Loon Chocolate - 75% Maya Mountain Belize (bar) - Feb. 8, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Loon Chocolate
75% Maya Mountain Belize (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, including several bars crafted from Belize cacao.

Maya Mountain Cacao* operates in Southern Belize, a region known for its fine cacao. Makers of many (if not most) of the single origin Belize chocolate bars available in the U.S. will have obtained their cacao beans through Maya Mountain Cacao.

Today's Loon Chocolate 75% Maya Mountain Belize (bar) was manufactured by White Birch Living LLC (Manchester, NH). The small batch chocolate makers hand sort, roast, shell and stone grind the raw cacao they receive.

Aroma and flavor notes for this relatively robust dark chocolate included: dark chocolate (ultra-dark fruity fudge) with flavorful diffuse dried fruits (citrus, tropical fruits, pineapple, mango, fig jam cookie) and very faint warm spice (vanilla) and sweet green/herbal. 

Texture: Smooth, satisfying thick (in a cold room) melt and mouthfeel with a very light astringency. 

I enjoyed this well-balanced, relatively bold, complex and flavorful bar--and the subtle interplay between the cacao's light bitterness and sweet/sour fruit elements. This chocolate had authentic, concentrated fruit sweetness, without being too sweet.

All this flavor was developed from just three (organic) ingredients. 

Ingredients: Organic Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a Facility That Uses Almonds, Milk and Wheat"

*Maya Mountain Cacao (MMC) is a specialty cacao sourcing company that works across the Toledo, Stann Creek and Cayo districts of Belize. 

MMC purchases fresh cacao, ferments and dried the cacao, and exports the cacao beans to numerous specialty chocolate makers in the U.S. and Europe.

Southern Belize is also known for having a very favorable growing climate for good cacao and for its rich cacao-related history.

Cacao has been cultivated in Belize for over 2,000 years, and has been used as food (and currency) by the Maya people. Cacao in this area has also been recognized by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund for its unique flavors and genetically distinct characteristics. 

Dandelion Chocolate - 70% Maya Mountain Belize (2024 Harvest) - Feb. 7, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Dandelion Chocolate
70% Maya Mountain Belize (2024 Harvest) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift from friends - Thank you Evan, Maddy & Isla!

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, including several bars crafted from Belize cacao.

Today's 70% Maya Mountain Belize (2024 Harvest) (bar) was made by Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco, CA).

Aroma notes for this chocolate included: dark, relatively bold chocolate with faint molasses and peat notes with a subtle, well-managed bitterness. (The faint peat note receded after the package was opened for several minutes.)

Texture: Relatively smooth with a very faint, tannic astringency 

Flavor notes included: Bold dark chocolate with balanced/managed bitterness and tannins with initial chocolate-y sweetness, followed by sour, dried fruit (citrus peel + apple + plum marmalade), barely detectable molasses, and light wood. 

After a few bites, the "sour"/marmalade fruit mellowed into tart-sweet red fruit and berry territory. 

This chocolate tasted more bold/intense than 70% cacao; it was closer to an 80%er. A fruit ale-like (almost hoppy)* bitterness lingered into a fairly long, ultra-dark chocolate-y finish. 

Note to milk chocolate fans with a sweet tooth...This Belize bar was full of flavors; but some of these flavors might be a bit intense for those easily frightened by bolder dark chocolates.

I really appreciated the makers' short list of just two ingredients; no added cocoa butter; and the choice of single origin (Maya Mountain Cacao, Belize) from a single harvest year (2024). 

I've long appreciated Dandelion Chocolate's range of single origin chocolates -- made with a group of different makers in their San Francisco location(s). A Belize bar one year might be slightly different than the next. The more specific the cacao type, origin, harvest and maker's roasting choices are, the more unique and special the flavor profile will be. 

Ingredients: Cacao Beans & Cane Sugar

Allergen-related information: "Contains No Dairy, Gluten, Nuts or Soy"

*Note: I drank some hop water, then re-tasted this chocolate. The chocolate tasted much mellower, balanced, sweeter and less bitter. So, this bar might be great paired with a hop-heavy ale or stout, or a smoky/peaty whiskey.