Karu Chocolates - Pacific Dark 75% Tumaco, Colombia (bar) - July 6, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Karu Chocolates

Pacific Dark - 75% Tumaco, Colombia (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar 
Calories: 70 calories in 1/4 bar 
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA

Yesterday we said goodbye to Earth (and Mushroom) themed weeks, and today we say hello to another elemental chocolate week. 

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate & Water Theme Week. 

Today's Karu Chocolates Pacific Dark 75% Tumaco Colombia (bar) was made in Bogota, Colombia and distributed (in the U.S.) by Tropicalia LLC. 

This bar is named for the city of Tumaco, located on the Pacific Coast*--next to the gigantic body of water that is the Pacific (Ocean).*

Aroma and flavor notes for this hearty dark bar included: dark chocolate (deep, chocolate-y, roasted cacao and balanced earth (where the misty forest meets the coast), and subtle, diffuse red berry.

Texture: relatively thick and rich with a smooth melt and mouthfeel

This 75% dark chocolate was bold in flavor, but wasn't too bitter or acidic--or too sweet (thank you).

I really appreciated that this chocolate was made with just two ingredients "in country" -- in the same country where the cacao was grown.

Ingredients: Cacao, cane sugar

Allergen-related information: "Produced in facilities processing milk and nuts"

*There's nothing like living on the edge of the Pacific Ocean--Earth's largest body of water (63 million square miles or 163 million square kilometers). 

In California (where Chocolate Banquet is based), the moisture from this large ocean enables many ecosystems (Redwood, Oak, Almond, Avocado and many trees and plants and life forms). In South America, it supports cacao and many other fruit and seed trees, as well as tropical/rain forests).

Elemental Superfoods - Double Chocolate Reishi, Chaga & Cordyceps Superfood Adaptogen Seed Bar - July 5, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Elemental Superfoods
Double Chocolate Reishi, Chaga & Cordyceps (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.8 oz. (51 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 230 calories in 1 bar
Purchased from: Elemental Superfood, online order

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Mushrooms Week.

Today's Double Chocolate Reishi, Chaga & Cordyceps (bar) was distributed by Elemental Superfood, Inc. (Torrance, CA).

Aroma and flavor notes included: seedy, nutty and chocolate-y with faint, balanced earth and umami.

Texture: a blend of crunchy (buckwheat, flax seeds, nuts) and creamy, binding elements (almond butter, chocolate) 

This substantial energy seed, nut, chocolate and mushroom bar contained 8 grams of protein; and the relatively long list of flavors harmonized fairly well with each other.

Ingredients: Organic Buckwheat, Organic Almond Butter, Organic Dark Chocolate (Organic Coconut Sugar, Organic Chocolate Liquor, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Vanilla Powder), Organic Cacao Powder, Organic Raw Honey, Organic Flaxseeds, Organic Coconut, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Brazil Nuts, Organic Sesame Seeds, Cacao Butter, Organic Reishi, Organic Chaga, Organic Cordyceps, Organic Vanilla Extract, Pink Himalayan Salt

Allergen-related information: Contains Nuts (Almonds, Brazil Nuts) and Coconut (Sugar)

Kessho Craft Chocolate - Porcini Dark Milk 60% Cacao Semuliki Forest, Uganda (bar) - July 4, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Kessho Craft Chocolate 
Porcini Dark Milk 60% Cacao Semuliki Forest, Uganda (bar) 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 177 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar 

Purchased from: Kessho, online order

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate & Mushrooms Theme Week. And Happy 250th birthday to those celebrating Independence Day in the U.S.A.

Today's Porcini Dark Milk 60% Cacao Semuliki Forest, Uganda (bar) was from Kessho Craft Chocolate (distributed by Kessho, LLC (Austin, TX)).*

The cacao used to make this bar was (a hybrid of Trinitario & Forastero varieties) grown in the Semuliki Forest region of Uganda.

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth, rich dark chocolate; umami (gently savory, mushroom); subtle caramel; and very faint (barely detectable) fruit and nuts. It was a smooth and attractively interesting flavor ride, with a slight mushroom flavor at the end of a long relatively sweet finish.

Most of the mushroom/fungi flavor inclusions in this week's chocolates have been what are often considered "medicinal" or "adaptogenic" species. There are well over 10,000 species of mushrooms, and only a small subset of these are edible. The subset of these that taste good is even smaller.**

However, happily, today's Porcini mushroom flavor came with more delicious culinary associations, and not just, "eat it and it will be good for you" implied messaging.

Texture: smooth, relatively creamy, dark milk chocolate (with no detectable mushroom powder ("grit")). (The mushroom powder was well incorporated into the chocolate.)

I enjoyed the blend of dark milk chocolate with balanced umami notes, and authentic (and not overwhelming) mushroom flavor; the use of single origin cacao; and the short list of ingredients.

Maker's Tasting Notes: "Earthiness, umami, blue cheese...Foraged Yunnan porcini mushrooms lend their deep earthiness to this dark milk chocolate..."

Ingredients: "Whole cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, porcini mushroom powder"

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

*Kessho is a Japanese word that means "Crystal" that pays tribute to the crystalline structure of chocolate.

**I've found this to be true for plants as well. About 10% of all plants are technically edible, and only 10% of that number actually taste good. Do your research on any plants (or certainly any mushrooms) you taste in the wild. As the cautionary advisory/saying goes in the mushroom foraging circles: "Every mushroom is edible, at least once..."

Alice Mushrooms - Brainstorm Singles Mushroom Chocolate Brain Bite for Focus & Energy - July 3, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Alice Mushrooms
Brainstorm Singles - Mushroom Chocolate Brain Bite for Focus & Energy
Good +
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) in one bite
Calories: 40 calories in 1 bite/small packet
Cost: $3.89 for 1 bite/small packet 
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Mushrooms Theme Week.

Today's Brainstorm Singles - Mushroom Chocolate(s) for Focus & Energy were distributed by Alice Mushrooms Inc. (Los Angeles (Venice), CA).

There was quite a contrast between aroma and flavor notes for this dark chocolate. The aroma was a very faint, barely detectable (chocolate) aroma. But the flavor notes were quite intense--dark chocolate with a relatively bitter, slightly moldy, earthiness--presumably from the mushrooms/mushroom extract(s); but I am not 100% sure about that.

Texture: smooth texture with a satisfying melt

The small, individually-wrapped chocolates made it easier to have one small "dose" at a time. I appreciated the melt; and that the amount of caffeine per serving (66 mg.) was included on the packaging.

This bar contained a mushroom blend: "...750 mg [8:1 Lion's Mane Extract (fruiting body), Organic 8:1 Cordyceps Extract (fruiting body), Guarana, Phosphatidylserine]"

"Other Ingredients": Organic Semi-Sweet 72% Dark Chocolate (Organic Unsweetened Chocolate, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter), Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter Guarana"

Allergen-related information: None found on packaging. (Be aware if you are mushroom or mold sensitive, this may not be a chocolate for you. I experienced nasal congestion and sneezing after consuming this bite.)

Fruiting Bodies LLC - Reishi Dark Chocolate 70% (bar) - July 2, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Fruiting Bodies LLC 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in total bar
Calories: 240 calories in 1 bar

Cost: Missing information 

Purchased from: Oceana Market, Pacifica, CA 

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate & Mushrooms Theme Week.

Today's Reishi Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (bar) was from Fruiting Bodies LLC (Muscatine, IA).

The company currently offers a line of three different mushroom chocolates (Cordyceps, Lion's Mane and Reishi), as well as mushroom tinctures and essences.

This dark chocolate bar was made using Golden Reishi (Ganaderma curtisii)--a bracket fungus, native to North America, found in hardwood forests in the Eastern U.S. and closely related to Asian Reishi mushrooms (e.g. Ganaderma lucidum).

Aroma and flavor notes included: pleasant dark chocolate, light brown or unrefined sugar, and very faint (barely detectable) mushroom.

Texture: relatively smooth texture; the reishi extract was completely incorporated into the chocolate.

I appreciated the balanced flavors and short list of organic ingredients, and the fact that they do third-party testing with their mushrooms/fungi.

Ingredients: "organic chocolate liquor, organic coconut palm sugar, organic cacao fat, organic reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) concentrate."

Allergen-related information: "Vegan" "No Refined Sugar, No Sugar Alcohols, No Dairy/Soy, No Lecithins, No Palm Oil, No Gluten"

Moksha - Turkey Tail Maitake & Chaga Functional Mushrooms in 70% Dark Chocolate - July 1, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Moksha
Turkey Tail Maitake & Chaga Functional Mushrooms in 70% Dark Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: .5 oz. (15 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 90 calories in 1 package
Cost: $6.00 for 1 package 
Purchased from: Far West Fungi, SF Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate & Mushrooms Theme Week.

Today's Turkey Tail Maitake & Chaga Functional Mushrooms in 70% Dark Chocolate (square) was manufactured (from cacao bean nib-to-bar) by Moksha Chocolate (Boulder, CO). 

Aroma and flavor notes included: hearty, dark chocolate with a slight, woody/umami bitterness and acidity. 

Texture: smooth texture (no detectable mushroom powder(s) in the mouthfeel or melt)

This 70%er was packed with deep, dark, chocolate-y flavor with authentic woodsy mushroom notes--and balanced acidity and bitterness--making it satisfying and easy to savor slowly. I enjoyed the depth of the combined flavors and that the resulting chocolate wasn't too sweet. 

I appreciated the well-executed flavor blend, the use of coconut sugar, and the short list of ingredients. 

Ingredients: Cacao Nibs, Coconut Sugar, Cacao Butter, Dried Mushrooms (Turkey Tail, Maitake & Chaga)

Allergen-related information: Contains Coconut (Sugar) 

Moksha - Reishi - Functional Mushrooms in 65% Dark Vegan Chocolate - June 30, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Moksha
Reishi - Functional Mushrooms in 65% Dark Vegan Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: .5 oz. (15 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 90 calories in 1 package
Cost: $6.00 for 1 package 
Purchased from: Far West Fungi, SF Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate & Mushrooms Theme Week.

Today's Reishi Functional Mushrooms in 65% Dark Vegan Chocolate (square) was manufactured (from cacao bean nib-to-bar) by Moksha Chocolate (Boulder, CO). 

This reishi mushroom chocolate bar was labeled for "Night Time"--a reference to the thought that reishi mushrooms contain compounds that can act as a non-drowsy relaxant at the end of the day.

Aroma and flavor notes included: smooth, dark chocolate; faint coconut; and mushroom.

Texture: smooth textured (no mushroom powder "grit")

I appreciated the balanced and well-executed flavors, and the short list of ingredients.

Ingredients: Cacao Nibs, Coconut Sugar, Coconut Milk Powder, Cacao Butter, Dried Mushrooms (Reishi)

Allergen-related information: Contains Coconut (Coconut Sugar, Coconut Milk).