Godavari Chocolate - Bon-fiction Tree-to-Bar A Marvellous Mint Life 64% dark chocolate and peppermint (bar) - Sept. 23, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Godavari Chocolate
Bon-fiction Tree-to-Bar A Marvellous Mint Life 64% dark chocolate and peppermint (bar)
Good ++ 
Weight: .97 oz. (27.5 g.) / 1.94 oz. (55 g.) in total bar
Calories: 130 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Dispensary, online order 

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

Today's Bon-fiction Tree-to-Bar A Marvellous Mint Life 64% dark chocolate and peppermint (bar) was manufactured in India by GACS Foods, India, and imported and distributed by Godavari Chocolate Inc. (Folsom, CA).

The company works with local farmers and ferments, dries and stone-grinds cacao at their estate in the Godavari region of Southern India.

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate (hearty/bold chocolate-y; balanced earth); fresh/authentic peppermint; and a very faint and slightly musky, maple-y, malt note toward the finish.

Texture: creamy, smooth with a satisfying melt and mouthfeel

I appreciated the short list of ingredients; the smooth texture and melt; and the fact that the peppermint was present without being too overwhelming.

Ingredients: "Cocoa Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Peppermint Extract."

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes: Milk, Peanuts, Almond, Cashew, Walnut, Coconut, Hazelnut, Pistachio."

Tres Gallos - 70% Dark Bourbon (Beans from: India) (bar) - Sept. 22, 2026

Chocolate of The Day 

Tres Gallos Chocolate
70% Dark Bourbon (Beans from India) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

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

Today's 70% Dark Bourbon India (bar) was from Tres Gallos Chocolate (San Jose, CA and Pescadero Baja Sur, Mexico). Tres Gallos is a woman-owned and family-run company has been making micro-batch, single origin chocolates since 2018.

Aroma and flavor notes included dark chocolate (full-bodied, with a balanced astringency), sweet green, wood-aged spirits, with some malt in the finish.

Texture: This well-tempered bar broke with a hard snap and had a relatively smooth melt and mouthfeel.

I liked the complexity of flavors and the hard snap. And I appreciated the short list of quality and organic ingredients.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, cocoa butter, trace amounts of bourbon.

Allergen-related information: None listed 

Tres Gallos Chocolate - 50% Milk Rum (Beans from India) (bar) - Sept. 21, 2026

Chocolate of The Day 

Tres Gallos Chocolate
50% Milk Rum (Beans from India) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 162 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate & India Theme Week.

Today's 50% Milk Rum India (bar) was from Tres Gallos Chocolate (San Jose, CA and Pescadero Baja Sur, Mexico). The woman-owned and family-run company has been making micro-batch, single origin chocolates since 2018.

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate, wood (cedar, oak), toasted caramel, sweet green, faint vanilla and a whisp of spirits (rum ).

I liked the complexity coaxed from the relatively short list of ingredients; and I appreciated the maker's choice of organic cacao beans (India) and organic sugar.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, trace amounts of Smith & Cross rum.

Allergen-related information: None listed 

Tres Gallos Chocolate - 70% Dark Mezcalita (Beans from India) (bar) - Sept. 20, 2026

Chocolate of The Day 

Tres Gallos Chocolate
70% Dark Mezcalita (Beans from India) (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $14.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA 

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate & India Theme Week.

Today's 70% Dark Mezcalita India (bar) was from Tres Gallos Chocolate (San Jose, CA and Pescadero Baja Sur, Mexico). The woman-owned and family-run company has been making micro-batch, single origin chocolates since 2018.

Aroma and flavor notes included dark chocolate (balanced, ultra-dark chocolate-y flavor), zesty citrus (lime), and subtle mezcal and salt.

I appreciated the relatively short list of ingredients and choice of organic cacao beans and sugar.

Ingredients: Organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, cocoa butter, trace amounts of mezcal, lime zest, Oaxacan salt.

Allergen-related information: None listed

Dandelion Chocolate - 70% Rio Samaria, Mexico 2026 Harvest (bar) + 70% Anamalai, India 2022 Harvest (bar) - Sept. 19, 2026

Chocolate(s) of The Day

Dandelion Chocolate

70% Rio Samaria, Mexico 2026 Harvest (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Dandelion Chocolate, SF Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 

70% Anamalai, India, 2022 Harvest (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 155 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $N/A - gift from friends
Purchased from: N/A - part of Maker's Set gift from friends (Thank you Evan, Maddy & Isla!)

Welcome to the last day of Chocolate Banquet 20th Anniversary Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate & India Theme Week. 

Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco, CA) makes small-batch, bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate bars using just two ingredients: cocoa beans and cane sugar--as well as drinking chocolates and confections. Dandelion was one of the first San Francisco Bay Area local makers I met and visited. Over the years, they expanded to multiple locations in San Francisco, and have cafe/retail spaces in Las Vegas and Japan; but they've still have maintained their small batch roots, and focus on flavors.

70% Rio Samaria, Mexico (bar)

Aroma and flavor notes for one of the newest single origin chocolates in Dandelion's line included: dark chocolate with enjoyable plum fruit and malt, with a mild astringency. Loved the plum flavor.

Maker's tasting notes: "We taste plum jam, champurrado, and tobacco leaf."

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans & Cane Sugar

Allergen-related information: None listed.

70% Anamalai, India (bar)

Aroma and flavor notes included: dark chocolate, sweet citrus (kumquat, tangerine) and green tea latte. Nice vibrant but balanced flavor ride.

Maker's tasting notes: "We taste notes of kumquat and Hojicha milk tea."

Ingredients: Cocoa Beans & Cane Sugar

Allergen-related information: None listed.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company - Premium Baking Non Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips - Sept. 18, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Premium Baking Non-Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 10 oz. (283 g.) in total package 
Calories: 140 calories in 2 servings (30 g.)
Cost: $6.99 for 1 package 
Purchased from: Safeway, Menlo Park, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate Banquet 20th Birthday Celebration Theme Week, featuring several chocolates that have been enabling this chocolate journey for a very long time.

Ghirardelli Chocolate was one of the revered chocolate "elders" when I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. It had its own "building" (with roots that extended back to the 1850s) that served ice cream and chocolate by the San Francisco Bay.* I have sweet memories of being treated to towering chocolate ice cream sundaes on an upper floor of Ghirardelli Square overlooking the Bay, within easy walking distance of Fisherman's Wharf.

The first Ghirardelli chocolate featured on this Chocolate Banquet site was in November 2006; but I'd been enjoying their chocolate long before then in stealth form (as part of other people's baked goods, or in ice cream sundaes).

Today, I ate some of these chocolate chips fresh out of the package; and they also were melted and made into chocolate cups (that will be filled with ice cream, fruits and other dessert items).

Aroma and flavor notes for today's Ghirardelli Premium Baking Non-Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips included: sweet dark chocolate with very faint brown sugar and vanilla, that lingered into a clean, sweet, almost bright and fruity, chocolate-y finish--a sweetness consistent with those vanilla and chocolate ice cream sundaes with lots of chocolate sauce, probably topped with a cherry or two.

Ingredients: Unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured on equipment that also processes milk."

*Domenico Ghirardelli (1817-1894) came to San Francisco (via South America) during the California Gold Rush. He was from Italy (where he had some early exposure to chocolate and trained as a confectioner). He first worked in South America (and changed his name to Domingo) before heading up to the gold fields and opening a general store in Stockton, followed by business locations in San Francisco.

Ghirardelli saw (and helped create) a market for chocolate when he arrived in San Francisco, as would Etienne Guittard a few years later.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA) is now owned by Lindt. The original family hasn't owned the company since the 1960s; but it's nice to see the business is still thriving in the Bay Area.

Guittard - 72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Sante Mini Dark Chocolate Chips - Sept. 17, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Guittard
72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Sante - Mini Dark Chocolate Chips
Good ++ - Good+++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 9 oz. (255 g.) in total package
Calories: 140 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $8.99 (sale) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Menlo Park, CA 

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate Banquet 20th Year Anniversary Celebration Week, featuring several local San Francisco Bay Area chocolate makers who've made this adventure possible over the long haul.

The latest wave of bean-to-bar makers in the Bay Area is discussed a lot. But two of the oldest chocolate makers in the Bay Area date back to the 1800s: Guittard* and Ghirardelli--both makers and suppliers of premium chocolate. 

Today's 72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Santee Mini Dark Chocolate Chips were from Guittard Chocolate Co. (Burlingame, CA). 

Guittard formulates high-end chocolate for professionals as well as home bakers, with many uses, including: couverture chocolate(s) used by chocolatiers and chefs; as well as chocolate bars and chocolate chips. 

The first Guittard chocolate listed on Chocolate Banquet was an Ambanja Bittersweet 65% Madagascar bar in June 2007. However, chocolates made by others (using Guittard chocolate) appeared within weeks of when this blog started in 2006. (Some chocolatiers kept this secret; others were very proud to tell you they used Guittard.)

All Guittard chocolates (for me) over the past 20 years have been tasty a la carte, right out of the package. For dark chocolate fans, there's no need to wait to bake a chocolate cake to try these.

I found today's three-ingredient, sante ("health") mini dark chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar in the baking section of a local supermarket. There was only one pretty, shiny, silver blue bag left. (I think that's because they were quite good.) I ate some plain, used some in a trail mix; and plan to use leftovers to make a high-end, chocolate dessert in a solar cooker.

Aroma and flavor notes for today's mini chocolate chips included: rich, chocolate-y flavor (that extended into the finish) with subtle coconut sugar/nectar (brown sugar) and faint, pleasant vanilla. 

Texture: smooth, firm texture with a satisfying melt (when eaten out of hand, fresh out of the bag).

These mini dark chocolate chips would add little pops of rich chocolate and warm, toasty brown sugar/toffee flavor to cookies, brownies, and a whole host of chocolate desserts. And, as mentioned, no need to muss up that kitchen with all that baking; they were great by themselves and added to a trail mix.

I also appreciated these were safe for people with allergies and health-related issues. They were "free from 14 allergies and sensitivities," including: soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and gluten. And they were Fair Trade Certified as well as dairy-free and Certified Vegan.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans+, Organic Coconut Sugar* (from the nectar of coconut trees), and Vanilla (+Fair Trade Certified; *Organic)

Allergen-related information: "Free from 14 common allergens" including soy, peanuts, tree nuts and gluten. (Contained coconut sugar; no refined cane sugar.)

*Etienne Guittard arrived in San Francisco during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s and saw the potential demand for fine chocolate. He set up a chocolate shop on Sansome Street in 1868, and was one of the first chocolate makers in San Francisco. 

And the company is still family-owned (and operated), more than 150 years later. No small feat.