Seattle Chocolate Co. - Maeve Hungry Blackberry Dark & White Chocolate Truffle Bar - June 15, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Seattle Chocolate Co. 
Maeve Hungry Blackberry Dark & White Chocolate Truffle Bar
Good +
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Copperfield Books, Petaluma, CA

Welcome to the final day (Day #11) of Chocolate & Bears Theme Week--filled with many fun items. Some items, while not chonicled here on Chocolate Banquet, deserve an honorable mention for their bear themes.

Today's Maeve** Hungry Bear Blackberry truffle bar was from Seattle Chocolate Co. (Seattle, WA). The original company (founded in 1991) offers a line of chocolate bars (including filled chocolate truffle bars) and confections.

Aroma and flavor notes for this sweet, slim, filled bar included: sweet dark milk chocolate, subtle berry (blackberry) with a soft, sweet (candy-level sweet) light vanilla and berry white chocolate filling.

The blend of dark and white chocolate added layered flavors. The blackberry flavor was relatively pleasing and authentic (all the berry, none of the seeds). However, the overall sweetness level was way too high for me. 

Texture: soft, thin layer of mild dark chocolate and soft vanilla and berry filling

Ingredients: white chocolate (cane sugar, cocoa butter*, milk, soy lecithin, natural vanilla), dark chocolate (cocoa mass, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, organic soy lecithin, organic vanilla), coconut oil, blackberry powder, natural flavor, sea salt, citric acid. (*Rainforest Alliance Certified.)

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy, and coconut. This product is manufactured in a plant that processes milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, and wheat products. *Rainforest Alliance Certified.

*Honorable mentions included: Hot Chocolate with whipped cream at the Black Bear Diner (a place loaded with carved wooden bears and bear-a-phernalia, and Cacao & Cashew Butter Crunch Granola from Bear Naked Granola with a lovely black bear logo.

**Maeve Chocolate and the Maeve Logo are Trademarks of Seattle Chocolate Co. (The company re-branded their name to Maeve Chocolate in 2025.)

Intrigue Chocolate - Blackberry Mushroom (bar) - Dec. 20, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Intrigue Chocolate
Blackberry + Mushrooms 60% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar + shipping
Purchased from: Intrigue Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Mushroom Week.

Today's Blackberry + Mushrooms 60% Cacao (bar) was made and distributed by Intrigue Chocolate Co. (Seattle, WA). This bar was made in collaboration with Lumen Field (Seattle, WA). 

Origin story: The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Uganda, Rwenzururu - Semuliki Forest (Type: "Mostly Trinitario and Amelonado; Harvest Year: 2022). (Batch No.: 000000083024)

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate; ripe, tart, almost boozy, dark berry (blackberry); slight roast-y, slightly umami bitterness.

Texture: very smooth and buttery--with no mushroom powder/grit or berry seed particles (thank you!).

Flavor notes included: a blend of dark chocolate (chocolate-y, roast-y dark ganache), authentic blackberry notes, and diffuse, balanced umami (mushroom). 

I liked many things about this bar. First, this blend was well executed and well balanced, and the sweetness level was just right for me -- i.e, sweet, but not too sweet. Second, there were no "off" or astringent notes with this potentially challenging flavor blend.

Like other chocolates from Intrigue, I appreciated the thoughtful, short list of quality ingredients, the lack of emulsifiers or other additives, and the use of raw cane sugar.

Makers tasting notes/description: "...first developed...as an exclusive for their (Lumen Field) suites and gifts...The lush dark fruit and the rich deep earth are emblematic of the region's sun-drenched summers and mist-drenched winters."

Ingredients: "Roasted cacao nibs, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, freeze-dried blackberries, mushroom blend (wood ear, oyster, cordyceps, turkey tail, lion's mane, shiitake, chaga, maitake, mesima, reishi)." 

Allergen-related information: None listed on packaging.

Bitchin' Inc. - Chocolate Sweet Sauce & Kasama Chocolate - Blackberry White Chocolate (bar) - Mar. 10, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Bitchin' Inc.
Chocolate Sweet Sauce
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total container
Calories: 110 calories in 1 serving (2 TB) 
Cost: $3.99 for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Kasama Chocolate
Blackberry White Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar

Calories: 164.5 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar

Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week, featuring fruits ranging from Apple to Yuzu--and chocolate and fruit pairings like today's chocolate sauce and blackberry white chocolate duo.

I don't count white chocolates (even when they're made with 100% real cocoa butter); but a few times a year, I made an exception and pair dark or milk chocolate with a white chocolate (with a flavor inclusion). Today's double feature is one of those days.

Bitchin' Inc. - Chocolate Sweet Sauce

This was not your grandparents' chocolate sauce. This refrigerated, lightly malty, nutty chocolate sauce was less sweet and more flavorful than traditional jarred chocolate sauces (made with sugar(s) and corn syrup). 

Most chocolate sauces found in a glass jar also don't contain things like finely ground almonds, coconut aminos, or nutritional yeast. 

Family owned and operated Bitchin' Inc. (based in Carlsbad, CA) is best known for their variety of gluten free and vegan savory and sweet sauces, made with a short list of high-quality ingredients. (My favorite savory sauce is their artichoke and spinach dip/sauce.) 

Today's relatively thick, and very faintly granular (almonds) chocolate sauce had a satisfying sweet chocolate and malty almond flavor and complemented pieces of fresh fruits, including: apples, stone fruits, bananas, berries (and today's blackberry white chocolate bar) very nicely.

Ingredients: Organic cane sugar, water, organic sunflower oil, almonds, cocoa, organic coconut aminos, nutritional yeast, vanilla, sea salt.

Allergen-related information: "Contains almonds, coconut (tree nuts)."

Kasama Chocolate 

In a few days the 95th Academy Awards ceremony will honor the best performances in numerous categories. If there was a category called Best imitation of a dark chocolate bar by a white chocolate bar, Kasama Chocolate's Blackberry White Chocolate bar would surely win a statuette.

When I opened up the silver inner wrapper. I thought I was looking at a dark chocolate bar. This white chocolate was that berry-dark in appearance. It was bursting with an estimated 20 blackberries (fully incorporated) in each bar.

The aroma for this bar was cocoa butter and berry forward and there was a small explosion of fresh, tart sweet blackberry flavor in every bite. The sweetness was balanced a bit by dipping squares of this bar into the Sweet Chocolate Sauce (which was not as sweet as the blackberry white chocolate).

Ingredients: Organic cacao butter, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic BC (British Columbia) Blackberries

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that contains nuts."

Dick Taylor - Blackberry Bergamot 65% Belize (bar) - July 7, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Dick Taylor
Blackberry Bergamot 65% Belize (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate, Fruit and Flowers Theme Week. 

Today's Blackberry Bergamot 65% Belize (bar) was handcrafted by Dick Taylor in Eureka, CA.

Not surprisingly, the aroma and flavor notes for this dark chocolate bar were fruit (dark berry, citrus) forward.

However, the concentrated, dark, earthy berry notes (from dried blackberries) melded seamlessly with the 65% Belize chocolate so that the "dark" fruit (blackberries and prunes with orange peel and molasses) notes--as well as the whisper of bergamot*--could easily be mistaken for naturally occurring aromas and flavors in a single origin cacao dark bar. 

Normally this is not the case. Items added as flavor inclusions stand out either visually (pressed onto the back of the bar, or visible in the middle) or on one's palette. So, this fruit and floral bar (which actually made the chocolate taste a bit darker/heartier vs. lighter/sweeter) was a bit of a magic trick.

The texture was fairly smooth, except for an occasional blackberry seed, and the finish was relatively clean, with a very faint blackberry fruit and citrus acidity.

Maker's tasting notes read as follows: "Sweet, dried blackberries and a hint of bergamot oil are mixed into our silky 65% dark chocolate from Belize. The blend of bergamot and berries creates a perfect balance of citrus and floral notes, complimenting the lightness of this chocolate."

Ingredients: Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, organic dried blackberries, organic cocoa butter, bergamot oil.

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that also processes milk, tree nuts, wheat and peanuts."

*Bergamot is in the citrus family and the rind is used to flavor Earl Grey and Lady Grey tea (and perfumes). It's zest is aromatic with citrus and floral notes.

Ethereal Confections - 66 percent bar with berries, cherries - June 6, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Ethereal Confections

66 percent bar with blackberries, blueberries and cherries

Good + - Good++

Weight: 1.49 oz. (43 g.) / 2.25 oz. (65 g.) in total bar

Calories: 223 calories (estimate) in 2/3 bar

Cost: $7.95 for 1 bar

Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA

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

The back side of today's 66 percent bar with organic blackberries, blueberries and cherries from Ethereal Confections (Woodstock, IL) was a great fiesta of berry and cherry bits.

Despite the fruit-forward appearance and flavor, I could also taste glimmers of the underlying chocolate. Pleasant, with an occasional smoky and sweet note.

Thank you to Mary and Sara Ervin, the owners and co-founders of Ethereal Chocolate for your craft and creativity, and to Elana T. at SweetE Organic for carrying this line. Most of my chocolates have come from retail outlets with carefully curated selections; and it was delightful to be introduced to this bean-to-bar maker (located northwest of Chicago) a few years ago.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Branson's - Blackberry Bar - July 9, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Branson's Chocolates
Blackberry Bar - 58% cacao
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.7 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 cals. in 1/2 bar
Cost: $2.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Branson's Chocolates, Ashland, OR

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Southern Oregon Theme Week.

This Blackberry bar from Branson's Chocolates (Ashland, OR) was made with 58% cacao semi-sweet chocolate and a dark berry preserve filling (Marion Blackberries, sugar, pectin, citric acid).

My advice: as with any chocolate, eat these bars as freshly made as possible -- when the filling oozes with fresh Oregon blackberry flavor. Filled centers tend to stiffen a bit over time.

ChocolateBet: September 27, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bite
Kim's Chocolates
Cachet - Blackberry and Ginger (bar)
OK+ - Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g) bite / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.29 total bar
Purchased from: Draeger's in San Mateo, CA

Ginger mixed with blackberries and dark chocolate. It sounded good. But, somehow the blackberry granules and ginger granules used to flavor this dark Cachet bar from Kim's Chocolates didn't quite mesh for me. The chocolate bar base was smooth and even. I might have preferred this dark chocolate melted over fresh berries and fresh ginger gelato. So many ways to enjoy chocolate.

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Ginger Theme Week.