Kakoa - 82% Cacao Criollo Dark Chocolate, Criollo Pichucalco, Chiapas (bar) - April 2, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Kakoa
82% Cacao Criollo Dark Chocolate, Criollo Pichucalco, Chiapas (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.03 oz. (30 g.) /2.11 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #17 of Chocolate & Mexico Theme Week(s).

Today's 82% Cacao Criollo Dark Chocolate, Criollo Pichucalco, Chiapas (Batch #2216) (bar) was made by Kakoa (Rio Chico, Mexico City, Mexico). 

Aroma and flavor notes included: relatively intense dark chocolate with complex fruit (concentrated cacao fruit; cacao fruit pulp syrup); nut (dark, slow-roasted almonds); and faint dark chocolate fudge cake.

Texture: This well-tempered bar broke with a snap. It had a smooth texture and melt with occasional very tiny crunchy (likely cacao nib) fragments--and a faint, fruit astringency in the finish.

This chocolate had a relatively bold aromatic (lightly roasted) cacao--as well as condensed cacao fruit--flavors. However, despite the deep, dark intensity, the bitterness and acidity levels were quite low. All of the taste, without the harshness in the flavor or finish, thanks to the single origin criollo variety cacao in this well-executed bar. 

This bar belongs in a criollo chocolate flight, or a chocolate tasting that features cacao fruit notes. Kakao has captured authentic cacao fruit pulp in their chocolates; and I'm very grateful. Today's 82% cacao bar yielded a deep, dark, whole cacao tasting experience that I found satisfying and inspiring (where was the farm? what did the raw cacao taste like?). No dancing, light, fruity notes; but a more profound, condensed essence of total cacao.

I appreciated the short list of (just two) quality ingredients, including single origin Mexican cacao from Hacienda Napana in Pichucalco in Chiapas, Mexico. 

Of Coatis and Cacao in Chiapas

This bar's packaging was adorned with an illustration of a coati, a small mammal (related to raccoons) that lives in Chiapas in cacao-growing areas. The Aztec name for coatis in the Chiapaneca jungles/forests is Pitzotl. Pitzotlcalco in the nahuatl language means "place of the pitzoltl"...and thus the name Pichucalco--where the cacao for this bar was grown. (And yes, coatis do sometimes eat cacao pulp, melons and other fruits.)

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Nuts and almonds with a touch of fruit"

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans and Sugar

Allergen-related information: (Contains: Milk.) May contain milk and tree nuts. (Manufactured in a facility that also processes milk and tree nuts.)

Sibo - Costa Rica Extra Dark 82% Cacao (bar) + Jean-Marie Auboine Caramelized Almond 65% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Feb. 18, 2026

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Sibo Chocolate
Costa Rica Extra Dark 82% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.50 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Missing information 

Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier
Caramelized Almond 65% Dark Chocolate Gourmet (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) / 3.18 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 246 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: N/A - gift from a friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend

Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, featuring a Sibo Chocolate Costa Rica Extra Dark 82% Cacao bar made by Chocoindustria Cinco, S.A. (in Costa Rica)--and a second "bonus" dark chocolate bar from Las Vegas (a gift from a friend).

Sibo Chocolate Costa Rica Extra Dark 82% Cacao (bar)

Aroma notes included: naturally sweet dark chocolate (cocoa, drinking chocolate, dark ganache); with light (and multiple shades of) vanilla--including vanilla marshmallow and barely detectable vanilla tobacco--even though there was no added vanilla listed in the ingredients; and sweet green. 

Texture: This relatively thin bar broke with a hard snap in a cold room, and had a smooth, buttery, slow satisfying melt and mouthfeel.

Flavor notes included: pleasing, rich and smooth hot cocoa with flavor notes similar to the aroma notes (mentioned above), along with faint nut (cashew, almond, nut/seed). This well-balanced chocolate was relatively low in bitterness for an 82%er.

As noted above, I was very surprised this did not contain added vanilla, given the lovely warm spice, and light floral and botanical range of notes I'd associate with vanilla.

Note: This Costa Rica chocolate was similar to Single Estate Guacimo Limon Costa Rica 82% bar that I had 8 years ago in 2018 from the same maker. So, I enjoyed a second new chocolate (below) to avoid a possible duplication. 

Ingredients: chocolate (cacao, organic sugar, cacao butter, sunflower lecithin).

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk, almonds and cashew.

Jean-Marie Auboine - Caramelized Almond 65% Dark Chocolate (bar)

This elegantly packaged dark chocolate bar--a gift from a friend--was from Jean-Marie Auboine Chocolatier (Las Vegas, NV). 

Aroma notes included: fresh/lightly roasted nuts (almonds) and chocolate.

Texture: the base chocolate had a smooth, almost creamy texture with a pleasing melt interspersed with crunchy whole, lightly caramelized almonds. 

Flavor notes included: smooth, sweet dark chocolate (chocolate-y, fudge, dark ganache) and nutty: lightly roasted and caramelized almonds.

I enjoyed this well-executed, balanced (approachable and sophisticated) chocolate and almond bar that was sweet enough to be somewhat addicting, but not overly sugar-y sweet.

Ingredients: "Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Almonds, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla"

Allergen-related information: "Contains Tree Nuts, Soy. May Contain Traces of Milk"

 

Scharffen Berger - 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 7, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Scharffen Berger 
82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $5.19 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Dark Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker (Ashland, OR). 

Aroma notes included: relatively sweet dark chocolate (cocoa/drinking chocolate with very faint vanilla), and very faint green botanical and fruit.

The texture was smooth but with an astringency (graininess/dryness) toward (and extending well) into the finish.

Flavor notes included: relatively bold dark chocolate (in keeping with an 82% cacao dark chocolate), very faint, diffuse fruit (red berry and citrus syrup/drink), and faint bitter earth. A very subtle amount of vanilla added a sense of sweet cocoa warmth.

Ingredients: "Cacao Beans, Sugar, Vanilla Bean."

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a facility that processes tree nuts and dairy."

 

Taitau - 82% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 31, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Taitau (Tai Tau)
82% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 2 servings (6 squares) of bar
Cost: $3.39 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Crossroads Specialty Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Lithuania Theme Week.

Today's 82% Dark Chocolate (bar) from Taitau (Tai Tau) Exclusive Selection (Lietuva, Lithuania) was imported into the U.S. by B&I Overseas Trading Inc. (Van Nuys, CA).

This bar was made using "premium quality Granada, Ghanian and Arriba cocoa beans." 

Aroma notes for this bar included: dark chocolate (rich cocoa, ganache); sweet green/botanical (sugar cane/brown sugar/maple, sweet tart lemon herb - oxalis); caramel macchiato; and very faint (barely detectable) dried fruit.  

Flavor notes were similar to the aroma notes, and included: bold, balanced, deep, dark cacao (Forastero cacao from Ghana); sweet green botanicals, including green floral, light marshmallow (perhaps from Arriba Nacional cacao and a hint of vanillin); caramel; coffee; and very faint, fleeting (and very diffuse) stone fruit and red berry jam (perhaps from Trinitario-related varieties of cacao in Grenada).

The makers have done a great job at balancing and blending cacao varieties from three different cacao growing regions of the world in their chocolate bars. I felt I could almost taste each contribution and cacao variety in their bars featured this week that varied from 46% - 99% cacao content. My favorites were the 72% and 82% cacao chocolates; but it was educational and fun to taste all of them within days of each other. 

The information provided on the packaging was much appreciated and the tasting experiences were much enjoyed. 

Ingredients: "Cocoa mass (made from premium quality Grenada, Ghanian and Arriba cocoa beans), sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier - rape (canola) lecithin, flavoring vanillin."

Allergen-related information: "This product may contain traces of peanuts, hazelnuts, gluten and milk."

Blanxart - 82% Congo Mountains of the Moon single origin (bar) - Jan. 14, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Blanxart
82% Congo Mountains of the Moon Single Origin, Organic (bar) 
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1.06 oz. (30 g.) (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $7.49 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Nugget Markets, Tiburon, CA (Thank you Don!)

Buenos dias (good day), and welcome to Day #8 of European Chocolate Holiday Theme Week, where we're experiencing several European countries, via chocolate. 

Today's featured bar enabled virtual travel to Barcelona, Spain. (And, for those in California, scroll down to read about a "real" visit to a local Basque restaurant for additional chocolate fun.)

The 82% Congo (Mountains of the Moon) single origin, organic dark chocolate bar was made from bean to bar in Barcelona by Blanxart (San Joan Despi, BCN, Spain). 

Because of the proximity to African cacao growing countries, many European makers obtain their cacao from Africa. Blanxart chocolate makers crafted this 82% single origin bar using Forastero variety cocoa beans ("selected from small farm cooperatives") from Congo. 

The "Mountains of the Moon" name in the bar's title refers to the Rwenzori Mountains located between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the more temperate foothills surrounding this range, cacao and other crops are grown.

This bar had a dark chocolate aroma with smooth, faint umami (salt caramel, leather and light earth/clay, barely there roasted greens) and clean mineral notes.

The Forastero cacao used yielded bold, deep hearty chocolate flavor (as this variety typically does). However, even at a high cacao percentage (82%),* the flavor profile also had nicely balanced complexity, including true chocolate (toasted brownie) notes and (half-way in) an up-tick of bright fruit, including berry (red raspberry to ripe blackberry/black raspberry, and sweet black currant) and very faint citrus (sour lemon to very sweet pink grapefruit) notes. 

This multi-faceted, sophisticated chocolate was relatively low in bitterness (for an ultra-dark Forastero bar) and had a balanced level of acidity. The bold chocolate flavors tapered down softly (as if to take a bow) into a clean finish.

Blanxart tasting notes for Mountains of the Moon cacao: "...red fruits, citrus..."

Ingredients: "Cocoa 82% minimum. Organic cocoa, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter."

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk, nuts and soy." (Organic, certified by CCPAE.)

Basque Cuisine and Marquise au Chocolat 
I imagined a (virtual) walk through Barcelona today to taste the flavors of cacao, passing examples of Gaudi's colorful sculptural architecture along the way, and enjoying great food (and chocolate). One could easily spend a week in this one Catalan city alone.

Within many European countries, regions holds delicious secrets. Both the Catalan region in the south of Spain (Mediterranean coast) and Basque region in the north (on the Cantabrian Sea) share a border with France. Early proximity to ports and prosperous cities enabled access to cacao and a variety of culinary influences; and the results can still be enjoyed today.

In the interest of virtually visiting northern Spain, I made a "real" visit to Le Chalet Basque (San Rafael, CA). The small restaurant offered authentic Basque dishes with a heavy French influence. I enjoyed a piece of their Marquis au Chocolat dessert, to go, after a long walk by the San Francisco Bay. If you're not familiar with this chocolate creation, think: a cross between a cognac flavored, chilled chocolate mousse and the best dark chocolate gelato/ice cream you've tasted. It was heaven in a take-out box. 

*Note: Percentages listed on chocolate packaging do not always correlate with flavor in the way that people expect. Variations in flavor can be due to variety of cocoa beans used, amounts of added cocoa butter or cocoa solids/cocoa powder, and other factors. There may also be minor differences in labeling requirements and terminology in different countries.

Zotter - Labooko Belize 82% Sail Shipped Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar) - Oct. 10, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter

Labooko - Belize 82% Sail Shipped Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar)

Good ++ - Good +++

Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total package of 2 bars

Calories: 210 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $8.25 for 1 bar (+ summer shipping)

Purchased from: Bar and Cacao, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Central America Theme Week, featuring chocolates made with cacao from Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Today's Labooko Belize 82% Sail Shipped* Cacao Dark Chocolate (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Cape Coral, FL). The company makes a variety of bars and chocolates that are organic and fair trade.

Aroma notes included (in order of appearance): dark and chocolate-y with slight, balanced bitterness, and diffuse, dried fruit (potent but not too strong, bright or sweet, e.g. plum/prune + fig) and a very faint hint of warm spice. (In re-tasting, there was also a barely there, fleeting vegetable (green + baked potato + nut) note, and a very faint, fleeting earth note.)

This chocolate had an attractive, thick, creamy (almost whipped), and nut buttery mouthfeel and texture.

Flavor notes: The bar was well balanced with smooth, flavorful, dark chocolate (fudge, ale) and a smooth, pleasing ultra-dark finish. (In re-tasting, there were also some sparkles of red berry/fruit.) 

Maker's Notes

Zotter aroma notes: "The chocolate is just faintly bitter and offers a broad aroma spectrum." "Fragrance notes: nutty notes, accents of dried fruit (plums, cherries).

Zotter tasting notes: "...nutty praline, cream, accents of caramel, mild notes of spice. Also fruit: hints of cranberry and plum, then intense sour cherry aroma. A mild note of tannin at the finish."

Ingredients: Organic cocoa mass, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured on equipment that processes tree nuts, milk, soy, peanuts and sesame."

*The "genuine Maya" cacao used to make this bar was grown in Belize, and transported (emission free) from Belize across the ocean to Hamburg via sailboat. 

Cacao Hunters - Colombia 82% Tumaco Dark Chocolate (bar) - Sept. 3, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Hunters
Colombia 82% Tumaco Chocolate Oscuro (Dark Chocolate) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total package of 2 bars
Calories: 180 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.25 for 1 package of 2 bars
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week.

Today's Colombia 82% Tumaco Dark Chocolate (packaged set of 2 individually-wrapped bars) was from Cacao Hunters and made in Colombia by Cacao de Colombia (Popayan, Cauca, Colombia).* 

Aroma notes (in order of appearance) included peanut butter on whole grain toast with fruit jelly, sweet-tart green oxalis, chocolate cookie, maple/brown sugar, nutty (almond), faint green floral, and (much later) milk/cream and earth (forest, jungle).

The ultra-dark bar had a range of relatively complex, bright (especially in the aroma) and dark (especially in the taste) notes. The chocolate was well tempered (made) with a smooth texture, with just one or two very tiny flecks of cacao bean in the first bite. 

And speaking of bites, this bar was a great example of why it's important to relax and savor bites of fine chocolate, slowly, up to a minute or two apart. You're more likely to catch and experience some small, intriguing flavor shifts if you slow down your tasting experience.

This first bite of this bar had a deep, dark chocolate flavor, with medium acidity and bitterness, and roasted notes (cacao, nuts, coffee, very faint charcoal). The second bite had brighter fruit jelly/jam (red berry, red apple, strawberry) and roasted nut notes. The third bite shifted back to roasted cacao and nut notes with a tiny uptick of peanut butter and jelly at the end. All this flavor with just two ingredients: cacao beans and sugar.

Maker's tasting notes: "A deep and rich chocolate from the Pacific Jungle"

Ingredients: "Cocoa beans, cane sugar."

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of milk."

*The company's chocolate bars are made using cacao from several different regions of Colombia (Arhaucos, Sierra Nevada, Magdalena, Bayaca, Arauca, Tumaco).

Original Beans - Arhuaco Businchari 82% Colombia bar - Apri. 30, 2020

Chocolate of the Day: 

Original Beans
Arhuaco Businchari 82% Colombia bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 2.46 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 401.8 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocosphere.com, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Colombia Theme Week.

Today's Arhuaco Businchari 82% Colombia bar from Original Beans (Amsterdam) was made in Switzerland, using "select tribal cacao."

Original Beans supports "replenishing biodiverse forests instead of destroying them." The notion of a regenerative society able to live sustainably is appealing. Their "One Bar: One Tree" program supports planting trees. (A code included on the package of each bar, when input, takes you to a website/page, where you can track where a tree is being planted that corresponds to your purchase.)

For those who don't like overly sweet dark chocolate, this is your lucky day. This attractively packaged bar had a faint earthy charcoal* and dark chocolate aroma, the taste of a 90+ percent cacao bar, and a uniform, balanced bitterness. The texture was smooth and the chocolate had a lingering but clean finish. No light fruity floral notes in this bar. And that may be fine. Sometimes extra dark flavor like this is satisfying and almost refreshing.

As with some bottles of bold or tannic red wine, sometimes opening and letting a product sit, or re-tasting over time, reveals more subtle flavors. Re-tasting this bar after an hour revealed a trace of green/floral note and it tasted less bitter (relatively sweeter) and more well rounded.

*Or this batch could have been exposed to a little bit of burning wood or charcoal smoke. It's impossible to tell. Either way, this bar was a good counterpoint to overly sweet chocolate, and if the purchase of this bar helps support the Arhuaco (aka Arawak) native people/farmers who are trying to protect the Sierra Nevada (national park) in Colombia, all the better.

Maker's notes: "Heights of sweet spice, liquorice and sesame rise gently in this ultra rare chocolate made according to ancient Arhuaco tribal traditions that are designed to maintain the world's natural hamony."

Ingredients: cacao mass, organic raw cane sugar 

Sibu Chocolate - Costa Rica 82% Cacao Extra Dark bar - Aug. 2, 2018

Chocolate of the Day:

Sibu Chocolate

Costa Rica 82% Cacao Extra Dark (ORO) Chocolate bar

Good + - Good ++

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar

Calories: 70 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar 

Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Costa Rica Theme Week.

True, the largest exports from Costa Rica are bananas, pineapple and coffee, but Costa Rica also has all the right conditions for growing cacao, including temperate rainforests and proximity to the Equator (9-10 degrees North).*

Today's Costa Rica 82% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate (ORO) bar was from Sibu Chocolate (San Isidro, Heredia,  Costa Rica).  This was the first of four Sibu bars to be sampled this week.

This three-ingredient** bar had a pleasing dark chocolate aroma with quiet, but lush, green notes. The flavor was very smooth and slightly sweet for an extra dark bar, with a very slight fermented milk note and a hint of balanced coffee in the aftertaste. Great flavor for little sugar.

The cacao used to make this bar was sourced from a Rainforest Alliance Certified Cacao farm and single estate in Guacimo, Limon (located on the Atlantic/East coast side of) Costa Rica.

*Cacao grows in a band 20 degrees north and south of the Equator. In the U.S., Hawaii, is sometimes referred to as the north pole of cacao growth—located between 20-22 degrees north of the Equator. It is the only U.S. state where you're likely to see cacao grown commercially.

**Ingredients: organic cocoa mass, organic cocoa butter, organic sugar