Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate - Dark Chocolate Maui Guava 65% Cacao, Ecuador (bar) - Mar. 26, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate
1.) Dark Chocolate Maui Guava - 65% Cacao (Ecuador) (square) - Good ++
2.) Dark Chocolate Maui Guava - 65% Cacao (Ecuador) (bar) - Good ++
3.) Dark Milk Chocolate Maui Guava 60% Cacao (Ecuador) (square) - Good ++

Weight of 2 squares: .36 oz. (10 g.) for 2 squares / 8.5 oz. (240 g.) total 48-piece box
Weight of bar: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar
Calories: 196 calories (estimate) in 1 bar (140 calories) + 2 squares (56 calories (estimate))
Cost: $6.75 (sale) for 1 bar + cost of two squares in a larger $58.50 48-piece assortment box

Purchased from: Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate, online order

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

Today's Dark Chocolate Maui Guava 65% Cacao and Dark Milk Maui Guava (squares and bar) were manufactured by Maui Ku'ia Estate Chocolate Inc. (Lahaina, Maui, HI).

These chocolates were made in Hawaii using cacao grown in Ecuador* and Hawaiian guava essence. 

Dark Chocolate Maui Guava 65% (square and bar)

Aroma and flavor notes for the Dark Chocolate Maui Guava 65% Cacao Square included: smooth dark chocolate and fruity, almost floral tropical fruit (red/pink guava and strawberry guava jam). The guava was an extracted fruit essence--completely incorporated into the chocolates (rather than pieces of identifiable guava fruit).

Interestingly, the smaller (individually-wrapped) dark guava 65% square had more guava flavor than the full-sized dark guava 65% bar version. The bar had more pure dark chocolate (less guava); and the smaller, individually-wrapped square had more guava fruit flavors.

Dark Milk Chocolate Maui Guava 60% (square)

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark milk chocolate, tropical fruit (guava, berries, and guavaberries) with balanced chocolate and tart-sweet fruit flavors (ranging from guava to guavaberry, pineapple and mild herb/spice (faint eucalyptus, warm black pepper, allspice).

Overall, I liked the 1.) authentic and relatively complex guava flavors in the squares best; 2.) smooth, balanced dark flavors that weren't boring or overly sweet. (The very slightly sweeter dark milk 60% version was a true dark milk.) 

I usually don't care for "natural flavors," but today's guava flavors were an exception.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Natural Flavors  (The Dark Milk 60% square contained Milk.)

Allergen-related information: Contains milk, soy (lecithin). "Made in a facility that also processes nuts, dairy, soy.  

*The cacao was grown on a family-owned cacao farm (Costa Esmeraldas) in a northwest coastal province in Ecuador. 

Onomea Chocolate - Passion Orange Guava (bar) - Jan. 3, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Onomea Chocolate
Passion Orange Guava (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .93 oz. (26.5 g.) / 1.86 oz. (53 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ (Part of $45.00 Island Flavors bundle)
Purchased from: Onomea/Lonohana website, online order

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

Today's Onomea Chocolate "Passion Orange Guava" (bar) was made by Lonohana Estate Chocolate (Honolulu, HI).

Aroma notes included: dark milk chocolate and subtle tropical fruits (passion fruit, citrus (orange), guava, and very faint and (probably imagined) mangosteen and pineapple).

Flavor notes included: flavorful, relatively sweet dark milk chocolate (low in bitterness) with tropical authentic fruit notes (passion fruit, warm sweet citrus (orange), guava). Dried fruits (and orange oil) were ground/incorporated into the chocolate, leaving a very fine fruit graininess in the texture, but leaving the pleasing fruit flavors relatively intact. Organic milk powder added a little creamy richness and also softened the tart sweetness (acidity) of the fruits.

Today's bar was an homage to POG (passion fruit, orange and guava). I have fond memories of this popular Hawaiian juice, enjoyed during vacations there.

Lonohana founder, chocolate maker and farmer, Seneca Klassen, continues to create and bring great Hawaiian cacao, single origin chocolate--and chocolate with Hawaiian flavors--to chocolate lovers around the globe. 

Onomea is a relatively new(er) chocolate brand/partnership. (Loved the island flavor inclusions and colorful art work(s)* on the packaging.)

Ingredients: "Organic cane sugar, Hawaiian cacao, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk powder, dried guava, dried lilikoi (passion fruit), Hawaiian vanilla, orange essential oil"

Allergen-related information: Contains milk. "Produced in a peanut-free environment on equipment that also processes milk and tree nuts."

*The front label art for this bar was titled "Kamokuna" by local Hawaiian artist, Kate Wadsworth.

 

Exquisito Chocolates - Guava chocolate - May 25, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Exquisito Chocolates

Guava (filled chocolate)

Good +

Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) (estimate) in 6-piece assortment box

Calories: 77 calories (estimate) in 1 piece

Cost: $21.00 for a 6-piece assortment box 

Purchased from: Exquisito Chocolates, online order

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week. 

Today's Guava chocolate was from Exquisito Chocolates (Little Havana, Miami, FL). It was one flavor in a 6-piece Artisan Collection assortment box.

The filling in this festively-painted (red) dark chocolate was smooth, almost velvety. This flavorful dark chocolate center was infused with fully incorporated fruit--Florida-grown guava--that contributed a very subtle, diffuse bright fruitiness.

Guavas likely originated in Central and South America--where cacao trees first developed. Today, guava fruit is commercially grown primarily in Florida, Hawaii and California in the U.S. 

I'm hoping to (one day) enjoy guavas from the two small guava trees in my back yard in Northern California. 

In the meantime, I enjoyed this chocolate and the highly edible fuschia and pale pink flowers on my pineapple guava species. (Most other guava flowers are white.) Pineapple guava flowers have a mild, sweet tropical fruit punch flavor. 

Ingredients: (Not listed on box)

Allergen-related information: (Not listed on box)

Mission Chocolate - Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar) - Oct. 12, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Mission Chocolate
Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar)
Brazil Biomes Project - Atlantic Rainforest, Fazenda Camboa
Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 146 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Brazil Theme Week.

Today's Goiabada 70% Dark Chocolate with Guava Chunks (bar) was created by Arcelia Gallardo at Mission Chocolate (Sao Paolo, Brazil).

Biting into this bar at 7:00 a.m. in the cool morning air evoked an image of hunting for bright fruit in a deep, dark forest. Later in the day, after the (room, palette and chocolate) warmed up, this bar had a sweet, light earth and tropical fruit aroma. The chocolate was smooth and dark with a light earth note. The small squares of dried fruit had authentic just-harvested guava flavor, with a smoothly chewy and mixed silken and slightly granular dried fruit texture.

A short list of fresh, high-quality ingredients (cacao, organic sugar, guava and cocoa butter) were skillfully blended to make this a wonderful tasting experience.

*Fazenda Camboa, owned by two brothers, is the largest organic farm in Brazil. Located in Bahia, north of Sao Paolo, this farm offers forastero and trinitario cacao. Gallardo is (according to the Mission Chocolate website) currently using Fazenda Camboa's trinitario hybrid cacao for her bars. The cacao for this bar was part of the Atlantic Rainforest Brazil Biomes Project.

Copyright 2019. Unauthorized use of the text and/or images from this site, www.ChocolateBanquet.com, is a copyright violation.

flying noir - rookasmooka with smoked guava sea salt - Dec. 23, 2015

Chocolate of the Day:

flying noir
rookasmooka
Good ++
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $N/A - part of a larger purchase
Purchased from: N/A - from flying noir

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate, Smoke and Fire Theme Week.

Today's "rookasmooka" from flying noir (Oakland, CA) was a (twice) hand enrobed square, encrusted with Kauai guava smoked sea salt and organic sugar. It was filled with a 70% Amano Ocumare* ganache "with malty rooibos."

The overall flavors were sweet and chocolatey, with a very faint smoky finish from the guava wood.

The salt and sugar crystals gave this rookasmooka a sparkly snowy, crunchy exterior around a creamy interior, creating an interesting bundle of flavor and texture.

This chocolate was part of a 2-piece "art and chocolate" sampler box from flying noir. (The second purple and white chocolate pictured was the company's "brasilao" piece, with fresh lime and cachaca.)

*Amano Chocolate is a chocolate-maker based in Utah. Single origin chocolate (bars) include bars made with cacao beans from the Ocumare region of Venezuela.

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

Kumquat, Guava Chocolates - May 12, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Socola Chocolatier

1.) Kumquat
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA

2.) Give it to Me Guava
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA


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

Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there. I celebrated this day with a small 4-piece Mother's Day Collection box from Socola Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA). (Socola is the word for chocolate in Vietnam.) I was excited to open this box and try new Socola flavors with ties to Vietnam this week.

The four flavors in this collection: Passion Fruit Vanilla Bean, Give it to Me Guava, Jasmine Tea, and Kumquat. Kumquat was a new Socola flavor. And now it's one of my new favorites.

Kumquats and Umami
I love kumquats, and the bursts of flavor contained in these small orange fruits -- that have a sweet rind and a tart center. (I have a small, recently planted kumquat tree in my yard. I'm hoping for my own tiny harvest to combine with chocolate next year.) Fresh, tropical fruits are often served as a dessert in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. And with the delicious flavors like this, I can see why.

Socola's description of this new chocolate reminded me that the tiny slivers of salt-preserved kumquat (also made into a drink in Vietnam), that were embedded in a 61% dark chocolate ganache, were high in umami flavor. (Other umami foods include parmesan cheese, mushrooms, truffles, fish and cured meats, green tea. I'm a big umami fan, so it's no wonder this chocolate rang some bells for me.)

Guava
The second flavor I'm counting for today, Give it to Me Guava, contained a tropical guava fruit gelee (pate de fruit) and dark chocolate ganache. Like the kumquat (and passion fruit) chocolates today, it was very authentic and fresh, with real fruit (in this case, guava) flavor. The Guava truffle was decorated with a white stencil of "Harriett", the flying llama, a creative mascot for the company.

Jasmine & Memories
The Jasmine Tea truffle I'd tasted and featured before on this site. It was infused with a lovely floral tea flavor. The two sisters (Susan and Wendy) behind Socola remembered sips of their grandmother's Jasmine tea when they were growing up.

ChocolateBet: April 20, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:


1.) ProBar LLC
Koka Moka (bar) - 5/6 of 1 bar
Good +
Weight: 2.5 oz. (71 g.)/ 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 300 calories in 5/6 bar
Cost: $3.59
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, in Palo Alto, CA

This ProBar was a great fit for Day #3 of Seed/Nut Butter and Fruit Theme Week (as well as Earth Day Week). In addition to a nut butter (organic peanut butter), the Koka Moka bar was chock full of other nuts (raw cashews, almonds and brazil nuts); seeds (organic raw sunflower, brown flax, and brown sesame seeds, and raw pumpkin seed, hemp seed, and organic cardamom, fennel and fenugreek seeds); and fruits (organic raisins and dates, pineapple, papaya and apples). My apologies to many more ingredients that I'm leaving out.

2.) Ococoa
Macadamia Guava (cup) - 1 cup
Good +
Weight: .62 oz. (17.5 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 89 calories (estimate)
Cost: $N/A
Purchased from: N/A

Also a fantastic fit for Seed/Nut Butter and Fruit Theme Week are Ococoa cups -- small chocolate parfait cups layered with nut, seed and fruit flavors. I like macadamia nuts; however, I don't recall having tried macadamia nut butter. It's probably one of the hardest nut butters to work with (other than brazil nut butter perhaps?). I enjoyed it most as the guava, chocolate and nut flavors all blended together.

ChocolateBet: March 19, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:
1 small package
Britt chocolates
Dark chocolate covered guava jelly
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 grams)
Calories: ~134.4 calories
Cost: 750 colones (Costa Rica)
Purchased from: gift store in San Jose, Costa Rica area

These were similar to the Leaves-n-Trees chocolate-covered guava pieces that I tried on Feb. 27, 2009. While tasty, if I were blind-folded I would have had a hard time guessing these had a guava filling. Dark chocolate's strong flavor masks any fruit not strong enough to stand up for itself.

ChocolateBet: February 27, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 oz.
leaves-n-trees
chocolate-covered guava (chocolate relleno de guayaba)
Good + - Very Good
Wt.: ~ 1 oz. (28.3 grams)/5.29 oz. (150 grams) total package
Calories: ~ 140 calories (estim.)
Cost: $ (need to translate into dollars)
Purchased from: gift shop in San Jose, Costa Rica airport

More chocolates from Costa Rica trip. I couldn't really taste the guava that much; the chocolate and sugar may be overpowering the fruit flavor a bit; but these were fun to try.