It is raining and cold and the fire is burning.  It is a perfect day to try the Manuka Honey and Cognac Caramel, dark chocolate bar from Coromandel Chocolate.
We cant see what the percentage the dark chocolate is, but it is a single origin from Malekula, Vanuatu.

The first tasting notes we get are cognac and berry cocoa.  This is followed by notes of wood and an aftertaste of mild honey.

​You had us at Cognac.

Always excited to try a bar from Foundry Chocolate.  This bar won a Gold and a Champion in the 2024 Food Producer Awards.  This is a single origin, 70% dark chocolate with beans from Ea Kar, Vietnam.

This bar had lovely flavours.  For us there were notes of burnt wood, butter and beer, molasses, and a slight astringent finish.  
The makers notes are "suggestions of  silky creme brulee, buttery toffee and delicate woody spices."

This was a 'Yum Yum' from us.

This is a 55% dark chocolate with dried apricots and rosemary.
The rosemary is the dominant but not overpowering flavour in the chocolate.  You can taste the chocolate as a mild background note, and the apricots add a nice sweet tang with the apricot flavours coming through at the end.

The rosemary is quite refreshing.   We actually think we might prefer to mint in chocolate.  The apricot does add the needed sweetness to it.  It is a nice and unusual combo for chocolate.  We started talking about what single origins, rosemary might suit.  Maybe the ashiness of the Papua New Guinea Kulkul Karkar volcanic island cacao bean, or the earthy, sandalwood, apricot notes of the beans from Peru, Ucalayi River.  
Rosemary in chocolate was a pleasant surprise.

This is another bar we got from the Choc Stock festival from Be Happy.  This bar didn't come with the box wrapper and we had forgotten what it was.  We think it is a coconut based caramilised milk chocolate.

It was very smooth and buttery with coconut being the dominant flavor.  There was also notes of maple and golden syrup.  We also got a slight black jellybean flavor.

Quite puddingish.

This might be our new favourite olive oil bar.  We will have to try and get the Flint olive oil bar when its back in stock to make a fresh comparision, but this Waiheke Olive Oil bar is good.

65% Fazenda Camboa Brazil cacao. 
Allpress extra virgin olive oil, from olives grown on Waiheke Island.
The chocolate was smooth with flavor notes of coffee and walnut.
The olive oil flavor notes came through quite fresh, fruity and raw tasting.
​So Yum!

We had to do a bit of research on Jaguar Cacao.  This bar contains 44% Theobroma Bicolour, (Jaguar Cacao) and 24% Cacao content.  Theobrama Bicolour is closely related to the Cacao tree where the cacao beans to make chocolate usually come from.  The Theobrama Bicolour has larger and thicker pods and supposedly smell quite floral.  The seeds contain high levels of protein, fibre, omega 9 and they also contain caffiene.

Other ingredients in this bar were dried apple, apple powder, cinnamon and vanilla pod.
We didn't read the ingredient list when we first tried it and were surprised by the mildness of it.  We thought it was a really milky chocolate.  We commented on how buttery it was.  When we researched Jaguar Cacao, it made more sense, the Jaguar Cacao is milder.  The spice flavour is there with a very mild apple note too.

I don't think we are a fan of the Cacao Cousin, but it made an interesting tasting.

Another bar picked up from  the Wellington Choc Stock Festival: Baron Hasselhoff's Butter Boom!
52.5% Milk Chocolate. Cacao from Papua New Guinea.  Other ingredients include brown butter, cinnamon and vanilla.
This is a nice melty, buttery chocolate.  You can taste the vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon.  The balance of flavours are nice, the cinnamon didn't over power the taste of the chocolate.
Joni thought she could taste apples, but maybe it was just a mind connection with the cinnamon.

​This was a pleasant bar.

The Hogarth Monsoon bar is a 66% dark chocolate bar with beans from Hacienda Victoria, Ecuador.
The ingredients include candied ginger, chili, lime oil, and lemongrass oil.

This has a firm texture and snap.  The first notes you taste are a sweetness with lime peel and cocoa flavours, then the ginger and chili kicks in growing stronger and stronger until it gives you a good slap in the mouth.

The flavours are nice. We were pleasantly surprised by the lime oil as we haven't really enjoyed citrus oils in chocolate, but this added a nice lime marmalade type tang. Joni loved the heat slap at the end, but Joey wasn't so much a fan of the chili hit.  

​This was a fun tasting.

At the Choc Stock festival we visited Jonty the Lucid Chocolatier to see what is on offer at the moment.  We picked up a bar and got a selection of his bon bons.  We have previously  got a sample of his trial stage bonbons and confectionary, so we were excited to see the final product on offer.

Our most favourite bonbons were the Port and Tonka Infused caramels.  Yummy and melt in the mouth.
From our previous samples, the Almond dragees were nice, but our overall, must try FAVOURITE is the Vanilla Chocolate Caramels!!  Gorgeous flavour and texture, and we love the finger size.

 AO Cacao is another new chocolate maker to us.  We bought a range of their bars from the Wellington Choc Stock festival to try.  

AO Cacao is created by Thomas Netana Wright, a pastry chef, chocolatier and chocolate maker.  The inspiration and approach to chocolate making is quoted on their website:
"Respect the history of cacao, Respect the People, Be Transparent and Be a good ancestor."

Their cacao is sourced from Tuana'i, Samoa

The first bar we tried is the Everything Gianduja 43% milk chocolate.  It has won a gold medal at the Food Producer Awards 2024.

When we first read Gianduja, we thought of the hazelnut filling.  This bar instead refers to the hazelnut and macadamias being the plant based milk for the milk chocolate.

We thought the chocolate was nice and creamy.  It is a mild chocolate with our tasting notes of vanilla, burning wood and musk.   A pleasant bar.