Exploring Flavours of Aotearoa

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.