Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.  It means the 'the long white cloud'.
KOKO is the Maori word for cocoa.  We love the idea of Aotearoa inspired Chocolate, showcasing New Zealand' native ingredients.
KOKO is a fairly new chocolatier business.  The current white, milk, dark chocolate trio provided by KOKO had been on our wish list since we heard of its starting.
We really wanted to like this.
We love the artwork, the idea, the branding, even the couple behind it are lovely.......
We have some notes.

KOKO trio is:
Kawakawa and Matcha with White compound chocolate
Karengo and Macadamia with Milk chocolate
Manuka and Raspberry with Dark chocolate 

Originally we were going to buy all 3.  It is stocked at Capers Cafe in Rotorua, alongside other high end chocolatier and bean to bar chocolate makers.  It is priced at $15 for a 100g bar. 
One word made us balk at the idea of trying all 3. White COMPOUND chocolate.
It took us a little by surprise because of the price point and also the website had said they used 'High quality chocolate'. Compound to us, is cheaper and lesser quality than white chocolate for an eating block chocolate.
We have no problem with Chocolatiers buying in chocolate and adding their special touches to it.  The thought did cross our mind, that the other ingredients might justify the price.  Then we saw that Ocho, bean to bar chocolate makers, do a Kawakawa too, at $11.50 for a 95g bar, so we bought that instead. 
These notes are from two chocolate consumers point of view and not chocolate experts.  We also noted that KOKO may not be usually marketed amongst the range of craft chocolate where we found it.  On their website, the chocolate is also included in gifting packages, and this may be the usual target market.  Capers Cafe where we bought KOKO and Ocho, is just across the road from where Adrienne, who is also a fashion designer, has her fashion store.  So this may be why Capers is stocking it with the other chocolate.

Our notes:
We bought the Karengo and Milk chocolate to try.  Karengo is an edible seaweed produced around New Zealand coasts.  The ingredients of the milk chocolate does read like a massed produced chocolate.  The packaging is beautiful.
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Cocoa solids is 34%.  Milk solids is 20%. Sugars per 20g serving size is 8.8g.
The aroma is sweet milky mild cocoa.
The taste starts with a sweet milk chocolate flavor, then the chocolate flavor goes and you get a slight macadamia taste.  There is definite texture to this alongside the macadamia nut crunch.  The aftertaste is Karengo.  You don't taste the seaweed while you are eating it.  When you have finished the seaweed taste is there, maybe the remnants of the seaweed still in the mouth.
It is almost like eating two different things one after the other.  Still left wondering what the seaweed and chocolate combo would taste like as we couldn't taste the two together.  We are not sure on the pairing of this.  Wondering if a darker chocolate might work better.

As chocolate eaters, at this price point, we wouldn't buy it again as it is.  But this idea has so much potential, I hope they keep at it and keep improving things.  Some things we would like as consumers of chocolatier craft chocolate, would be chocolate and not compound, and maybe  a bit more thought to the chocolate.  We would like to know where the beans are sourced if possible, or at the least, whether the chocolate was ethically produced. 

Lets talk about OCHO Horopito and Kawakawa 95g bar.
Ocho is a bean to bar chocolate maker in Dunedin.
Horopito is also known as the Pepper Tree, as the leaves are spicy.  It can be used as a natural medicine for quite a few ailments.  It has an astringent, tannin element to it. 
Kawakawa is also a natural remedy for various healing needs.  We also know from experience that it can make the mouth slightly numb.

Cocoa Solids 66%
Cacao beans are from Kul Kul, Papua New Guinea
​$11.50 for a 95g bar
Sugars per 19g serving  size is 6g

There is a lovely snap when breaking this off.
The aroma is an amazing floral, fruity chocolate.
The taste is a fruity, full bodied, dark chocolate, with a slight peppery hit, with a hint of medicinal herbal flavor.  The aftertaste is more peppery. 
We are guessing the pepperiness is from the Horopito and the hint of herb may be the Kawakawa.  We almost ate the whole chocolate block in one sitting, and when we were sated, were we imagining a slight numbness of the tongue?  
We tend towards milk over dark chocolate, but this chocolate is gorgeous.  We also really liked the pepperiness.
We enjoyed it a lot.  
We have some more different flavored Ocho bars to try.  We can't wait to rip into them now.

We really like the Whittakers 250g Creamy Milk Chocolate Block, so we wanted to try the 100g Rich Cocoa Creamy Milk Chocolate.  How would it compare?

Cocoa Solids: 45%
Milk Solids: 23%
Sugars per 20g serving size: 7.9g

The aroma is cocoa.  There is not much melt in the mouth straight away.  There is a good chocolate hit with a medium sweetness.  The flavor is really nice. The aftertaste of cocoa lingers.

This 100g block is really nice.  A good chocolate flavor and strength, and it is not too sweet.
We really like it.  We like the Creamy Milk 250g Block.....we like this one better.

​We gave the Creamy Milk 250g a Gazette Rosette.  So this deserves one too.

Nestle Quality Street is an assortment of 11 different Milk and Dark chocolates and toffees.
450g pouch or 435g without wraps.  Bought at New World for $9.99.

THE PURPLE ONE
This was a chocolate caramel chocolate that we think had a nut flavor too, possibly hazel.  It tasted sweet with the slight nut flavor. It was quite nice.

TOFFEE FINGER
This was a hard but chewable toffee covered in chocolate.  You can taste the toffee, but not really the chocolate.  The toffee is chewy, stick to your teeth stuff.  If you like toffee, you will like it.

THE  GREEN TRIANGLE
This is a hazelnut praline.  It is sweet with a slight chocolate taste.  You can taste the hazelnut praline.  Pleasant, a bit overly sweet.

TOFFEE PENNY
This is just a toffee.  No chocolate on this one.  A bit boring.

MILK CHOC BLOCK
This is a solid milk chocolate, quite hard.  The flavor of sweetness comes through, with a faint chocolate flavor.  This was a bit boring too.

ORANGE CHOC CRUNCH
This has crunchy bits with a mild orange flavor.  Orange flavor is an artificial flavor. This didn't have much chocolate flavor.

CARAMEL SWIRL
Caramel is nice, quite sweet.  There is a very faint chocolate taste.  We are quite fond of runny caramel choccies.

COCONUT ECLAIR
This is chewy.  The coconut has a medium strength flavor.  If you like coconut, this is quite nice.

STRAWBERRY DELIGHT
Strawberry fondant taste, with a dark chocolate flavor coming through underneath.  It is an artificial strawberry flavor, but not unpleasant.  It is very sweet.

FUDGE
You can certainly taste the fudge is which nice.  It is soft chewy.  There is also a faint chocolate taste.  This one is nice.

ORANGE CREME
This is the same flavor as the Orange Crunch but in a creme filling form.  It is very sweet.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The different colours and shapes of all the choccies does bring you joy.
The flavors were a bit artificial in the strawberry and orange.  We didn't think the Toffee Penny needed to be in there, especially as you had the Toffee Finger.

JOHANANS TOP 3
1. Caramel Swirl
2. Fudge
3. The Green Triangle
Least favorite was the Orange Crunch

JONIS TOP 3
1. Fudge
2. Caramel Swirl
3. Strawberry Delight
Least favorite was the Toffee Penny

Two chocolate ice creams go head to head in a tasting test. 
​ One will be declared a winner and go onto the next round.  
Who will be the overall best chocolate icecream?
​Here is how it went down.
​

Much Moore Marvels Chocolate Cookies
vs
Deep South Double Chocolate
THE WINNER - DEEP SOUTH DOUBLE CHOCOLATE
Creamier and better chocolate taste.  Chocolate Cookies had a vegetable taste we didn't like.
​

Pams Chocolate Ice Cream vs Tip Top Chocolate Ice Cream
THE WINNER - PAMS CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
Pams had more chocolate flavour.

Kapiti Triple Chocolate Ice Cream vs Lewis Rd Creamery Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream
THE WINNER - LEWIS RD CREAMERY CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE
This was so close.  Both tasted very nice.  In the end it came down to creaminess to break a tie and Lewis Rd came out on top.

Killinchy Gold Rich Chocolate and Nelson Boysenberries VS Killinchy Gold Chocolate Hazelnut
THE WINNER - RICH CHOCOLATE AND NELSON BOYSENBERRY
Both had their own distinctive flavors.  The Hazelnut tasted like Hazelnut, so it was just personal preference that the Boysenberries won out.  We did like the chocolate chunks in both.
​

Haagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate vs Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
The Winner: Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
These were both nice actually, but there can be only one and Ben & Jerry's was scrumptious.

Pams Rocky Road Ice Cream Vs Little Island Plant Based Chocolate Ice Cream
The Winner: Little Island Chocolate Ice Cream
If you don't mind coconut flavors, as this uses coconut cream, then this ice cream is sooo good.  Chocolatey too, and this lovely texture.

​

Duck Island Vegan Salted Caramel Ice Cream vs Halo Top plant based Triple chocolate cake ice cream.
These were so close!! It was really hard to choose a winner, they were both really nice.
By a majority vote, the winner: Halo Top Triple chocolate cake ice cream

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Pure NZ ice cream handcrafted in Wanaka, white and dark chocolate
vs
Wahiki Coconut Chocolate Ice cream
The Winner: Pure NZ white & dark chocolate icecream handcrafted in Wanaka

Zilch reduced fat chocolate icecream
vs
Tip Top Crave inspired by Dessertalicious honeycomb and chocolate mousse and cake ice cream
The Winner: Tip Top Crave inspired by Dessertalicious

That is the end of Round 1 of the Chocolate Ice Cream knock outs
Round 2 knockouts will be in a future blog post.

We bought 5 Chocolate Cake mixes from the local supermarkets.  We then baked and compared them.
Notes are ranked from least liked, to our favorite.
Side note: this was just before we got a new oven and the old oven baked quicker than the recipes suggested.

​Baking by Joni
​

BAKELS GOLD LABEL PERFECTLY MOIST CHOCOLATE CAKE BAKING MIX

Bakels chocolate cake mix is 500g with no artificial flavors  or colours. 
​Bought at New World for $4.99.
Sugars per 50g serving size: 21.3g
Did not include any icing.

RECIPE ALSO NEEDED
1/2 C water
4 eggs
1 C vegetable oil
​
The cake rose well and looked the same height as photo on the packet.  It was moist, but it had no flavor.  It just tasted sweet. So we added  some strong chocolate flavored icing.  This cake needed icing.  
Is it just us, that feels disappointed when someone presents you a chocolate cake with no icing?  It makes us wonder if the person doesn't like us.
​

BETTY CROCKER SUPERMOIST DEVILS FOOD CAKE MIX

540g - Includes ready made icing.  No artificial colours.
Bought at Countdown for $5
Sugars per 45g serving size is 20.9g

RECIPE ALSO NEEDS
125g melted butter
3/4 C water or milk (we did water)
3 eggs

Confession:  Joni overbaked this, so we put this into consideration when reviewing.
It was still moist except for a dry line at the bottom, but it would have more moist.
This cake has a light chocolate flavor.  The icing was ok.  It tasted like icing sugar.  It was nice that it was ready made, and was the only mix that did this.
The cake rose well and seemed the same height as the photo on packet with a little less icing.

WOOLWORTHS CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX
​

Includes chocolate icing mix
Bought at Countdown for $3 - this was the cheapest chocolate cake mix

RECIPE ALSO NEEDED
2 large eggs
2/3 C milk
70g soft butter
For icing
1 Tb milk
45g soft butter

This came out light and fluffy and not as moist as the others.  Reminded us more of a sponge cake texture.  This cake had a good chocolate taste compared to the previous two.
The icing looked a little different from the photo on the packet, but the cake height looked the same.
We quite liked this one and it was the cheapest.

CINDERELLA CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE MIX

No artificial colours or flavors.
530g with icing mix included.
Bought at Pak n Save for $4.49
Sugars per 90g serving size is 28.5g

RECIPE ALSO NEEDED
2 eggs
3/4 C water
4 Tb melted butter
for icing
2 1/2 Tb melted butter
1 1/2 Tb water

It may have been my oven or mixing, but it baked a little uneven.  At its highest it was the same height as the box photo.
The cake was moist and had a nice mild chocolate flavor.  There wasn't a lot of icing , but it did compliment the cake nicely, and the cake didn't taste like it needed a lot of icing.
This was quite yummy.

EDMONDS CAFE STYLE RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE - OUR FAVORITE

Bought at Pak n Save fo $4.49
Included icing mix
Sugars per 78g serving size is 24.9g

RECIPE ALSO NEEDED
2 eggs size 6
60g of soft butter
3/4 C water 
icing needed
50g butter
1 Tb milk

The recipe also had different measurement conversions to choose from.  You could use grams or teaspoons / tablespoons, or mls or cups as measurements.
The cake has a nice chocolate flavor that wasn't overly sweet.  It was moist, though not quite as moist as the Cinderella or Betty Crocker.  That may have been just baking times though.
The icing didn't look like in  the photo on the box.
This and Cinderella were pretty close with the family liking this one just a little bit more in taste.

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM JONI
I'm not sure how convenient these are.  If you have baking ingredients already in the pantry, you are not going to be saving a lot of time by using these instead of measuring out your own.  However if you don't have the baking ingredients already, this is a convenient way to buy them.

After baking all of these, I made my own chocolate cake mixes up in jars.  These look pretty in the kitchen all layered and make nice gifts too.  
I have written the base cake mix in the recipe blog here if you want to make your own cake mix:
DIY CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX

Schoc Chocolates got our notice by being Coast Chocolate Lovers’ Favourite Artisan Chocolate Company 2021  along with Whittaker’s Chocolate.

Location: Greytown, New Zealand

Schoc Chocolates  have a range of handmade gourmet chocolates and 60 different flavored chocolate tablets.  There is a huge variety of yummies and a lovely gifting range.
The beans are sourced from,  Tanzania, Java, Papua New Guinea, Cuba, Ecuador, Grenada, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Trinidad, Madagascar and Sao Thome.

Schoc Chocolates was started in December 2002 by Murray Langham, The Chocologist.
The website states,
"Schoc Chocolates is a unique blend of gourmet chocolate and self-exploration. We combine the joy and health benefits of consuming quality chocolate with a deeper understanding of one’s inner self."

With all the different flavors to choose from, we decided it might be easier just to get the Tasting Tile box.
​

The Tasting Tile box is beautifully presented, with little dividers, like a tea box for chocolate. There is 30 tiles with 5 of each of the 6 flavors.  It also comes a tasting tile information sheet. The tasting tiles themselves are so cute, like little mini brick molded choc blocks.
We bought it online from their website for $46, which may seem a lot for 150grams of chocolate, but treat it like a tasting experience.  Grab 4 of your friends and have some fun and a chocolate tasting adventure around the table.
Chocolate tablets full sized, are usually $14.99.

​We went from lightest chocolate to the darkest.
​

White chocolate with dried lemon.
28% Belgian Cocoa Solids.

It has a strong lemon fragrance with a hint of white chocolate.
It really melts in the mouth.  The taste is lemony and tangy with lots of those yummy dried lemon bits.  You can also get the taste of the white chocolate.  The aftertaste is those tangy lemon bits.

Using the dried lemon rather than a lemon flavor, made this so much nicer. Sometimes lemon chocolate can taste a bit dishwash liquidy, but that was not the case here at all.  This is the nicest lemon chocolate we have tasted.
​

Salty flakes from Maldon crystal sea salt, in Milk Chocolate.
33% Cocoa Solids.

You can smell the cocoa.  There is a slight melt in the mouth. The taste is milky and creamy.  The salt grows as you are eating it.  The aftertaste is salt and a bit of sweetness.
Creamy and salty.  This was a nice chocolate that our tastes leans towards.
​

French Damask Rose in dark chocolate.
Cocoa Solids is 55%.

There is a faint aroma of rose with dark chocolate.  There is a little melt in the mouth.
You can taste the rose and the dark chocolate.  It is a nice balance.  The aftertaste is dark chocolate with a hint of rose.

Joni likes Turkish Delight, so she liked this one a lot.  Johanan liked it even though he isn't a Turkish Delight fan.  
There is a milk chocolate version of this too, which we would like to try.
​

Cardamom combined with a 55% dark chocolate.
You can smell the Cardamom.  It doesn't really melt in the mouth.
The taste is strong Cardamom with dark chocolate faintly in the background.  The aftertaste is Cardamom.

This is one we bought in the Big Bruce for.  We were thinking about it and talking about it long after we had finished the tasting.
Joni didn't mind it.  Johanan did not like it.  Big Bruce did not like it either.  
It is different, and as part of the tasting adventure, it was fun to have it in there.  Definitely a chocolate you will be talking about.
​

Chilli flake infused dark chocolate with lime.
Cocoa Solids 55%

There is a lime aroma.  Only a very slight melt in the mouth.  This is definitely a taste of lime and chilli.  The heat of the chilli grows as you chew and had Johanan doing exclamations of surprise.  The aftertaste is lime and heat.

Joni has had the flavor combo of Chilli and Lime a few times , but it was new to Johanan, and it took him by surprise.  This chocolate had a strong chilli hit, combined with the lime tanginess. We called in Big Bruce for this one too.  
Joni and Bruce liked it.  Johanan did not.
​

Freshly roasted coffee with a bitter sweet 70% chocolate.

The aroma is of strong coffee and dark chocolate.  The chocolate is hard and only slightly melts in the mouth.
The taste is a faintly sweet dark bitter chocolate with the coffee in the background.   The aftertaste is the dark bitter chocolate.

Johanan said, that at least it didn't try to kill him like the chilli.  Joni thought it was ok.  We do have our favorite Baron Hasselhoff coffee flavored chocolate which we only discovered recently, so we are comparing all coffee choc to that at the moment.
​

We have only scratched the surface of all the different chocolate you can try at Schoc Chocolates.  It is exciting.  
The chocolate in all the tiles had a nice texture.
This was a fun tasting experience.  We are glad we didn't like it all.  Where is the adventure in that?! 
It took Johanan out of his comfort zone in chocolate flavors, and Joni loved the exploration.
This was a great way to explore a range of chocolate, and we still talk about the Cardamom and Chilli and Lime.
Highly recommend this as a Chocolate tasting experience you can have at home or with a group of friends.
Here is the final rankings from Johanan and Joni.

Last month, we were saying we couldn't find another Supermarket Vegan branded chocolate apart from Sweet William.
This month  Vegan Kit Kat hit our shores and lo and behold in our little Four Square store on the corner, we found a vegan brand called Pico.
Heres what we thought of them.

Nestle Vegan Kit Kat, made in the UK.
41.5g bar of 4 wafer fingers
67% vegan chocolate
Sugars per 20.8g serving size is 7.1g

The aroma is cocoa.  It does taste like dark chocolate and Kitkat wafers.  Nice flavor and not too sweet.  The aftertaste is a slight dark chocolate bitterness with a slight sweetness.  
This tastes like a Kitkat, which is a lot to do with the wafer as much as the chocolate.
It was fine we thought, just like what a Kitkat would taste like to us.

​

Pico Salted Caramel - Vegan and Organic 80g block
Made in Switzerland
Sugars in 20g serving size is 10.2g
Cocoa Solids 52%
Caramel bits 10%
Bought at Four Square for $5.99

The aroma is dark chocolate and there is a slight melt in the mouth.
It has a distinctive dark chocolate taste with salt. The cacao beans are sourced from Ecuador, the Dominion Republic and Peru.  It reminded us a little of the Green and Blacks slightly fruity, tangy chocolate.  We wondered if the beans were from the same area.
We don't really taste the caramel.
The aftertaste is chocolate with a hint of salt.

We liked it.  This is a nice vegan chocolate.

These were both dark chocolates.  With a  certain cocoa percentage , a lot of darks would also be dairy free.
We are still on the hunt for a nice vegan milk chocolate.  If you have any recommendations let us know.

SPECIAL EDITION 
Bought at Pak n Save for $2.99 
170g block
Clinkers candy pieces 8%
Cocoa Solids 27%
Milk Solids 24%
Sugars per 25g serving size is 14.5g
Made in Tasmania Australia

We don't always buy these novelty type blocks, but Joni remembers Clinkers with fondness.  If you have never tried them, they are like a hard Eskimo lolly with a bit more fruity flavor punch, covered in chocolate.  They have different fruit flavors, and you didn't know what flavor you would get until you bit into them.
In New Zealand you can't find them in the supermarkets anymore, but we found this link to buy them: CLINKERS AT THE REMARKABLE SWEET SHOP

It smells like Clinkers and it tastes like a mix of different flavored Clinkers.  The Clinkers add a nice crunch and the balance of Clinkers and chocolate is quite good.  The aftertaste? CLINKERS!
​
This block was actually a bit of fun.  Don't buy it for a serious chocolate tasting experience, but for  the yummy Clinker bits, and a bit of nostalgic fondness.

We picked up another new release from Whittakers, a new addition to their gifting pouch range.  Whittakers Cocoa Pods with Ghanaian Cocoa beans and Hazelnut Gianduja. 
We  looked up what the difference was between Gianduja and Praline and thanks to www.hotelchocolat.com we found the answer.  You can click on the link to a really good article explaining what they are and what the differences are.  We learnt, Praline can be made with a variety of different nuts, whereas Gianduja is made with hazelnuts, almonds or both and chocolate or cocoa will be added to the paste. Gianduja is also always smooth.

Whittakers Cocoa Pods come in a 125g pouch with 10 individually wrapped pods.
Bought at Pak n Save for $8.99
Cocoa Solids 33%
Milk Powder 30%
Sugars in a 12.5g serving size is 4.8g.

The shape is of a Cacao pod, and they are a decent size.
The chocolate is the yummy Whittakers Creamy Milk chocolate that we like.  The center melts in the mouth and is very creamy.  It is not an instant hit of hazelnut, but it comes through while eating and you are left with an aftertaste of sweetness and hazelnut.

These are nice.  There are similar, hazelnut filling, choccies out there, and these are among the nicer ones.  They are not especially unique.  We wouldn't just go out and buy them for ourselves, but if someone were to give them as a gift, we would be happy.