Compartes - White Lotus Pineapple Coconut 73% Cacao (bar) - Dec. 13, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Compartes Chocolatier
The White Lotus Pineapple Coconut Chocolate 73% Cacao (bar)

Good ++
Weight: 2.7 oz. (77 g.) in total bar
Calories: 460 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $11.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Compartes, online order 

Welcome to Day #20 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Theme Week(s).

Today's The White Lotus Pineapple Coconut Chocolate 73% Cacao (bar) was from Compartes Chocolatier (Los Angeles, CA). 

This bar was inspired by the award-winning (HBO) TV show The White Lotus -- Season 1 (Hawaii), a dark comedy centered around the staff and guests at a tropical resort.* 

Aroma notes for this attractively packaged bar included: smooth, sweet dark chocolate and subtle, dried fruit (pineapple) and toasted coconut.

Texture: smooth, relatively creamy dark chocolate with tiny bits of softly chewy pineapple and chewy (slightly tougher chew) lightly toasted, golden-hued coconut shreds.

The small pieces of candied pineapple weren't overly sweet (thank you). The tiny coconut shreds were more detectable in the flavor than the aroma, and also tasted authentic (not too overwhelming).

I liked the balanced blend of flavors in this 73% cacao dark chocolate with tropical flavor inclusions. 

Maker's description: "Unwrap a delectable infusion of flavors with rich, decadent chocolate, coconut and pineapple for chic Hawaiian vibes, and be transported to "The Pineapple Room" (where drama unfolds). 

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Sugar, Soy Lecithin as An Emulsifier, Vanilla), Pineapple, Coconut"

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that handles dairy, peanuts, wheat, egg, soy, tree nuts."

*The Pineapple Room featured on "The White Lotus" TV show was modeled after (and filmed in) the 3-bedroom, Lokelani Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea (Kihei, Hawaii).

Hana Gold - Maui Grown 72% Dark Chocolate with Ginger (bar) - Apr. 20, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Hana Gold
Maui Grown 72% Dark Chocolate with Ginger (bar)

Good + - Good ++ 
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42.5 g.) in total bar
Calories: 233 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $8.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Hana Gold, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Cardamom and Ginger Theme Week.

Today's Hana Gold Maui Grown 72% Dark Chocolate with Ginger (Batch #247) bar was distributed by Hana Gold Farm (Hana Highway, Maui, HI).

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate with balanced earth (faint peat) and bold chocolate-y notes--interspersed with generously-sized pieces of chewy, authentically spicy ("local") ginger.

I liked that this chocolate was: 1.) made with flavorful cacao and ginger, 2.) crafted with Hawaiian cacao and with just 3 ingredients, 3.) not too sweet, and 4.) bold but not too bitter.

Ingredients: Hana Gold cacao, organic cane sugar, organic ginger

Allergen-related information: Made in a facility that also processes nuts, dairy, soy.

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Dessert #2 - Macadamia, Sea Salt, Ginger Dark Chocolate - Jan. 15, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Dessert #2
Macadamia, Sea Salt, Ginger, Dark Chocolate dessert
Good +++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total dessert 
Calories: 240 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ N/A - many sources
Purchased from: N/A - many sources

Aloha and welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week(s). This is the second in a series of 2 oz. chocolate desserts using at least one ingredient from Hawaii.

Today's Macadamia, Sea Salt, Ginger Dark Chocolate small dessert was made with Kona and Ginger chocolates, Hawaiian Macadamia Nuts with sea salt, and Hawaiian Wildflower Honey from Chico Honey* (Chico, CA). 

Pieces of Kona-grown cacao dark chocolate and Ginger dark chocolate were covered with chopped whole, sea salted macadamia nuts) -- and drizzled with amber-colored Hawaiian Wildflower Honey. 

These four ingredients were full of complementary flavors. Two ounces of pure chocolate decadence--the goal of this small dessert series.

The Big Island chocolate had sweet green and rich dark chocolate notes; the ginger spice chocolate had dark chocolate spicy gingerbread notes, the mac nuts provided salty, softly crunchy, buttery nut texture, and the honey was rich and satisfying with far more flavor depth than most sweet toppings/sauces.

*The company sources honey from their own hives in California, Hawaii and Montana.

 

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Chocolate Dessert Series - #1 - 80% Dark, Coconut, Sweet Lemon, Mangosteen - Jan. 14, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Hawaiian Wildflower Honey Chocolate Dessert #1
80% Dark Chocolate, Sweet Lemon, Mangosteen
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total small dessert
Calories: 245 calories (estimate) for 1 dessert
Cost: N/A - many sources
Purchased from: N/A - multiple sources

Welcome to Day #14 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week--into which I'm inserting a series of small (homemade) chocolate desserts floating in Hawaiian Wildflower Honey.*

Today's Hawaii Honey dessert #1: An 80% dark chocolate square with toasted coconut was set in a small pool of Hawaii Honey flavored with sweet lemon (Citrus limetta) rind and mangosteen** fruit (freeze-dried powder).

The Hawaii honey and sweet lemon rind were particularly bright and wonderful flavors, and both complemented the 80% dark chocolate very nicely. The coconut flakes were very subtle, as was the mangosteen powder. (Bits of fresh mangosteen would have been more flavorful, but they're hard to find where I live.)

*In past years I created a series of small, "shot glass" chocolate desserts. Each of them was designed to have memorable, layered flavors and to fit into a (1.5 - 2 oz.) shot glass. 

This week's series highlights small desserts with big flavors, made with Hawaiian Wildflower Honey from Chico Honey (Chico, CA). The company sources honey from their hives in California, Hawaii and Montana. Chocolate and flavor inclusions were layered atop a tiny pool of this delicious Hawaiian honey.

**Mangosteen has been called the "Queen of Fruits." First cultivated in Southeast Asia, this purple hued small fruit with an ivory-colored center tastes like a blend of fruits: lychee, strawberry, peach, mango. Like cacao fruit pulp, it can evoke memories of other tropical fruits while still maintaining its own essence.

Manoa Chocolate - Hawai'i Island Kona 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) - Aug. 26, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Manoa Chocolate
Hawai'i Island Kona 70% Dark Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Manoa Chocolate, online order

Aloha, and welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week.

Today's Hawai'i Island Kona 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) was from Manoa Chocolate (Kailua, O'ahu, HI). 

Kona lies on the west side of Hawai'i, aka the Big Island. The sloped spot has rich volcanic soil and is dotted with several small farms growing coffee, fruit and cacao.

Aroma notes for this Hawai'i dark chocolate included: clean, sweet green (nut, seed, stalks, floral, sugarcane,), faint green coconut, tart green citrus (lemongrass) and light almond.

The texture was lovely with an even, light, creamy (almost fluffy) mouthfeel. It was both rich and light at the same time, a little bit liked some whipped buttery mousses.

Chocolate flavor notes included dark chocolate mousse, honey, fruit (green melon), light citrus shortbread, and very faint (and balanced) light, loamy green earth notes.

Like the other Manoa Chocolate Hawaii-born chocolate bars this week, this one had rich chocolate flavor with nuanced depth. 

This slightly bolder chocolate with was well-crafted and approachable, with a friendly array of subtle green, island plantation notes. Like the other Manoa bars, it ended with a very slight earth note toward the end (as the others had despite slightly different cacao blends/origins). 

Manoa maker's notes: "The Likau Kula Farm in Kona is one of our oldest sources of Hawaiian cacao. In 2019 at the largest chocolate festival in the world, the Salon Du Chocolat in Paris, these Hawaiian grown beans from Kona won top 15 best flavored cacao in the world." (Notes: nutty, floral, fudgey)

Manoa suggested beverage pairings: Wine: Pinot Noir; Beer: Summer Ales; Liquor: Bourbon

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter 

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that processes milk powder and nuts."

Lonohana Estate - Hapalua with Candied Nibs, Dark Milk bar - Nov. 26, 2017

Chocolate of the Day:

Lonohana Estate Chocolate, LLC
Hapalua with Candied Nibs Dark Milk bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 173 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $15.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

The Hapalau* with Candied Nibs Dark Milk chocolate bar from Lonohana Estate Chocolate, LLC  (Honolulu, Oahu, HI) had a lovely sweet, slightly floral green, chocolate aroma with light caramel notes—and an addictive flavor and texture combination.

I first tasted (Batch No. 1) of this especially nice dark milk Hapalua bar shortly after its debut in early 2016, while on a chocolate trip to Nicaragua. The chocolatemaker, Seneca Klassen, also happened to be on this trip and provided samples. (See Chocolate Banquet entry, Mar. 18, 2016.)

Why was this milk chocolate bar especially nice? I can think of at least three reasons.

First, this was a Hawaiian bar. The cacao and nibs (Haleiwa, Oahu), and the cane sugar from Maui, were "planted, grown and harvested in Hawaii." Lonohana Estate is unique, a vertically integrated, operation, producing farm to table chocolate in the U.S. (Hawaii is the only U.S. state where cacao is grown commercially.)

Second, the bar was masterfully made, with well balanced flavor and texture. It had a caramel flavor from the candied nibs/milk chocolate, and a texture that was both buttery smooth and crunchy. There was not one off note.

Last, but not least, the deep milk chocolate (% not listed, but likely around 50% cacao) offered more chocolate flavor than other lower percentage milk chocolate bars. And the nibs put the cocoa flavor over the top.

Sadly, this bar may be hard to obtain. Most Lonohana Estate bars are made in small batches, and are available through a tasting club or limited venues. Occasionally they have a few bars left for sale on their website.

Ingredients: "Estate cacao, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk powder, Maui cane sugar and candied estate nibs"

*Hapalua means "half" in the Hawaiian language. Half the bar (one side) was covered with a thick field of nibs. And on the "smooth" side, was a map of the Hawaiian islands.

Manoa - 85% Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador bar - Nov. 8, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Manoa Chocolate Hawaii
(Grass Shack Industries LLC)
Single Estate 85% Cacao Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador bar
Good ++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.7 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #18 of South American Chocolate Theme Weeks.

What a treat. A third ultra-dark bar this week, made by Manoa Chocolate Hawaii, from cacao grown in Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador. When there are this many 85% - 100% cacao bars from the same region, estate or plantation, it says something about the beans, the farmer(s) and the makers.

To make bars from one ingredient (cacao beans)—or even two ingredients (cacao beans and sugar)—it says cacao beans from this place must be special. The post-harvest fermentation must have been handled well. The flavor profile is right, and other ingredients aren't needed to amend or dull certain flavors.

Today's bar was made with "Neo Nacional" cacao from a single estate (reclaimed cattle pasture land about 10 miles inland from the Pacific Coast); and these beans were harvested in early 2016.

The bar's aroma was quite bold with traces of sour bitter sweet fruit and dark chocolate. The texture and melt were uniformly smooth and creamy (due in part to added organic cocoa butter). And the flavor (as with other bars from the same origin this week) was much tamer and more pleasant than expected, with faint, fleeting sweet, green, almost floral notes often found in Ecuador bars.

Today's attractively designed and packaged Costa Esmeraldas bar was made bean-to-bar in Hawaii. Manoa Chocolate Hawaii's chocolate factory is located in Kailua, Oahu. And Manoa* founder and chocolate maker Dylan Butterbaugh has been producing chocolate from scratch since 2010, including craft chocolate bars made with Hawaiian-grown cacao and other local ingredients.

Suggested wine and beer pairings with this bar: Cabernet Sauvignon and Kriek lambics.

*Manoa means solid, vast, depth, thick in Hawaiian.

D is for Dark chocolates, Deser - Jan. 27, 2017

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

L'Amourette Chocolatier
Extra Smooth Chocolat Noir - 91% Cacao
Good+
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/5 bar
Cost: N/A - gift from client
Purchased from: N/A - gift from client

Sweet Paradise Chocolatier
1.) Dark Chocolates (Hawaiian flower pattern)
2.) Salt Caramels - filled chocolates
3.) Solid Milk Chocolates (turtle pattern)

Welcome to another chocolate alphabet week. Last year, I featured chocolates that contained names or items that started with A, B and C. This week, I'm covering D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K.

Today I'm celebrating the letter D with two chocolates.

D stands for Dark Chocolate
Yes, Dark chocolate is an easy choice for the letter D. However, dark chocolates and suppliers range from limited edition craft chocolate bars hand-made by small, bean-to-bar makers to high-volume confections churned out by large chocolatiers.

Dark chocolates are now available in every shape and cacao percentage one can imagine.

Chocolate in the U.S. is considered "dark" (semi-sweet or bittersweet) if it contains more than 35% cocoa solids. However, the percent you see listed on a label of a bar often refers to total cocoa content (cocoa solids and cocoa butter (fat)), so percentages don't tell the whole story.

However, there was no mistaking that today's 91% Extra Smooth Chocolat Noir bar was a dark chocolate bar. This was the perfect chocolate for a noir film screening on a dark January day as it turned out; but it also brightened the day considerably—part of the paradox of dark chocolate.

Handmade by L'Amourette Chocolat LLC (San Francisco, CA), this chocolate was made from Trinitario beans (Carenero Superior) that were "delicately roasted" and were conched (ground to make into a smooth, creamy chocolate) for up to 36 hours.

This complex and interesting 4-ingredient* bar had a dark forest aroma with notes of raspberry fruit and faint licorice spice, and a dark flavor with a range of deep fruit (fig) and spice notes with some very faint cacao funk in one small bite. There was very little cane sugar (a bit less than 9 percent) to distract one from enjoying this dark experience.

D also stands for Deser
Many thanks to Chocolate Banquet donors and supporters, including friends, family, clients (thank you GreenTown Los Altos! for today's 91% dark bar)—and others who bring back or share chocolates from around the world.

Special thanks to Toni Deser, a friend and neighbor who also loves good food and global travel. It's as delicious to hear about her adventures and travels as it is to try chocolates she finds on her trips. And she has been gracious enough to share many chocolates.

Toni brought back today's Sweet Paradise Chocolatier (Hawaii) 6-piece variety box from a recent trip to (Maui) Hawaii—the only state in the U.S. where, at present, enough cacao trees are being grown to make chocolate in commercial quantities.

This box contained 2 solid dark, 2 solid milk and 2 lovely flowing salt caramel chocolates. Sweet Paradise offers chocolates made from Hawaiian-grown cacao and was founded by Melanie Boudar.


*The L'Amourette 91% Extra Smooth Dark Chocolate bar contained cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cane sugar and Bourbon vanilla beans. This chocolate was labeled as soy- and gluten-free.

ChocolateBet: July 7, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 piece
Monique's Chocolates
Hawaii - Dark 55% Waialua
Very Good
Weight: .45 oz. (12.7 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 66 calories (estimate)
Cost: $2.00
Purchased from: Monique's Chocolates, in downtown Palo Alto, CA

This single origin dark truffle (shown at right) from Monique's Chocolates was made from cacao grown on an old Dole pineapple plantation in Hawaii. The taste was rich and smooth; and the texture was fine, but perhaps a bit on the stiff side. (The trick was to warm this truffle slightly - so the ganache (filling) was nice and velvety.)