Antidote - Lemon confit + Licorice 84 dark (bar) - Sept. 22, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Antidote
Lemon confit + Licorice 84 dark (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.15 oz. (32.5 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's Antidote Lemon confit + Licorice 84 dark (bar) was made in Ecuador. 

The company is the creation of Red Thalhammer in the U.S. who is "NY/Miami based with Austrian roots." A former Art Director, who was introduced to European chocolate as a child, she has been creating interesting flavor inclusion chocolate bars (many with different fruits, spices and botanicals) since 2009.

The cacao used to make this bar was listed as "Nacional Complex." Nacional is a relatively rare cacao native to Ecuador (and is also found in Peru), often described as having a fine aroma and complex flavor profile.

Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: dark chocolate with citrus (lemon marmalade) and very faint sweet herbal/spice.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate interspersed with chewy bits of candied/sweet lemon peel. 

I enjoyed the blend of dark, smooth and balanced chocolate and sweet, tart lemon peel. This chocolate tasted more like a 72% cacao than an 84% cacao bar -- making it a little less intense for those who prefer milder chocolates while not compromising for dark chocolate fans. The licorice was very subtle--adding an authentic, light, naturally sweet herbal flavor that harmonized well with the chocolate and the lemon.

Ingredients: (84% cacao Nacional Complex) cacao beans, whole cane sugar, cacao butter, lemon peel, licorice root, sunflower lecithin. 

Allergen-related information: "Made in a facility that handles milk, soy & nuts. Vegan, Gluten Free, Kosher"

Kessho - Black Sesame White Chocolate (bar) + Purple White Tea & TCHO - Dark & Salty 81% Cacao (bar) - Sept. 21, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Kessho Craft Chocolate
Black Sesame White Chocolate - Lightly Roasted Sesame (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .945 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.9 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 169 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: Part of a set ($60 for 4 bars + tea coins)
Purchased from: Kessho, online order 

TCHO
Dark & Salty 81% Cacao (bar)
Good ++
Weight:  1.625 (46 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total pkg. of 3 bars
Calories: 240 calories in 2/3 package
Cost: $5.39 for 1 bar (member discount)
Purchased from: Sports Basement, San Francisco, CA

West China Tea Company
Black Rain Shu P'uer Tea (tea coin)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) in 1 tea coin
Calories: 5 calories (estimate) in 1/2 tea coin (1 mug of tea)
Cost: $60.00 for a larger order (set) of 4 bars + 8 tea coins (may no longer be available)
Purchased from: Kessho, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Tea Week.*

Today's two bars were paired with tea from West China Tea Company (Austin, TX).

The sweetness of today's Black Sesame White Chocolate from Kessho Chocolate was complemented very nicely by an inky dark brown (black) p'uer tea--in the form of an individually-wrapped tea "coin" (that was part of a larger gift set of 4 different Kessho chocolate bars + 4 different West China Tea coins/teas. This set was distributed by Kessho, LLC (Austin, TX).

This collaboration was joined by a Dark & Salty 81% Cacao bar from TCHO (Berkeley, CA).

Kessho - Black Sesame White Chocolate (bar) + tea

The black sesame seeds (sourced from India) were ground together with cocoa butter and salt.

Aroma and flavor notes included: black sesame seeds in a creamy base with faint, buttery umami and salt.

Texture: buttery, and relatively smooth.

The suggested pairing with Black Rain Shu P'ureh tea was great. The rich, inky brown tea was excellent, and surprisingly versatile. It provided rich satisfying flavor; and its slightly tannic, balanced bitterness complemented both the sweet white chocolate sesame seed bar and the TCHO Dark & Salty bar.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Black Sesame, nuts, cream and sea salt"

Ingredients: "Cocoa butter, sugar, whole milk powder, skim milk powder, black sesame seed, salt"

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk and sesame seeds...Made in a facility that processes tree nuts, wheat and eggs" 

TCHO - Dark & Salty 81% (bar)

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark, fudge-y chocolate with a very light dose of vanilla and sea salt.

Texture: very smooth; dense and hearty flavor and texture.

I enjoyed this hearty, chocolate-y, dark chocolate with balanced, extra dark flavors. It was an 81% cacao bar that had the rich smoothness of a 72% cacao bar.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans**, Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter**, Pink Himalayan Salt, Vanilla Beans* (* Organic; ** Fair Trade Certified)

Allergen-related information: "May contain tree nuts."

Fossa Chocolate - Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 62% dark (bar) - Sept. 20, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Fossa Chocolate
Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 62% dark (bar)
Good +++
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 138.5 calories in 1/2 bar 
Cost: $13.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Tea Theme Week.

Today's Mu Zha Tie Guan Yin Tea 62% dark (bar) was from Fossa Chocolate Pte Ltd. (Singapore).

The cacao used to craft this Tea Chocolate collaboration bar was from Costa Esmeraldas (Emerald Coast), a family-owned cacao farm (estate) in northern, coastal Ecuador. The tea was from Pekoe & Imp (Singapore). (Note: I enjoyed a previous version of this bar made with Piura, Peru cacao in Dec. 2024.)

Oolong teas are meticulously processed and they fall between green and black teas. (All these teas are from the same Camellia sinensis plant species, but they're processed differently). Oolong teas are more oxidized than green teas but not fully oxidized like black teas. They have a clean, floral flavor--especially Ti Guan Yin oolong teas from southern China.

Aroma notes for this chocolate included: chocolate, faint toffee/gentle molasses, and clean (clean mineral), crisp (clear, almost sweet green) and floral oolong tea.

Texture: smooth and creamy with faint (tea, persimmon-like) astringency

Flavor notes included: smooth, friendly fudge-y, nuanced dark chocolate with subtle toffee/caramel; very diffuse fruit; faint floral and nut; and high-quality, floral oolong tea that lingered into a long and satisfying finish.

I loved this chocolate and tea blend -- so full of layered, balanced, gently complexity. Skillfully captured and nurtured single origin flavors that spanned two continents. The best of both worlds in one bar--enjoyed very much today, on a third continent. 

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Aroma of sweet toasty caramel and floral notes with a warming finish."

Ingredients: "Cacao, cane sugar, cacao butter, tea leaves"

Allergen-related information: "Produced in a facility that processes nuts & dairy" 

Fu-Wan Chocolate - Taiwan Red Oolong Tea 62% dark (bar) - Sept. 19, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Fu-Wan Chocolate
Taiwan Red Oolong Tea 62% dark (bar)
Good ++
Weight: .62 oz. (17.5 g.) / 1.236 oz. (35 g.) in total bar
Calories: 104 calories in 1/2 bar (207.9 cals. for 1 whole bar)
Cost: $18.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Caputo's, online order

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

Today's Taiwan Red Oolong Tea 62% dark (bar) was from Fu-Wan Chocolate (Ping-Tung County, Taiwan).

Red tea is generally a black tea known for its "juicy, fruity and honey notes," whereas red oolong tea offers a blend of these sweet and fruity notes + classical oolong tea flavors...Exactly what I tasted in today's Taiwan Red Oolong Tea chocolate.

Aroma and flavor notes for this tree-to-bar chocolate included: dark chocolate with brown sugar toffee, fruit (candied pineapple, date, persimmon), diffuse warm spices (cinnamon, ginger); and oolong tea (with slightly floral, clean mineral notes).

Texture: smooth and creamy with a slight (fruit, tea) astringency (slightly granular dryness).

I enjoyed the unexpectedly flavorful fruit, floral and toffee notes. All these aromas and flavors were coaxed from just four ingredients. 

Maker's Tasting Notes: Rose, Cardamom, Pistachio, Toffee

Ingredients: Ping Tung Cacao Liquor, Sugar, Cacao Butter, Taiwan Red Oolong Tea Powder

Allergen-related information: "May contain traces of nuts and milk."

The Organic House - Chai Latte 55% Cacao Belize Maya Mountain (bar) - Sept. 18, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

The Organic House
Chai Latte - Mylk chocolate infused with chai tea 55% Cacao (Belize) (bar)
Good ++
Calories: 142 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Organic House, online order

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate & Tea Week. This is the third tea-themed chocolate week this year, and I'm finding a lot of blends and pairings I like in 2025.

Today's Chai Latte - Mylk chocolate infused with chai tea 55% Cacao Belize - Maya Mountain (bar) was from The Organic House (Burlington, ON, Canada).

The cacao used to make this chocolate was from Maya Mountain (I'm assuming this means Maya Mountain Cacao*), in southern Belize.

Aroma and flavor notes for this bar included: chocolate, brown/less refined sugar, and an aromatic blend of warm, chai spices (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, very faint anise, other). The single origin cacao added very faint, diffuse and smooth fruit and authentic cacao complexity.

Texture: uniformly smooth and relatively creamy throughout. (The tea and spice bits were fully incorporated; no detectable particle grit--made this chocolate more latte-like.)

Every chai tea tastes a little different depending on the tea and spice blend(s). Here the rooibos tea added a very light herbal tea flavor. And the warm spices tasted authentic, albeit a bit more like pumpkin spice than chai spice. (The cardamom and pepper were further down on the ingredient list.)

This was a rich and sweet, friendly and authentic bar that will please those who enjoy a warm, flavorful spiced chocolate with less caffeine. The use of coconut flower nectar made the sweetness richer and less buzzy than more refined white cane sugar.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Buttery notes of chocolate, chai tea, honey, raisins, and pineapple."

Ingredients: Organic coconut flower nectar, Organic cacao beans, Organic cacao butter, Organic cashews, Organic* rooibos chai tea (rooibos leaves*, cinnamon bark*, ginger root*, star anise fruit*, cloves*, cardamom seeds*, black pepper*, natural flavor*).

Allergen-related information: Contains Cashews. May contain: Almonds, Hazelnuts, Oats, Pistachios."

*Maya Mountain Cacao is a facility that works with many local farmers in the lush forests of the Toledo district of southern Belize (not far from Punta Gorda). Their centralized post-harvest cacao fermenting and processing operation sells to many small-batch, specialty/craft chocolate makers.

Taza - 70% Dark Chocolate Lemon Cookie Crunch (bar) - Sept. 17, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Taza Chocolate
70% Dark Chocolate Lemon Cookie Crunch (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Taza, online order 

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

Today's 70% Dark Chocolate Lemon Cookie Crunch (bar) was made from bean-to-bar by Taza Chocolate (Somerville, MA). 

Taza founders have been making stone ground ("perfectly unrefined") chocolate bars, discs and confections since 2005--and were early adopters of organic cacao and direct trade efforts/practices.

There was no tea in this bar, but this lemon cookie 70% chocolate paired well with a creamy matcha tea latte and with an aromatic black tea with citrus notes.

Aroma notes included: lemon, lemon cookie, dark chocolate and vanilla.

Texture: smooth dark chocolate and crunchy (lemon cookie bits)

Flavor notes included: sweet lemony flavor and lemon cookies that lightened up the earthy dark chocolate. 

The bright, light floral qualities of the creamy smoothness of the matcha green tea latte (pairing item) complemented the sweet lemon cookie and helped reduce the spikier/bolder earth notes in the 70% dark chocolate. (The cacao used to make this chocolate was from The Dominican Republic.) A high-quality black tea with a squeeze of lemon also worked nicely.

Always a pleasure to explore different chocolate + tea pairings and to try to get everything to harmonize. I was hoping to try a pairing without adding dairy, but the matcha latte (with milk) seemed to be the best pairing match.

I appreciated the use of organic, fair trade and less processed ingredients.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans*, Cane Sugar*, Lemon Cookies* (Gluten Free Whole Oat Flour*, Cane Sugar*, High Oleic Safflower Oil*, Pear Juice from Concentrate*, Tapioca Starch*, Lemon Juice from Concentrate*, Lemon Extract*, Salt, Pure Vanilla Extract*, Cream of Tartar, Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), Sunflower Lecithin*, Xanthan Gum, Rosemary Extract*), Cocoa Butter*, Lemon Flavor Oil* (Sunflower Oil* and Natural Flavors), Sunflower Lecithin*. (* Organic)

Allergen-related information: May Contain Traces of Tree Nuts and Sesame Seeds.

Kessho - Boba Tea 44% Cacao Ecuador (bar) - Sept. 16, 2025

Chocolate of the Day

Kessho Craft Chocolate
Boba Tea Milk Chocolate 44% Cacao Cayapas Rivers Ecuador (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 369 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Dispensary, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate & Tea Week.*

Today's Boba Tea Milk Chocolate 44% Cacao Cayapas Rivers Ecuador (bar) was made and distributed by Kessho, LLC (Austin, TX).

The Nacional variety cacao used to make this chocolate was from northern Ecuador. The Cayapas (River) runs from the Andes mountains to the Pacific Ocean. (Of the 100s of rivers and streams that begin in the Andes, some flow to the Pacific Ocean, and others run eastward toward the Amazon River system.) This vast water network sustains large forest ecosystems--as well as farmers growing cacao--in South America.

Aroma and flavor notes included: pleasing, aromatic high-end tea and Boba/Thai iced tea with fleeting clean mineral/tea, almost floral, brown sugar, smooth and tasty milk chocolate, cream and sugar. The tea kept re-surfacing above cloud-like layers of sweet creamy milk chocolate and lingered into a long finish.

Texture: ridiculously creamy and smooth with a rich creamy melt. (Cocoa butter is the first ingredient listed.)

I really enjoyed the short list of high-quality ingredients, the aromatic and tasty (Fujian Province, China) tea blend and the fact that this tea was able to shine through the smooth milk chocolate. This was a lovely, creamy, single origin cacao rendition of boba tea. (Also somewhat addicting.)

Maker's Tasting Notes: Ecuador Cacao Flavor Profile: "Floral, woody aroma"...Overall bar: "Boba, caramel and chocolate fudge"

Ingredients: "Cocoa butter, brown sugar, whole cacao beans, whole milk powder, skim milk powder, black tea powder, sugar, dark brown sugar"

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk...Made in a facility that processes tree nuts, wheat, sesame and eggs"