New Chocolate Bars from the Northwest Chocolate Festival

The Northwest Chocolate Festival returned to Seattle’s Pier 66 in Seattle, in November 5+6, after a 2- year hiatus (the festival occurred online in 2020 and 2021). More than 100 exhibitors and educators came together in this chocolatey celebration that attracted several thousand visitors, both Seattleites and out-of-towners. With an array of chocolate offerings from single origin and bean-to-bar to inclusions, truffles and bonbons, everything was available to satisfy chocolate professionals and chocolate amateurs. Here is a roundup of the newest and most innovative chocolate bars at the festival:

Arizona

Monsoon Chocolate is made in the Sonoran Desert, in Tucson Arizona. Their Origin Series are single origin dark chocolate with cacao sourced from all over the world from Tanzania to Ecuador and from Uganda to Peru to Jamaica. Most of them contain 72% to 100% cacao. Other notable bars include: The Blue Corn Atole Milk Chocolate inspired by the Mexican beverage; the Mesquite White Chocolate; and the Sonoran Sea Salt Dark Chocolate, made with wild harvested Tohono O’Odham Salt from the Sonora flats at the Gulf of California. In addition to the handcrafted chocolate bars, Monsoon also makes bonbons, confections and other sweet treats like the dark chocolate covered apricots.

Washington

Spinnaker Chocolate 70% Colombia Ghost Chili with salt — Spinnaker photo credit Thei Zervaki

Seattle’s newcomer made an impression for its cacao quality, single origin dark bars, and inclusion bars. Spinnaker Chocolate is described as a two-ingredient chocolate maker: 70% roasted cacao and 30% organic cane sugar. Show favorites? The 70% Belize was the clear winner. On the inclusion front, the show’s bestseller was the 70% Belize Bourbon bar. A second favorite was the 70% Colombia Ghost Chili with salt.

Thailand

A first timer at the festival, Siamaya Chocolate impressed with their inclusions and with their colorful packaging. Favorite bars that sold out on the very first day were the Thai Peanut Butter Curry Dark Chocolate and the Durian Milk Chocolate. Favorites were the Mango Chili Dark Chocolate and the Banana Crunch Milk Chocolate. Siamaya Chocolate will soon be in the US market so you can get your Asian-inspired bars with a click.

Brazil

Mission Chocolate founder and Dandelion Chocolate bean to bar trained, Arcelia Gallardo didn’t allow minor failures to stop her from success. When she couldn’t sell or compete with her American counterparts, she knew how to be unique and innovative. She resorted to the Brazilian nuts and fruits that she first identified and then added in her inclusion bars. Since then, her bars sell out. The maker sources her cacao beans from Brazil together with all nuts and fruits. You will find chocolates like Romeo and Juliet, a white bar made with cream cheese; the Honey Bread milk chocolate made with honey and spices; the 56% Dark Goat milk chocolate; 72% dark chocolate made with Baru Nut– a sold out bar at the festival. Another bar from the maker is made with Oat milk and Brazil nuts, a treat for vegans. Mission Chocolate are available online and in a few selected stores in the US. Find where to buy.

Indonesia

Junglegold Bali Chocolate — Junglegold Bali photo credit Thei Zervaki

Junglegold Bali is a direct-trade artisanal chocolate handmade in Bali that is 100% vegan, as all its chocolate bars are made with cashew milk. The brand that is not yet in the US had an impressive weekend during the festival with a great interest from both professionals and amateurs. The chocolates are creamy and soft like the Bali Creamy. Other popular bars include the Sea Salt & Cacao Nibs, Bali 80%, and the Orange. We hope to be able to get them soon locally.

Spain

Barcelona Chocolate Company chocolate — Barcelona Chocolate Company credit Thei Zervaki

Barcelona Chocolate Company makes bean to bar chocolates in Barcelona. You will find the Vietnam 70% Cacao and the sugar free Ecuador 100% cacao under the Origins Collection. In addition, there is the Premium Ingredients Collection featuring the sold out Mexico Chipotle Mezcal infused chocolate, the Olive Oil Salted Crumbled Bread chocolate, and the Papua Guinea Smoke Apricot chocolate. Of course, there are many others that you should try when there will be availability in the USA, very soon I was told.

Venezuela

2020 Chocolate is said to be tree to bar crafted bars in Venezuela using fine quality cacao beans. Their best seller is the Yaracuy 74% Dark Vegan Chocolate Bar. There are interesting inclusion bars like the chocolate Blanco con Parchita which is white chocolate with passion fruit and a white chocolate that features flavors of beetroot and lemon, the Chocolate Blanco Con Remolacha Y Limon. Cookies & Coffee Milk Chocolate was another popular during the festival. 2020 are available online and soon in stores.

Taiwan

Fu Wan bean to bar craft chocolate from Taiwan, a favorite brand with very unusual but well received inclusions. They make chocolates from natively grown Taiwanese cocoa and from other fine cocoa bean sources. Fu Wan Rose Lychee Nibs White Chocolate 36% and Fu Wan Taiwan Beer Yeast #1 Ale Style 70% topping the range. This chocolate brand was by far the most popular at the show as everything sold out on Saturday -day one. Learn about the unique techniques employed by Fu Wan.

Mexico

Mexican Cuna De Piedra is a handcrafted bean to bar chocolate made with cacao beans sourced in Mexico. Upvoted was the Cuna de Piedra Soconusco Chiapas with Mezcal Joven 73%, a dark chocolate blended with Mezcal. Learn more about Cuna De Piedra and how they are changing the perception of Mexican chocolate.

More highlights

The Education Center

There were 30 educational chocolate related presentations and 10 chocolate making demonstrations in the Culinary Kitchen during the weekend.

The presentations addressed mostly industry professionals and covered topics from chocolate roasting and aging to transparency in cocoa origin. World-known chocolate expert Chloe Doutre-Roussel of Chloe Chocolat talked about how to develop high quality products for artisan chocolates, a very well attended lecture.

Brigadeiros Demo

Arcelia Gallardo from Mission Chocolate taught attendees how to make the brigadeiro. And while doing this, we found out that:

The brigadeiro is not a truffle. There is no such thing as a bad brigadeiro. The brigadeiro is meant to be very sweet (so don’t complain about it!). Don’t ask for a non-sweet brigadeiro as it does not exist. Learn more about brigadeiros and why Brazilians love them.

Updated Packaging

Colorful packaging from Amano artisan chocolate

Amano Chocolate’s colorful, attractive packaging expresses local culture and traditions while paying tribute to the farmers, the growers, and the makers. In addition, these carefully made and selected designs and images transform chocolate marketing into an inspiring form of art. Approved!