u/cocoasupply

Chocolate festival season officially started! Just back from the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle 2026. I would have brought many more, but I packed some bars for a chocolate sommelier in my suitcase, so it was full. A reason to go to more festivals!

BUT look what I got :)

• Fjak Brunost: chocolate with Norwegian brown cheese. This one stood out! Its a goat cheese, and you can definitely recognize it in the flavor, but it is not overwhelming. Adds a savory side to the milky sweetness. Has some crunchy bites, not sure what they are, but for me this is a hit!
• Kessho Black Sesame with White Choc: Creamy, and not too sweet (white can be too much for me), and a toasty, nutty deliciousness.  Liang is an expert in combining Asian flavors with chocolate, and this bar does not disappoint.
• Fruition passion fruit caramels: YUM! I mean, I like caramels, and I do think the combination of dark chocolate and passion fruit is exquisite. The passionfruit brings not only acidity/fruity tones, but also aroma and depth.

Still waiting: Mayana Space Bar, Vixen Milky Dance, Paysan, Allo Jaguar 70%, Kessho Lychee Rose, and a couple more…

Lots of wild inclusions this year. 

Will do a separate post on only Allo Simonne and some others that are quite interesting (and good!). First time I got to meet them. Great people!

The haul from the NW chocolate festival 2026 in Seattle

What differentiates a craft bar for you? What would make you choose and pay more for a craft chocolate bar over any of the big brands?:

Specific origin/terroir story (single-farm cacao)?

Flavor profile/technique you can't find elsewhere?

Sourcing ethics or direct relationships with farmers?

Texture/mouthfeel/chocolate-making craft?

Brand values/sustainability?

Ingredient quality?

Something else entirely?"

Hi, we sell Theobroma Bicolor, aka Macambo, Paxate, Jaguar Cacao... It is a relative from the cacao seed/beans.

It tastes like a nut, is creamy, crunchy, and it is not from the "nut" family. Often a lot of people in our industry say this is an excellent nut substitute. However, before we make those claims, or to make sure we are accurate, is there a way to check if by any lab test that this would not trigger allergies to anyone allergic to nuts? It shouldn't, correct? I think it has a huge potential as a nut substitute for people with allergies, but I want to be responsible before making any statement.

We are an allergen free facility for all our chocolate ingredients in the factory, and so far we keep this completely separated because we only sell the Macambo as a crunchy bean, and it doesn't get into the production lines. But I would like to know how this is normally treated or tested, so any advice would be very helpful.

Hi everyone! We’re putting together a blog highlighting 4 traditional cacao drinks from Mexico and would love to hear your thoughts.

We’ll be sharing:

• Tascalate
• Tejate
• Champurrado
• Chocolate (traditional drinking chocolate)

For those who’ve tried them, do you have a favorite or a tip how to make them? Or one you grew up with? And if you haven’t tried them yet, which one would you be most curious to taste?

Would love to learn from your experiences and any regional insights 🙏

https://preview.redd.it/4x9j4mhjqfzg1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=36c8c7c4c41c4345eae93fc915db68ca41229523

I’ve been seeing more products lately that try to replace traditional cocoa with alternatives, such as lab-grown cocoa butter, or products made from fermented byproducts (like brewery waste) or carob, etc. Did you reed about the Reese's drama? "Following public backlash and criticism from the founder's grandson regarding lower-quality ingredients,The Hershey Company announced it will return to its classic milk and dark chocolate recipes for all Reese's products by 2027"

Curious what people actually think about this.

On one hand, I get the argument: climate concerns, supply chain issues, price volatility...

But on the other hand, a few things make me wonder:

Do these alternatives really deliver in terms of taste and overall experience?
Do people care that the nutritional profile is quite different (and much less beneficial)?
And what about the impact on farmers who depend on cocoa as a livelihood?

I feel like a lot of the conversation is very tech-optimistic, but maybe missing the human side of agriculture, and that one is a natural product, and the other a empty-caloric substitute.

Would you personally buy or switch to a cocoa-free product if it tasted similar?
Or does the origin (real cocoa vs. alternative) actually matter to you?

Genuinely curious to hear different perspectives, especially from people who love chocolate and is seeing these (sometimes not even disclosed) alternatives entering the market.