Deux Cranes - Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cream (bar) - May 17, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Deux Cranes
Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cream (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 191 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $17.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Filoli (gift shop), Woodside, CA

Welcome to Day #16 of Chocolate & Colombia Theme Week, and Day #5 of Chocolate & Coffee Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate with Coffee, Cream (bar) was made by Deux Cranes LLC (Los Gatos, CA).

Aroma notes included: smooth dark chocolate (sweet green botanical) and subtle coffee

Texture: smooth texture, melt

Flavor notes included: balanced dark chocolate (fudge-y, very faint sweet green (anethole*), very slightly floral and barely detectable, balanced earth) and subtle coffee with a gentle complexity. The generous drizzle of white chocolate ("cream") on one side, did give the effect of drinking a rich mocha beverage with cream floating on top.

I enjoyed the balanced flavors and choice of single origin cacao (75% Ecuador) and single origin coffee (Colombia) that yielded subtle, complex flavors and a slightly richer, more layered aroma than many other coffee chocolate bars.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa liquor from the Ecuadorian Amazon, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), natural vanilla extract) White Chocolate (Ecuadorian sugar, Ecuadorian cocoa butter, Ecuadorian whole milk powder, emulsifier (sunflower lecithin), natural vanilla extract, Coffee Beans from Colombia, Vanilla Paste (Cane sugar syrup, vanilla concentrate, powdered vanilla bean, exhausted vanilla seeds, cane sugar.

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk. The product may contain traces of nuts, milk, and gluten. Produced and packaged in the same facility as soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, sesame, and milk products.

*Anethole is a naturally occurring, volatile chemical compound in plants (notably anise, fennel and star anise) and can be found in trace amounts in certain varieties of cacao (including certain Forastero varieties in Ecuador, and may be found in cocoa butters). Like cacao mass, anethole is hydro-phobic (does not mix well with water). And if added as a flavoring to chocolate, anethole is typically incorporated into cocoa butter (fat).

Spinnaker Chocolate - 68% Colombia with Coffee Single-Origin Chocolate (bar) - May 16, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Spinnaker Chocolate
68% Colombia with Coffee Single-Origin Chocolate (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar

Calories: 120 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Spinnaker Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate & Colombia Theme Week, and Day #4 of Chocolate & Coffee Theme Week.

Today's 68% Colombia with Coffee Single-Origin Chocolate (bar) was from Spinnaker Chocolate, a family owned and operated chocolate maker in Seattle, WA.

This chocolate bar was made "in partnership with Olympia Coffee" (based in Olympia, WA).

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth, naturally sweet/fruity/mild dark chocolate; bright and complex fruit (ripe red dragonfruit, ripe sweet pepper, ripe cherry, citrus, kiwi, coffee cherry, pear), warm spices, black pepper, roasted coffee, and barely detectable tea floral (extremely faint hibiscus/sorrel).

Texture: smooth texture, melt and mouthfeel

I love balanced complex flavors. And I loved the incredibly complex and fruity notes in this single origin bar -- a blend of single origin (Colombia) cacao and single origin (Ethiopian) coffee. Notably, the two areas where these two crops were grown were close to ground zero where they first evolved/were cultivated on Earth.

What a wonderful blend. I hope we don't continue to lose subtle flavors like this as we continue to move from more delicate heritage cacao and coffee varieties (in their original locales) to more sturdy and "productive" varieties.

Ingredients: "Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Ground coffee beans, Roasted"

Allergen-related information: Processed in a facility that uses milk powder and hazelnuts.

Chocolate Tree - Hazelnut Gianduja 40% Bean to Bar (bar) - May 15, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Chocolate Tree
Hazelnut Gianduja 40% Bean to Bar (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 191 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Dispensary, online order

Bacio di Latte Gelateria
2 flavors: Giandujotto (Hazelnut & Chocolate) + Caffe & Caramellatte (Coffee & Caramel)
Good+ - ++
Weight: Unknown (1 grande cup with 2 flavors)

Calories: Unknown
Cost: $11.95 for 1 grande (large) cup

Purchased from: Bacio di Latte Gelateria

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate & Colombia Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate and Coffee Theme Week.

I celebrated today with two creamy hazelnut items--a bar crafted with Colombian cacao and two scoops of gelato: a gianduja flavor and a coffee + caramel flavor.

Hazelnut Gianduja 40% Bean to Bar (bar)

This Gianduja 40% bar was from Knowes Farm in Scotland. 

The heirloom cacao used to make this bar was from Colombia. "The roasted hazelnuts were stoneground together with rare ancestral cacao from the Arhuaco indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Colombia."

Aroma and flavor notes included: sweet, soft chocolate with creamy, fully incorporated hazelnuts. 

The texture was indeed creamy and almost velvety soft. But the chocolate was firm enough to maintain a beautiful interlocking bird pattern on one side of the bar (from the chocolate mould (mold) that shaped it).

I loved the appearance of this bar and subtle flavors in this rich, sweet gianduja confection of a bar. I was surprised it did not contain milk, given the ultra-smooth, creamy texture.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Hazelnuts, Toffee, Sesame. Pair with: Prosecco, Fresh Bread."

Ingredients: Organic Hazelnuts (30%), organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: Contained Hazelnuts. "Dairy is used in our factory." 

Bacio di Latte Gelateria

And to fulfill the "coffee" portion of the overlapping Colombia and Coffee theme weeks today, I visited a newly opened gelateria in Palo Alto, CA. This was the first location in the San Francisco Bay Area for this Brazilian gelato brand.

I tried two of their flavors: Chocolate Hazelnut -- creamy chocolate and gianduja flavors with whole hazelnuts -- and Coffee and Caramel gelato that had pleasing coffee caramel latte flavor. 

Their gelato was sweet (as expected), smooth and balanced with authentic, Italian flavors. 

Karu - Tintico Dark Chocolate with Specialty Coffee 70% Cacao (bar) - May 14, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Karu 
Tintico Dark Chocolate with Specialty Coffee 70% Cacao (bar)

Good ++
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 3 squares of bar (3/4 bar)
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate & Coffee Theme Week.

Today's Karu Tintico Dark Chocolate with Specialty Coffee 70% Cacao (bar) was made in Bogota, Colombia. (Karu chocolates are distributed in the USA and Canada by Tropicalia LLC.)

The maker behind Karu is Maria Leja Villarreal, who created her company in Dubai. She specializes in Colombian cacao chocolates. (The coffee in this bar was from Libertario Coffee Roasters and was grown in Huila, Colombia.)

Each square of this 4-square bar had a raised image of a walking jaguar*. And a jaguar (head) was featured on the label/packaging as well.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate, with faint, slightly earthy, bitter/sour and barely detectable spice (warm spice, peppers) and fruit (slightly roasted golden berry, tomato, red bell pepper, coffee+berry) notes.

Texture: relatively smooth with a very slight botanical astringency, but otherwise nice melt.

Flavor notes included: fairly mellow dark chocolate with balanced, flavorful and complex coffee.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Cane Sugar, Colombian Coffee

Allergen-related information: Produced in facilities processing milk and nuts 

*Jaguars--powerful symbols and ecological icons--are found largely in the Amazon Basin. (They once roamed from Argentina to the Southern United States.) They are native to and can still be found in several South American countries (primarily in the northern part of the continent), including Colombia. 

Chami Cacao - 70% Cafe de Origen Special Coffee (bar) - May 13, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Chami Cacao
70% Cafe de Origen Special Coffee (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 20 g. serving of bar
Cost: $11.80 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate & Colombia Theme Week.

Today's Chami Cacao 70% Cafe de Origen Special Coffee (bar) was made in Colombia. 

Chami* Cacao is based in Mill Valley, CA in the U.S. (Their chocolate bars can be found at Farmers Markets in Marin County, California.) The company also has distribution points in other locales (U.S., France). It was great to be able to find their line of authentic Colombia-made bars. (Thank you to Juliana Grajales P., who is behind this woman-owned enterprise.)

Aroma and flavor notes for today's 70% cacao coffee bar included: satisfying balanced, bold coffee and chocolate aroma and flavors.

Texture: stone-ground, slightly crunchy texture from the particles of ground coffee beans that were incorporated into smooth dark chocolate.

I enjoyed savoring small pieces of this bar; it was enjoyable and satisfying. Some may find the rough (ground coffee) texture a little off-putting initially. (It grows on you.) 

I appreciated the short list of just three ingredients as well as a focus on sustainability (starting with a "chemical free" crop and extending to the cassava starch, biodegradable (inner) packaging).

Ingredients: "Cacao beans, Organic raw cane sugar (panela) & ground coffee"

Allergen-related information: No allergens listed. "Vegan, Nut Free, Soy Free, Gluten Free"

*The name Chami pays tribute to the Embera Chami indigenous people in Colombia. ("It also means 'mountain range' in their language.")

 

Origen Cacao - Ceremonial Cacao - May 12, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Origen Cacao
Ceremonial Cacao 
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (225 g.) in total package/box
Calories: 180 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $30.00 for 1 package/box
Purchased from: Origen Cacao, online order

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

Today's Ceremonial Cacao was from Origen Cacao (San Roque, Antioquia, Colombia).

Ceremonial cacao is a term that became popular in the early 2000s in Central America, associated with "pure" cacao that's closer to that used by traditional cultures -- as opposed to more modern, highly processed and sugared chocolate/cocoa used for drinking.

Ancient Mesoamerican cultures considered cacao a gift from the Gods, and included cacao (typically drinking chocolate) in rituals associated with healing, celebration of life milestones and spiritual communion. But they did not (as far as I know) use the term "ceremonial cacao." 

The Arhuaco people (and other groups in) Colombia still incorporate cacao into celebrations and spiritual practices; e.g. it is often part of ceremonies to honor/connect with Pachamama (Mother Earth). 

Today's cacao was unsweetened. I poured about 4 Tablespoons into about 1/3 cup of hot water and gently stirred the chocolate (shavings/pieces) into the hot liquid until it was completely incorporated.

Aroma notes included: aromatic warm dark chocolate (deep, chocolate-y brownie, very faint spice (pepper, warm spice). 

Texture: smooth, rich drinking chocolate

Flavor notes included: rich, smooth, ultra-dark drinking chocolate that went slightly bitter and sour, but then quickly mellowed into rich, smooth and chocolate-y territory with a plump and satisfying finish.

I enjoyed the rich, chocolate-y aroma, flavors and texture. The small shavings/pieces of dark cacao chocolate melted very readily with hot water and a little stirring, and made for a nice, smooth, rich texture. For a thicker texture add less water, or a thinner, hot cocoa type texture, add a bit more water.

And, yes, you could certainly add the milk and sweetener of your choice. But I suggest sipping it in its basic, unsweetened form first.

Ingredients: (Colombian cacao) 

Allergen-related information: N/A

L'Amourette Chocolatier - 100% Trinitario Cacao Colombia (bar) - May 11, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

L'Amourette Chocolatier 
100% Trinitario Cacao Colombia (bar)
Good +++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 194 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $17.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sigona's Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate & Colombia Theme Week.

Today's Limited Edition 100% Trinitario Cacao Colombia (bar) was made by L'Amourette Chocolat LLC (San Francisco, CA). 

The cacao used to craft this bar was grown in the Huila department in southwest Colombia.

Aroma notes for this 100%er included: dark chocolate, concentrated cacao fruit (syrup), and sweet green botanical (maple, coconut, anethole (fennel), other plant and tree sugars).*

Texture: Smooth, relatively creamy with a bit of (fruit) astringency.

Flavor notes: Rich, balanced, ultra-dark chocolate with complex notes from start to finish. Ultra-dark brownie and bitters; cacao fruit; Sweet green botanical and nut (Brazil nut)...and graham cracker in the long finish. (Note: there were no nut ingredients in this bar.)

I enjoyed the relatively creamy texture, cacao fruit and "nut" notes; the rich, balanced and complex flavors; and the long lingering finish. 

And I appreciated the maker's care in highlighting and balancing all these lovely flavors in this single origin bar--using just one ingredient. (Just Colombian cacao. That's it.) As with other 100% cacao bars without added sugar, a small piece or two can be very satisfying.

Ingredients: Colombia Cacao Beans

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a Facility That Also Processes Nuts."

*There is a bouquet of sweet, green botanical notes that I sometimes taste with certain dark chocolate bars. In the past I've made comparisons to green walnuts in sweet syrup, maple syrup, some coconut sugars, anethole (fennel, anise sugars), and even certain cacao fruit syrups. If you've experienced what I'm describing, I hope you also enjoy these sweet green notes. 

Anethole is a compound (C10H120) associated with fennel, anise and star anise, used to flavor sweet licorice and is also used in foods as an aroma and flavor enhancer.