Cocoa Encounters

19/08/2025

H is for Hogarth… and for History 🍫✨

Hogarth means two things to me: Hogarth Chocolate Makers – the inclusion wizards from New Zealand – and William Hogarth, the 18th-century English painter, engraver, satirist, cartoonist, and writer.

William Hogarth’s portrayal of chocolate was one of indulgence: hot chocolate fuelling decadence and depravity in 18th-century London. ➡️ Swipe to see image including his plate depicting White’s Chocolate House from The Rake’s Progress series – a less glamorous chapter in chocolate’s history.

😊 The bar is a tangential twin to .kot and the Ecuador bar – this is their Hacienda Victoria Ecuador – reimagined as a dark milk bar with oats, coconut, butter, and brown sugar to evoke the iconic Anzac biscuit. I know it has featured before in the TTTT series, but this is my first taste.

Historically, Anzac biscuits were sent to Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers in WWI as care packages – much like chocolate was sent to Allied troops.

⚠️ Hungry? Don’t open this bar… it’ll be history before you know it! ❤️😊🍫

It may be a milk chocolate, but the oats and coconut temper the sweetness, creating the illusion of a hearty, wholesome snack.

So glad I finally got to try this one – and a huge thank you to for bringing it back for me! 🙌

18/08/2025

🍫🌈 Colourful, fun and with a respect for difference!

I love a good community group tasting, and this one with the East Lindsey LGBTQ Social & Support Group at Sutton was such a joy and what a great brief too!

Here was my choice for the theme:
❤️💛🤎 70% Madagascar
🌈🤎🎂 Dormouse Chocolates Birthday Bar
💕🧡🤎Duffy’s Chocolate 61% Mayan Milk & 65% Orange
❤️🧡✨ Solkiki White Ginger Beer, Raspberry & Anise, and 70% Chuncho

The result? A brilliant evening with something for everyone!

Huge thanks to the group for the warm welcome ( some pictured) — I’m already looking forward to coming back.

12/08/2025

A Gathering of Gourmet Greatness

G is for Guatemala 🇬🇹🍫

My first Guatemalan taste memory goes back to award-winning Rio Dulce bar, and today’s post is a nod to that history.

The image shows bars from my packaging archives — some vintage, some from makers no longer with 😢

I wish I had a Guatemala Asochivite to taste to make a true twin with , but I can still connect the dots: Goodnow’s relationship with Asochivite leads us to this Encuentro Guatemala bar… with an addition G here for Encuentro meaning “Gathering.”.

My experience

🍫Deep brown, spicy aroma with a citrus edge.
🍋It’s that citrus that greets you first on the palate — bright, sharp, and intriguing — before deeper dried fruits join in, accompanied by warm spice. They linger then mellow into a rich, brownie-like finish.

06/08/2025

Is farm to bar cacao better than bean to bar? It very much depends if it’s fine or fashionable!

In my latest piece, I compare two Colombian bars: one “Single Origin, Farm to Bar Cacao” from Cox & Co, the other from bean-to-bar maker Nicola’s Chocolate. 🇨🇴🍫🇨🇴🍫

I’ve put them through the TTC test – Taste, Transparency, and Craftsmanship.

🍫TRANSPARENCY: What do we know about the beans and their journey?

Cox & Co
Is the whole process controlled by the company, as suggested in their strapline?
Not quite!

It is “supplied by Casa Luker estate,” who “work closely with local farmers”. Even when attributed to their supplier, farm to bar cacao makes little sense. Luker Chocolate sources from 15,000 farmers across Colombia and processes a blend of cacao into pre-made chocolate. The bars are then presumably made by Montrose Ventures Ltd for Cox & Co.

Not the level of transparency and control required for a genuine farm to bar claim.

Nicola’s
Cacao grown by 366 women of the Agromuvaras Association in Tumaco, imported by a fine cacao specialist (Belco), and made from bean-to-bar in Nicola’s small-batch factory, which is open to the public.

🍫🍫CRAFTSMANSHIP: How are the flavours crafted?

Cox & Co
If “handcrafted” for Cox & Co means made from pre-made chocolate in a factory producing over 20,000 bars a day, then in my book, it’s manufactured — not crafted.
Added vanilla extract helps achieve a standardised flavour profile.

Nicola’s
The crafting process is communicated clearly, illustrating the care and respect involved in flavour development — both at origin and in the bean-to-bar factory.

🍫🍫🍫TASTE: What are you tasting?

Cox & Co
Unpleasant aroma, but a familiar, uncomplex taste with a pleasant mouthfeel.
A classic, well-made industrial premium.

Nicola’s
Nuanced, layered, and an interesting flavour journey with a lovely aftertaste.
Food for the curious!

Read the full article and you decide which bars meets your criteria for taste, transparency and craftsmanship

LINK IN BIO TO FULL ARTICLE

05/08/2025

F is for Foundry, Floral, Fine-Flavour, Finca and Friends 🍫🍫

For my bar was sourced from by my friend and transported by my friend to the land of far-far away that is my home in Lincolnshire. 🙏🙏✈️✈️

Made in a little chocolate foundry just north of Auckland, New Zealand. This bar is proudly described by the makers as “intoxicatingly moreish” so I was expecting something to trigger my floral scent receptors, something heady and delicate. 🌹💐

The flavours are crafted from cacao from the Finca Nueva Esperanza in Pichari Alta, La Convención, Cusco, Peru. We are told the cacao is VRAE-99 and is farmed by third generation cacao farmers Juan and Carmen Laura and their daughter Rosaura, one of the unique genetic varieties of cacao grown on their 2-hectare farm. 🇵🇪 .esperanza.pichari

My childhood was filled with rose and violet fondant creams in dark chocolate, which were far from delicate! But in fine chocolate, floral takes on a whole new meaning—elegant, ephemeral and impossible to force!
🍫🍫
It’s already there in the aroma, but purple and tangy, more hibiscus than rose. The aroma itself is certainly moreish.

The taste begins with a slightly more herbal feel, like hibiscus tea. Then the sense of someone peeling a mandarin mingles effortlessly into the mix. The rose for me comes towards the end as I breath in mindfully and let the aromas rise through my nose, bringing back memories of a chocolate covered Turkish Delight – my go-to treat in the years between childhood treats and discovering the good stuff!

Thank you for crafting this bar with such delicacy and respect for the cacao. Great tasting notes too. I totally agree. I’m just wondering how get more!

29/07/2025

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿As I’ve been in Scotland and met up with Charlotte Flower in the landscape that shapes her craft, I couldn’t miss the chance to try one of her bars for my Tangential Tasting Twin Tuesday. Charlotte has two bars: the Elderflower, which I’ve tasted before, and the Electric Daisy, which was new to me and we spotted electric growing by the loch on the walk to our morning swim. (Swipe left!)

🌼The Electric Daisy is another name for Sneezewort or Achillea ptarmica—and according to my trusty Culpeper’s Complete Herbal, it’s also known as Bastard Pellitory! Charlotte talks more about this in her flavour blogspot too (QR code in the pack).

I love Culpeper’s description of its virtues: “It has a hot biting taste, and in salads is used to correct the coldness of other herbs. The root held in the mouth helps the toothache, by evacuating the rheum; the powder of the herb snuffed up the nose causes sneezing and cleanses the head of tough slimy humours.”

😶‍🌫️I’m now tempted to refer to my menopausal brain fog as “slimy humours”! But that’s a different tangent!

We tasted the flowers together and experienced the hidden power of these delicate, daisy-like blooms. It’s their unexpected “Sichuan pepper” effect that Charlotte wanted to capture in her chocolate and she has paired these flowrrs with a gentle Ecuadorian milk chocolate from Original Beans, providing a soft, creamy backdrop.

🍫The aroma already hints at something unusual, with a whisper of spice behind the sweetness. As the chocolate melts, mellow hazelnut and central chocolate notes emerge, calm and comforting, before the electricity strikes up. It’s not immediate or overpowering, but slowly, your lips begin to tingle. A gentle numbing creeps in. That’s when you realise: this unassuming flower carries a quiet, electric power.

So here’s to inspiring a few tangential tastings with my electrifying edible flowers in Ecuadorian chocolate.

And as ever, thank you for introducing me to nature’s quiet artistry through your chocolate.

28/07/2025

Tonight, Louth Chocolate Tasters will enjoy a curated selection of craft chocolate and bonbons brought back from this weekend’s visit to Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

What I returned with wasn’t only chocolate, but a deeper appreciation for the skill, integrity, and care in sourcing and crafting that defines the work of three exceptional Scottish makers. I will be sharing that along with the chocolate!

Sincere thanks to Ali , Matt and Charlotte for so generously welcoming us into your work spaces and sharing your knowledge, experience and passion for chocolate, flavour and the landscapes and people associated with them.

Your individual approach and dedication to the craft is so inspiring — and evident in every piece and I can’t wait to tell everyone.

There’s more to come on the trip but here is the line-up for tonight’s tasting:

🍫Explore Chocolate - Caramelised White Chocolate 38% Colombia
🍫Charlotte Flower - Elderflower White – 38% Colombia
🍫Charlotte Flower - Crab Apple Milk 55% (Bare Bones Honduras)
🍫Charlotte Flower - Sweet Cicily Dark 68% (Bare Bones Dominica Republic Salted)
🍫Chocolate Tree - Guatemala Lachua Milk 50%
🍫Chocolate Tree - Chuncho Peru 70%
🍫Chocolate Tree - Chocolate Covered Candied Orange Peel (Choba Choba Peru Dark)
🍫Iain Burnett Passion Fruit Velvet Truffle Sao Tome Dark (Couverture maker not disclosed)
🍫Explore Chocolate - Auchentoshan (Lowland) Truffle 85% Colombia Dark Chocolate
🍫 Explore Chocolate Spiced Caramel 55% Milk Chocolate

16/07/2025

Great see this well-deserved highlight of British award-winners. 👏👏

🍫✨ “Iris literally dreams in chocolate.” Yes, some of Solkiki’s most award-winning bars were inspired by dreams (and we mean actual dreams).

From hand-casting every single bar to championing plant-based fine chocolate since 2008, this small but mighty team is redefining what chocolate can be, and doing it with wild creativity and serious flavour.

In our latest Winner Feature, we go behind the scenes with Iris & Bob of Solkiki, whose passion, playfulness and purpose have earned them a treasure trove of Golds, Silvers, and Special prizes at the 2025 British Craft Chocolate Competition. 🏆

📖 Read the full interview on our main website (www.chocolateawards.com) — you’ll never look at chocolate the same way again.

15/07/2025

C is for Camino - the Spanish word for path or journey.

Inspired by and her beautiful TTTT post, this week I’m taking a tangent — from the Chuncho Cusco Peru and Cashew Milk Esmeraldas bars presented by Jessica.

🍦I’m staying with the creamy as it is week but moving on to a macadamia milk and a dark bar, made with Chuao and Camino Verde beans respectively. Different paths, same maker.

🌰 The first bar (on the left) opens with a signpost: creamy macadamia aromas. Then a return glance catches the deep purple shimmering backdrop of the Venezuelan Chuao. The journey begins. The path is smooth and clear. Creamy, buttery macadamia nuts guide each step, grounded by a sweet purple fruit compote. No surprises but a delicious way forward.

🚶‍♀️The second bar is the Camino Verde 70+0. So no added cocoa butter here to smooth the way.

The cream takes a step back in this bar. The aromas point to allspice and a scattering of dried leaves. On tasting, the path takes an earthy turn. It idles through creamy fudge before deepening into roasted nuts edged with natural cocoa powder. It emerges at the finish: mellow, grounded, unhurried.

A tasting of two tempting paths.

🙏 as always for the well crafted journeys.

# Ecuador

08/07/2025

A browned butter birthday cake bar. I think that hits the spot for this week’s theme. 🎂🍥🥮🧁🍰🍫🍫🍫🍫 I’m also enjoying it on a canal boat!

are celebrating ten years of chocolate making with this special edition birthday bar and it has everything I love about Dormouse chocolate encapsulated within it. Honest sourcing, great expression of the beans showing respect for the origin but also some playfulness.

Craft chocolate we know is serious in that it’s taste potential and craftsmanship should be taken seriously but I love too that there is always room for some fun: some swirls, some colour, some dancing! It’s a birthday, a ten year anniversary of the serious business of running a small-batch chocolate makers through some very trying times so bring on the dancing and let’s here it for Isobel and Karen at Dormouse Chocolate!!! 👏👏🎂🎂🍫🍫🥂🥂

🍫This birthday bar is a Lachua, Guatemalan milk with, browned butter, light muscovado sugar and a touch of vanilla topped with swirls of white and raspberry white chocolate. The aroma of raspberries and browned butter makes you want to put your lippy on and get out onto the dance floor.

Then come the turns and the swirls picking up the fruity notes of the Lachua as we go and then being brought back to the centre with the chocolatey notes.

Here’s to the next ten years of Dormouse Chocolate 👏👏❤️❤️🍫🍫
🎉

Inostalgic bar but ho

03/07/2025

A is for Allo and my TTTThursday bar for . I’m saying Allo to the new alphabet series 👋😄

This bar from featured in our chocolate club tasting this week and was a firm favourite. It’s made with beans from San Martin de Pangoa (Junín) Peru by Montreal makers Allo Simonne.

Aesthetically pleasing is an understatement! And Allo is the last name of one of the founders’ grandmother and they used the name “as a homage to her enthusiastic and generous personality” which makes me love it even more.

I’m pairing it with The Alchemist for the sublime transformation of matter they achieve in this bar and Attwood as my favourite Canadian novelist.

The taste displays a skillfull management of acidity and astringency starting with juicy blackcurrants - their leaves having being plucked and brewed into a herbaceous blackcurrant leaf tea that infuses into the finish.