Markham & Fitz Chocolate Makers - Southern Pecan - 52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Caramelized Pecans & Black Salt (bar) - Aug. 25, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Markham & Fitz Chocolate Makers
Southern Pecan - 52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Caramelized Pecans & Black Salt (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 260 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $11.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order 

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate, Beer & Hops Series--featuring chocolates with beer, beer yeast, hops as well as chocolates (like today's bar*) that pair with beer(s).

Today's Southern Pecan - 52% Dark Milk Chocolate with Caramelized Pecans & Black Salt (Batch #468) (bar) was from Markham & Fitz Chocolate Makers (Bentonville, Arkansas). It was made using cacao from Nicaragua.

Aroma notes included: sweet milk chocolate, sweet cream caramel and nut.

Texture: Soft, creamy whole milk chocolate with small, softly crunchy pecan pieces.

Flavor notes included: Sweet milk chocolate, with caramel (with faint brown sugar and maple) overtones, accented with salt. (I liked the salt.)

This flavorful milk chocolate was quite sweet, but it was a great mid-afternoon blood sugar booster; and the milk, nutty (pecan) caramel notes and black salt balanced the sugar. 

I enjoyed the blend of creamy, nutty (and very faintly fruity) caramel flavor notes in this satisfying milk chocolate. While I did not have a "biscuity beer"* to pair with this bar, I could imagine that it working nicely.

Maker's tasting notes: "Brightly aromatic cacao blends with cream and a salted subtle crunch of our Louisiana lady's heritage, the pecan."

*"Pairs well with a biscuity beer, your next Netflix binge, or storytelling with family around the campfire." 

Ingredients: "Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Caramelized Pecans (Pecans, Brown Sugar, Butter), Black Salt."

Allergen-related information: "Contains dairy & nuts."

Markham & Fitz - 75% Dark Chocolate Pisa, Haiti (bar) - Apr. 30, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Markham & Fitz Chocolate Makers
75% Dark Chocolate Pisa, Haiti (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order 

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Haiti Theme Week.

Today's 75% Dark Chocolate PISA*, Haiti (bar) was from Markham & Fitz (Bentonville, Arkansas).

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark, chocolate-y; warm spice (cinnamon, five spice blend); and fruit (grape, raisin, citrus).

Texture: smooth, with a very slight astringency.

This relatively flavorful dark chocolate had an authentic, lightly acidic (raisin, citrus and spice), sweetness and complexity to it that I enjoyed tasting.

Maker's tasting notes: "Cinnamon raisin and brownie cover the palate swaying from side to side. Orange peel quickly spins, and dried fig follows up to dip you for a lingering finish."

Ingredients: Organic Cacao, Organic Cane Sugar

Allergen-related information: "Processed in a facility that also processes dairy and nuts."

*Produits des Iles SA (PISA) works with 100s of cacao farmers in Haiti to produce high-end, fermented and dried cacao (beans) for specialty markets--and smaller-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate makers. Their facilities are centrally located for farmers (between five growing regions) in a relatively mountainous area. 

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers - Sea Salt & Almond (Bolivia) bar - Aug. 29, 2020

Chocolate of the Day

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers
Sea Salt and Almond (Bolivia) bar

Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA 

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Bolivia Theme Week. 

Today's Sea Salt and Almond (Bolivia) bar was from Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers (Bentonville, AK).

This chocolate had a pleasing rich, dark chocolate aroma with faint savory (nut and salt) notes. The texture was a blend of smooth, well-tempered dark chocolate and crunchy, toasted almond bits (on the back side of the bar).

The 60 percent chocolate, made with cacao from Alto Beni, Bolivia, had light fermented notes and faint fruit, accented with just the right amount of salt (flakes). I experienced a very fleeting hint of pleasant, licorice spice in the finish with the first bite of this bar, but it was absent in subsequent bites. 

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, almonds, organic cocoa butter, salt flakes.

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers - Brain Food 85% Dark Chocolate bar - June 26, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers
Brain Food 85% Dark Chocolate with Wild Organic Blueberries, almonds, cashews superfood bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 120 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Cashews Theme Week, and Day #2 of Peru Superfoods* Theme Week. Today's bar includes cacao and maca.

The Brain Food 85% Dark Chocolate bar with Wild Organic Blueberries, almonds, cashews and superfood powders (berries, maca) was from Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers (Bentonville, AK).

This ultra-dark chocolate was made with cacao grown in the Dominican Republic, and had a dark chocolate, berry, nut and seed aroma and flavor. The base chocolate had a creamy melt and texture, and crunchy bits of almonds and cashews. The organic, dried blueberries were a nice touch and added natural blueberry flavor; and the 85 percent bar was not so sweet as to overpower the berry add-ons.

*The list of "superfoods" this week includes cacao, maca, lucuma, camu-camu, and quinoa. And while they may be found growing in other Latin American/South American countries, the latter four on this list are often associated with Peru. I could include potatoes (which also originated in/near Peru) as well, but it is more difficult (outside of gluten free chocolate baked goods that use potato flour/starch) to find chocolates with potatoes :-).

Markham and Fitz - Ooh La Lavender 64% bar - May 31, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers
Ooh La Lavender - Lavender, honey, vanilla, nibs 64% dark chocolate bar
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA


Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Flowers Theme Week.

Today's Ooh La Lavender bar was made by Markham and Fitz Chocolate Makers (Bentonville, AK).

This lovely 64% dark chocolate bar contained the aforementioned lavender (lavender oil); Patagonia honey (a floral honey sustainably produced by Patagonia Bee Products); cacao nibs and vanilla.

The single origin chocolate was made using organic cacao that was grown in Oko Caribe, Dominican Republic. (The makers work with importing partners, such as Uncommon Cacao.)

The bar had a great lavender floral aroma—made extra beautiful with honey and an almost invisible but very effective touch of vanilla.

Honey itself can provide a subdued floral note or two. This bar was sweetened with honey and cane sugar. Using honey in this bar added great complementary flavor and, when combined with the DR cacao, the 64% cacao chocolate (that tasted more like a 75% bar), was not too sugary sweet (thank you!).

Why don't more makers choose to work with honey? Not everyone wants floral or honey flavors added to their chocolate, however subtle they may be. And refined cane sugar is considered more "neutral" as well as being less expensive. Honey can be more challenging to work with than cane sugar.*

The texture was smooth and the flavor was the realization of aromas promised, punctuated by crunchy cacao nibs. The chocolate had a bold, smooth dark flavor that the makers balanced very nicely with the other flavors.

This Ooh La Lavender bar had a very pleasant, very light lingering honey and lavender finish that felt both refreshing and calming. Overall it was a very well executed bar, and a well-deserved Good Food Awards** win.

*Unlike cane sugar which is fairly dry, honey is about 20 percent water, and is considered a humectant (meaning it acts to preserve moisture). Chocolate generally reacts poorly to water or moisture and can "seize up" in its melted form (when be made into chocolate bars) if one adds water. Not a great thing to happen in the manufacturing process, which is also why powdered milk (and not fresh milk) is added directly to chocolate in the making of milk chocolate. 

**The Good Food Awards have roots in the slow food and sustainability movements in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. If you're looking for great chocolates, peruse their list of winners.