Fjak - Licorice Root & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate 50% (bar) Nordic Collection - Feb. 4, 2026

Chocolate of the Day

Fjak 
Licorice Root & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate 50% (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / ~2.11 oz. (~60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 176 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #15 of Chocolate, Warm Spices & Maple Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate & Central America Week.

Today's Licorice Root & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate 50% (bar) was from Norwegian maker -- Fjak Chocolate AS -- from their Nordic Collection. 

This bar was made using cacao from Guatemala. Once again, a chocolate with a global story that spans at least three continents (Central/South

Aroma notes included: gentle, but aromatic milk chocolate (authentic cacao, drinking chocolate, fermented berry/wine, almost undetectable black pepper) and faint, herbal (licorice) root.

The licorice root was fully incorporated into a smooth, buttery milk chocolate that had a slow, creamy melt.

Flavor notes included pleasant, light flavors (criollo/white cacao bean; almost white milk chocolate), making this bar initially seem a bit "blander" than most licorice chocolate bars. I highly recommend you savor this chocolate slowly to appreciate the nuances of flavor and aroma that seem to reveal more of themselves over several minutes. 

The licorice root and the sea salt flavor inclusions were quite subtle. And that helped the cacao notes to shine through.

I appreciated the maker's skillful balancing of more subtle flavors; their use of high-quality, organic and gluten-free ingredients, and single origin organic cacao beans from Guatemala.

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans*, Cane Sugar*, Milk Powder*, Cocoa Butter*, Liquorice Root*, Sea Salt. Min. 50% cocoa.

Allergen-related information: Contains Milk. "Certified Organic. Gluten Free"

Mandala Chocolate - Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms, Chai Spices (bar) - Dec. 18, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Mandala Chocolate
Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 302 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar (when purchased in a 3-pack)
Purchased from: Amazon.com/Mandala Chocolate, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Chai Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Week.

Today's Organic Appalachian Wild Chai Sugar Free Dark Chocolate with Herbs, Mushrooms and Chai Spices (bar) was handcrafted in Asheville, North Carolina, by Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC), using 70% stoneground cacao--and without added sugar.*

Aroma and flavor notes included: subtle chocolate and warm spices (cinnamon, ginger, very mild clove and nutmeg), very slightly woodsy sweetness (mesquite, licorice root), and very faint citrus (orange).

This 70% cacao bar included a wild chai blend: spices, herbs and "mushrooms unique to the Blue Ridge Mountains." All these flavors harmonized very nicely. The mushroom flavors were very undetectable. (The 70% cacao and range of spices in this bar makes them easy to miss.)

Texture: nice cacao buttery melt, smooth texture (especially given the amount of added spices and mushrooms).

I loved that this chocolate had an appealing, mild, natural sweetness with no added sugar.*

This bar had more nuanced flavors and a milder taste than most 70% chocolate bars, in part due to thoughtful ingredient selection and the lack of cane sugar.* You realize the effects of processed sugar when it's not there. There are other paths to sweetness.

Ingredients: "*Cacao, *Yacon, *Ginger, *Mesquite, *Maca, *Cinnamon, *Vanilla, *Licorice, *Cardamom, **Chaga, *Peppercorn, *Clove, **Reishi, **Spiceberries, *Nutmeg, *Fennel, *Orange Oil, Celtic Sea Salt (* = Organic, and ** = Organic and Wildcrafted)

Allergen-related information: No information listed.

*And I loved that "zero added sugars" actually meant no sugars and no artificial sweeteners. Instead, sweet-tasting herbs and botanicals (like yacon, maca, cinnamon, licorice, vanilla, etc.) supplied the "sweetness".

ChocolateBet: January 9, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Vosges Haut Chocolat

1.) Verde caramel - 2 pieces - Good + - Very Good

2.) Leaf caramel - 2 pieces - Good+

Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.8 g.)/5.4 oz. (152.8 g.) total 18-pc. asst box (estimate)

Calories: 170 calories (estimate)

Cost: $29.00 for 18-piece box

Purchased from: Vosges Haut Chocolat, Chicago, IL

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Licorice Theme Week. Both of these chocolate-covered caramels from Vosges (Chicago, IL), had licorice tie-ins. The "Verde" -- Mexican guajillo chillies + licorice root + dark chocolate + organic pumpkin seeds, and the "Leaf" (or should that be "Leaves"?) -- Aboriginal anise myrtle + dark chocolate  -- were both part of a fun, 9-flavor (2 of each flavor) Exotic Caramel assortment, packaged in a classic Vosges-purple box and bow. 

The Verde was a rich caramel in a small package, with subtle hints of flavor -- that I would have liked to have tasted more of -- and topped with an organic pumpkin seed. I would probably not have guessed that one of these flavors was licorice root unless I'd read it on the description sheet tucked in the box.

I had a similar comment about the Leaf -- a caramel with a dusting of faintly green (leaf) powder. I only picked up vague hints of grass/leaf and bubble gum (not sure where that came from). It was interesting, and relatively pleasant. I would have liked to have experienced a bit more of the Aboriginal anise myrtle -- which I believe comes from a medium-sized tree from the rain forests of eastern Australia that has a anise/fennel flavor.