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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…

At the Northwest Chocolate Festival, there’s a lot of chocolate. I mean, a lot of chocolate. My focus was single origin chocolate. And that’s all this company does. Let me introduce you to Argencove Chocolate. Founders, Sally and Peter McFadyen, are from Australia and worked in Peru on a project in fine foods for a few years. While there, they were influenced by its food culture and, with some other Australian families, developed an appreciation for chocolate that eventually led to chocolate making. After visiting quite a few countries to determine their optimal chocolate making location, they chose Nicaragua, specifically Grenada, Nicaragua. They bought a derelict farm, then did the smartest thing they could have done– they sought out some of the best resources in the world to help them understand everything about making chocolate. Everything from cacao genetics, to soil and wind studies, fermentation programs, roasting, etc. I love this. If you want to make great chocolate, not just chocolate, ask people who have already been there. (One of their resources was Alan McLure, formerly of Patric Chocolate, a pioneer of the US craft chocolate movement.) They bought their farm in 2015 and started Argencove Chocolate in 2018. According to the internet, Argencove has won 76 international awards from the Academy of Chocolate London, Chocolate Alliance Awards, International Chocolate Awards, Northwest Chocolate Festival Awards, and others.

Now let me introduce you to Agencove’s Apoyo 70% Nicaraguan chocolate bar. This single origin, 2 ingredient, chocolate bar is made at origin and is named after a local Nicaraguan natural landmark. The Apoyo Lagoon Nature Reserve is located between the departments of Masaya and Granada in Nicaragua, and it protects a volcanic lake occupying the caldera of an extinct volcano.

Sight: dark brown with a hint of red; clean, sharp molding in a classic design
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: moderate intensity; fruity
Mouth Feel: melts readily with slightly different mouth feel–likely because there’s no added cocoa butter in the bar
Taste: it starts with red berries, then a mild bite of lime and then blends beautifully with rich chocolate notes
Astringency: mild astringency that accents the flavor in such a good way

Summary: Argencove’s Apoyo 70% chocolate bar hits pretty much all the right notes for me. I have a fruit bias when it comes to chocolate, and this bar does not disappoint. I will buy it again.

This bar is so beautiful! Just look at that molding, or at least what you can see from my somewhat sketchy photography (I’ll get it right some day). Let me introduce you to Aroko Chocolate. I was first introduced to it at the Northwest Chocolate Festival this year. The chocolate makers are Dubraska and Johonny, a Venezuelan couple, whose company is based in Riese Pio X, Italy. They use only Venezulan cacoa beans to create their bean to bar chocolate. Some of their expertise comes from their college years, when they took master’s level classes in the science and technology of cacao and chocolate. After college, Johonny and his wife moved to Italy, and eventually started their brand–Aroko Chocolate–in 2021. Since that time, Aroko Chocolate has won multiple awards, including International Chocolate Awards Gold in Italy (2023), Silver in Europe (2023 and 2024), and Bronze at the World level (2024) all for their Chuao 70% bar, as well as other International Chocolate Awards.

Now, let me introduce you to Aroko’s Chuao 70% single plantation chocolate bar. The beans are from the village of Chuao, near Henry Pittier National Park in the Aragua state of Venezuela. This cacao is considered a Modern Criollo. (Of note, in 2021 Chuao cacao became the first cacao in the world to receive a certified Designation of Origin, Denominacion Oficial Cacao de Chuao.)

Sight: clean, well molded with a beautiful and modern design; rich dark brown with hint of red; great outer package color/design that’s resealable. (Resealable can be handy for some but is wasted on me–it doesn’t make it back into the packaging.)
Sound: that’s a snap!
Smell: moderate intensity; rich chocolate with a hint of dried fruit
Mouth Feel: initially a little waxy but then with ready, smooth melt
Taste: starts with a subtle plum flavor, then turns a little more fruity/berry-y and finishes with a deep chocolate flavor
Astringency: mild

Summary: Aroko’s Chuao 70% is delicious. Its flavor notes are mild and accent the richness of the chocolate well. I’m glad I have another bar…

I woke up today and couldn’t wait to eat more of this chocolate bar. Throughout the photo shoot over the last few days (“photo shoot” is too strong–just remember I’m learning), I added “life and texture” to the photo by adding nibble marks to the bar. The nibbles got bigger and bigger. As I nibbled, I remembered this bar and how sensational it was when I first tasted it. I picked up this bar, and many others, at the Northwest Chocolate Festival near Seattle, WA a little over a month ago. When I was there, I met the chocolate maker of this bar and had such a good conversation with him about the bean to bar chocolate industry–where it was and where it’s going. Let me introduce you to BOHO Chocolate. Charlie Burke, founder and chocolate maker, started in the ’80’s by opening a small chain of chocolate and confectionery shops. While expanding that business and trying a little film making, he decided to challenge himself by making his own chocolate from bean to bar. He now creates award winning organic farm to table chocolate that’s socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. Let’s talk awards. According to an AI search, since its start in 2014, BOHO chocolate has won over two dozen awards from The Academy of Chocolate, The International Chocolate Awards, and The Good Food Awards.

Now let me introduce you to BOHO’s Bolivia 70% chocolate bar. The beans are from the La Paz region of Palos Blancos, Bolivia. The cacao varieties are trinitario and nativo (wild). The beans were fermented in wooden boxes and sun dried.

Sight: well molded with sharp edges in classic design; color is a rich dark cocoa color; partially shiny finish
Sound: good snap with break
Smell: mild intensity; deep chocolate with a mild sweet fruitiness
Mouth feel: smooth texture; melts readily
Taste: starts with a fudgy chocolate flavor, then adds a mild bright fruitiness and finishes with a little raisin-y richness
Astringency: little to none

Summary: This bar has a deep chocolatey flavor that’s accented well by its mild bright fruity acidity. It’s a flavor profile that’s both mild and wonderful. I look fwd to finishing the bar. And starting another one…