Rozsavolgyi Csokolade - Lavender Fields Forever (bar) - Apr. 19, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Rozsavolgyi Csokolade 
Lavender Fields Forever (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 172 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $22.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Dispensary, online order 

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Today's "Lavender Fields Forever" (bar) was from Rozsavolgyi Csokolade (Budapest, Art Quarter, Hungary).*

Aroma and flavor notes for this 73% cacao dark chocolate + lavender oil bar included: relatively bold, but well-balanced dark chocolate (roasted dark chocolate cake) infused with subtle, aromatic lavender floral.

Texture: smooth, with a relatively thick, almost creamy melt (in a cool room).

I appreciated the (compostable) packaging with creative artwork and the use of a short list of (just four) ingredients.

Ingredients: dark chocolate (cocoa beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter - contains min. 73%), lavender oil

Allergen-related information: Produced in a factory that also handles nuts, sesame seed and milk powder.

*The translation of Rozsavolgyi Csokolade into English is: Valley of the Roses (Chocolate); and the name "Rozsavolgyi is a suburban part of Budapest, where the company was born." The company also offers chocolates with floral and many other interesting flavor inclusions.

Mandela Chocolate - Vanilla Orchid Raw Dark Chocolate (bar) - Apr. 18, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Mandala Chocolate
Vanilla Orchid Raw Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 162 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.80 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week. This week includes a variety of floral ingredients, including today's vanilla bar. Vanilla is a spice derived from a pod of a Vanilla orchid flower.

Today's Vanilla Orchid Raw Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC).

Aroma and flavor notes for this Organic, Raw 77% dark chocolate bar included: smooth dark chocolate and warm vanilla bean.

Texture: smooth, relatively creamy, dark chocolate with no graininess

I appreciated the warm vanilla (and coconut sugar) flavors in this dark chocolate, as well as Mandala's short list of quality, authentic and organic ingredients used in this bar and their other chocolates.

Ingredients: *Cacao, *Coconut Sugar, *Raw Tahitian Vanilla Bean, Celtic Sea Salt(TM) (* Organic & Raw)

Allergen-related information: (No allergen warnings were found on packaging.)

Mandala Chocolate - Lavender Citrus (bar) - Apr. 17, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Mandala Chocolate
Lavender Citrus
Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.80 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Lavender Citrus (bar) was from Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC).

Aroma notes for this Organic Raw chocolate bar included: smooth dark chocolate, mint, sweet citrus (orange/tangerine) and very faint smokey earthy flavor. 

When I tasted this chocolate (an hour after it had been opened), I tasted a little more lavender, the smokey + umami + slightly earthy (flavor), and very faint vanilla bean. The lovely citrus notes complemented the lavender, vanilla and earth notes. Sadly the orange oil faded (dissipated) a little after the package had been opened for a few hours. But it was still a great blend of flavors.

I'm an outdoors girl who likes forests and gardens. I also enjoy umami flavors. So the slightly smoky flavor notes mentioned above didn't bother me. But for those who prefer a tamer, sweet brownie/chocolate cake flavor profile, this might not be your first choice.

I appreciated the short list of quality, authentic, and organic ingredients.

Ingredients: *Cacao, *Coconut Sugar, *Raw Tahitian Vanilla Bean, *Lavender Oil, *Orange Oil, Celtic Sea Salt(TM) (* = Organic & Raw)

Allergen-related information: (None found on packaging.)

Sama Delights Truffles - Lavender and Cardamom truffles - Apr. 16, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Sama Delights Truffles
Lavender truffles
Good++
Weight: .918 oz. (26 g.) for two truffles

Calories: 145 calories (estimate) for 2 truffles
Cost: $3.69 each x 2 = $7.38 total for two truffles

Purchased from: Xocolatl garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Lavender truffles were created by Sama Delights Truffles (Pacific Grove, CA). 

I found these at the Xocolatl Garden in Carmel, California -- a shop one enters via an arched pathway facing onto a secret garden--in a beautiful seaside community blocks away from a white sand beach on the Pacific Ocean, not far from where these truffles were created.

Aroma and flavor notes included: authentic lavender and chocolate and very faint coconut butter. 

Texture: outside was a humble truffle that you might find in the woods (slightly oblong with a dusting of cocoa); and the inside was very luxurious and perfectly creamy chocolate ganache, with a dreamy melt.

This was a true truffle. I loved the authentic and balanced lavender and the creamy texture.

Ingredients: No ingredients list or allergen list was included. These were sold by the piece in a small display case.

DAR Chocolate - Hibiscus Art Bar - Hibiscus Dark Chocolate 72% cacao (bar) - Apr. 15, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

DAR Chocolate 
Hibiscus Art Bar - Hibiscus Dark Chocolate 72% cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 132 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Today's DAR Chocolate Hibiscus Art Bar - Hibiscus Dark Chocolate 72% cacao (bar) was manufactured by DAR Chocolate LLC (Thornton, CO). The team at DAR honors artists in their packaging; and this Hibiscus bar was a collaboration with The Morgan Adams Foundation ("Funding Kids Cancer Research") that featured the art of Gifford Ewing. 

Hibiscus has become a more popular floral flavor inclusion over the last few decades. This tart-sweet flower adds an uplifting, citrus + red berry-like flavor to chocolate. (Originally from Africa, Spanish galleons (ships) brought hibiscus flowers to the Caribbean and Mexico in the 1500s.)* 

Aroma and flavor notes this this Hibiscus bar included: smooth dark chocolate, blueberry and faint floral (hibiscus).

I enjoyed the refreshing dark berry flavor that was part of this smooth dark chocolate, and appreciated the relatively short list of organic ingredients.

Ingredients: cacao liquor*, cane sugar*, cacao butter*, Hibiscus essence. (*organic)

Allergen-related information: Made in a facility that processes milk, peanuts and tree nuts. 

*Hibiscus is related to cacao. Both are in the Malvaceae or mallow family--along with plants as varied as cotton, okra, durian and balsa.

Utopick Chocolate Makers - Saffron - 56% Cocoa Milk Chocolate with Saffron (bar) - Apr. 14, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Utopick Chocolate Makers
Saffron (Azafran) - 56% Cocoa Milk Chocolate with Saffron (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 242 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Cacao and saffron are both versatile edible plants that can go sweet or savory. Love them both. Which is why I was excited about today's bar.

Today's "Saffron 56% Cocoa Milk Chocolate with Saffron" bar was from Utopick Chocolate s.l. (Valencia, Spain).

Aroma and flavor notes included: buttery, warm milk chocolate with clean spice (saffron floral) and light caramel.

Texture: uniformly creamy smooth with a slight caramel "chew" in the early melt (in a cool room), and a very faint astringency toward the finish.

I really enjoyed and appreciated the authentic saffron (saffron crocus stamens were visible on the back of the bar). The subtle, undulating saffron complexity was wonderful. And the fleeting, aromatic buttery saffron notes (that I recognized from eating saffron rice as a child) reinforced the buttery taste in the milk chocolate, enhancing buttery caramel flavor notes.

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, cane sugar, pure cocoa butter, whole milk powder, saffron threads from Spain (0.5%).

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk. May contain traces of nuts, gluten, egg, sesame, soya. 

Mayana Chocolate - Strawberry Rose - Strawberry Marshmallow, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Rose (bar)

Chocolate of the Day

Mayana Chocolate
Strawberry Rose
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $4.49 (estimate)
Purchased from: World Market, San Jose, CA  

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate & Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Strawberry Rose - Strawberry Marshmallow, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Crystallized Roses (bar) was from Mayana Chocolate (Spooner, WI).

Aroma and flavor notes for this high-end confection of a bar included: faint, tart-sweet, red berry (authentic strawberry), gelatin, caramel, faint vanilla and subtle dark chocolate. (I wasn't able to taste the rose.)

Texture: a generous layer of soft, cloud-like, marshmallow atop another generous layer of soft, slightly chewy caramel -- all covered with a layer of smooth dark chocolate

This bar was a fun blend of flavors, although this high-end, filled chocolate candy bar was a bit too sweet for me. Those who like marshmallow chocolates, or who have a sweet tooth will likely enjoy it. 

I appreciated the use of real strawberry (freeze-dried strawberry powder) rather than an artificial or "natural" flavor. That really made a difference; thank you.

Ingredients: Cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa liquor, soy lecithin, sugar, glucose, heavy cream, butter (cream, salt), vanilla bean, sea salt, marshmallow (sugar, glucose, gelatin, dextrose, vanilla bean), freeze-dried strawberry powder.

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk and Soy. Made in a facility that processes milk, eggs, wheat, soy, gluten, tree nuts, and peanuts