Mount Pleasant’s 70% chocolate bar. The bar is handcrafted using single origin Jamaican beans from the Blue Mountains, cocoa butter, sugar, and vanilla beans. This is their flagship bar. It was the first bean-to-bar chocolate made in Jamaica, and the first single origin bar.

Sight: clean, basic mold design; dark brown color; poor tempering
Sound: good snap with break in some areas but crumbly in others
Smell: moderate intensity, sweet and chocolatey
Mouth Feel: smooth and creamy with even melt
Taste: initial moderate sweet walnut flavor and a hint of floral, that ends in a walunt-y deep chocolate flavor
Astringency: very minimal

Summary: This bar might look questionable because of the tempering, but it’s tasty. I’m not usually a fan of the walnut flavor, but this 70% bar was sweeter than expected and the walnut was mellowed by the floral notes. I look forward to supporting these chocolate makers with more purchases in the future.

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 a beautiful origami crane. 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: an intensely chocolate flavor with earthy and nutty notes, but then picks up 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, doesn’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 earthy nuttiness that finishes with a very pleasant creamy honey flavor? Come on. 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 floral honey flavor
Astringency: none

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