Vixen Chocolate - The Heart Flight (3 dark chocolate hearts: Desert (Peru), Forest (Uganda), and Island (Vanuatu)) - July 28, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Vixen Chocolate
The Heart Flight
Desert - Sechura Desert Peru - 73% Dark - Good ++
Forest - Semuliki Forest Uganda - 73% Dark - Good ++
Island - Malekula Island Vanuatu 72% Dark - Good ++ 
Weight: .0.77 oz. (22 g.) in total tin of 3 hearts 
Calories: 119 calories (estimate) for 3 hearts
Cost: $22.00 for 1 tin of 3 hearts
Purchased from: The Chocolate Dispensary, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Fire & Passion Theme Week, part of a month long series of chocolates with tie-ins to the elements: earth, water and fire.

Today's The Heart Flight was created by Vixen Chocolate (Portland, OR). Vixen infuses the message of boldness and passion into their chocolates.* Their packaging is artful and memorable. (Today's black and magenta metal tin could be re-purposed to hold jewelry or other keepsakes.)

This 3-piece flight included three, faceted (gem-cut) chocolate hearts, wrapped in different colored foils (pink, green and blue, respectively) and made using cacao from three different countries: Peru, Uganda and Vanuatu. Each represented a different elemental landscape: desert, forest & island: "3 hearts + 3 origins + ONE bold tasting of place."

Desert Heart - Sechura Desert, Peru 73%

This chocolate was both balanced and bold with nuanced flavors. Chocolate-y with diffuse fruits (dried fruits, citrus). The texture: smooth, relatively creamy, satisfying dark chocolate.

Forest Heart - Semuliki Forest, Uganda 73%

Chocolate-y, relatively sweet/bright, with very faint, well-managed earth notes. The texture: smooth, relatively creamy, satisfying chocolate.

Island - Vanuatu Malekula 72%

Also, chocolate-y with a subtle lushness (sweet green; hidden fruit)--an experience I associate with a single origin/terroir chocolates. Texture: smooth, creamy. (Origin notes: "Grown on the remote island of Malekula, where volcanic soil meets ocean breeze...")

All three were well-managed and executed, and were smooth and sweet, but some individual origin notes were allowed to peek through (thank you).

Ingredients: cacao, cane sugar*, cacao butter* 417 Hz, 528 Hz, 852 Hz, LOVE. (*Organic)

Allergen-related information: (None found on small, 3-piece tin)

*And Vixen also infuses their chocolates with different sound frequencies.

Mandala Chocolate - "Cloud Forest" 62% Cacao Organic dark chocolate (bar) - June 28, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Mandala Chocolate
"Cloud Forest" 62% Cacao Organic dark chocolate (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 302 calories in 1/2 bar (151 calories in 1/4 bar (1 serving))
Cost: $10.80 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Earth, Mountains, Forests & Gardens Theme Week and Day #2 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Theme Week.

Today's "Cloud Forest" 62% Cacao Organic dark chocolate (bar) was from Mandala Naturals, LLC (Barnardsville, NC) and hand-crafted in Asheville, NC.

Aroma and flavor notes included smooth dark chocolate; gently fragrant herbs (similar to mint and lavender); very faint warm spices (cinnamon spice blend); and very faint lucuma (mild vanilla). 

Texture: smooth texture and melt

I enjoyed this bar. The diverse flavor blend was balanced, harmonious and slightly cooling--not unlike a cloud forest.

I wasn't able to taste the (Reishi and Chaga) mushrooms in this chocolate. There wasn't any mushroom powder graininess, or umami/earthy flavor, that would have given their presence away.

I appreciated the thoughtful sourcing and use of organic ingredients; the lack of additives; the company tagline "Cacao as Nourishment, Not Confection"; and the fact that the first ingredient listed was (heirloom) cacao*, followed by coconut sugar that wasn't too sweet. 

Ingredients: *Cacao, *Coconut Sugar, *Carob, *Sprouted Brown Rice Powder, *Lucuma, *Baobab, *Ginger, *Cinnamon, *Maca, *Siberian Ginseng (Eleuthero), +Reishi, +Chaga, *Cardamom, *Turmeric, *Black Pepper, Celtic Sea Salt (TM) (* = Organic; + = Organic & Wildcrafted)

Allergen-related information: (None found on package.)

*While not specifically stated on packaging for this bar, the cacao used to make this bar may have come from Maya Mountain Cacao--a centralized fermentary/cacao processing facility in Punta Gorda, Belize--a source mentioned on the company's website.

Gallette Chocolates - 85% Cacao Brasil - Mata Atlantica (Rainforest) (bar) - June 2, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Gallette Chocolates
85% Cacao Brasil - Mata Atlantica (Rainforest) (bar)
Good ++ = Good +++
Weight: 1.51 oz. (43 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1 serving (9 squares) of bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Brazil (Brasil) Theme Week. 

Today's 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate Mata Atlantica Rainforest Brasil (bar) was from Gallette Chocolates LTDA - EPP (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

Aroma notes included: dark, roasted cacao, faint leather, salt and earth; roasted nut butter.

The bar had a thick, creamy fudge texture and melt.

The chocolate flavor: rich, dark, roasted cacao with medium acidity, a fleeting hint of green, and not too sweet. (Thank you, I'm always looking for less sweet, ultra-dark bars to love.)

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of milk, soy, almond, Brazil nuts, cashew, macadamia nuts, coconut, walnuts, wheat and peanuts.
 

Moka Origins - Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone 85% (bar) - Nov. 2, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Moka Origins
Dark - Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone 85% (bar)
Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.9 g.) / 2.4 oz. (67.9 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

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

Today's Dark Gola Rainforest, Sierra Leone 85% (bar) was made by Moka Origins (Honesdale, PA).

This bold, ultra-dark chocolate had a smooth, even texture and melt—and flickers of earth, smoke and deep, opaque chocolate flavor. Think roasted nuts over fire that includes fennel* and licorice kindling.

*I happen to like fennel, so this is not necessarily a criticism. Even the dried wood/sticks from the fennel plant (the whole plant is edible) retain a polite fennel/black licorice aroma, with a touch of light vanilla and maple.