Olive and Sinclair - Candied Lemon Chocolate 75% Cacao (bar) - Jan. 5, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Olive and Sinclair
Candied Lemon Chocolate 75% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 410 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Dispensary, online order

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

Today's Candied Lemon Chocolate 75% Cacao (bar) (Batch No. 012327) was from Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Co. (Nashville, TN).

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate, faint malt (malty cracker) and lemon cookie/biscuit.

Texture: relatively smooth, stone-ground dark chocolate with bits of candied lemon and occasional tiny sparkles of sea salt. 

Flavor notes included: smooth 75% dark chocolate (Ecuador), faint malt, and multi-dimensional sweetness (brown sugar, candied lemon). I enjoyed the perfect balance of dark chocolate, lemon and sea salt in this bar. This was bittersweet at its very, balanced, best.

Each of the elements harmonized well with each other in this blend of smooth, 75% stoneground cacao, upbeat citrus, subtle brown sugar and (Maldon) sea salt, to create a sophisticated and delicious bar. Not too sweet. Not too dark. Not too bitter. Just right. This bar landed squarely in the Goldilocks* zone for me.

Maker's tasting notes: "Chewy candied lemon brings out the brightness of our 75%...chocolate" 

Ingredients: "Cacao Beans, Brown Sugar, Candied Lemon, Sea Salt"

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts"

*The Goldilocks reference is to "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," a story based on a European/American folktale/fairy tale. In most recent versions of this story, a young girl (Goldilocks) visits the home of three bears (who are out on a walk) and tries their bowls of porridge, chairs and beds belonging to each of the three bears. Goldilocks selects items that were neither too hot nor too cold, and were not too hard or soft. She selects the porridge, chair and bed that were "just right" for her. 

Eventually, the bears come home to find Goldilocks asleep on the baby bear's bed. The girl wakes, and runs out before anything happens to her. One assumes the bears were left scratching their heads, and were not entirely happy about the intruder.

Some astronomers have also used the expression "the Goldilocks zone" to describe planets that may possess the right characteristics (not too cold, not too hot, etc.) to support life.

 

TCHO - "Winter Squeeze" - 62% Smooth Dark Chocolate + Vibrant Orange - Jan. 4, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

TCHO
"Winter Squeeze" - 62% Cacao Smooth Dark Chocolate + Vibrant Orange
Good ++
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) for 2 bars / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total package of 3 bars
Calories: 200 calories in 2/3 of the package (2 bars)
Cost: $11.99 for 1 package of 3 bars
Purchased from: TCHO, online order

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

Today's "Winter Squeeze" 62% Cacao (bars) were from TCHO Ventures Inc. (Berkeley, CA).

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate infused with aromatic, bold, authentic citrus (orange).

Flavor notes for these two individually-wrapped smaller bars (part of a package of 3) included: a relatively smooth, and certainly sweet, blend of 62% cacao dark chocolate and sweet citrus (orange juice, lime*, lemon*, pink grapefruit). The flavors in this winter waker-upper were authentic, bright. and bracing. 

I enjoyed this cheery, citrus-infused chocolate, even if it was on the sweet side. (Think 100% orange juice (frozen) bar covered in dark chocolate.) 

Thank you to the makers at TCHO for using orange powder (rather than just natural flavors or orange essential oils (whose taste/quality vary quite a bit)). The orange powder gave this bar a much more full-bodied and authentic citrus flavor; and evoked memories of freshly picked oranges in childhood that brightened up cold, damp January days then as well.

I also appreciated the use of Organic ingredients and the Organic certification, as well as the use of Fair Trade Certified cacao beans and cocoa butter.

*Orange and grapefruit were the citrus fruit flavorings in this bar. There was no lime or lemon.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans*+, Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*+, Orange Powder (Orange Peel and Pulp)*, Sunflower Lecithin*,  Citic Acid, Natural Orange Flavor*, Natural Grapefruit Flavor, Vanilla Beans*

(*Organic; +Fair Trade Certified)

Allergen-related information: May contain tree nuts.