Category: Dandelion Chocolate

This single-origin comes from Tumaco, Colombia, where farmers deliberately preserve genetic diversity by growing a mix of regional cacao varieties rather than a single strain. Made from just cocoa beans and sugar, this batch has been conched at a notably higher temperature than the maker’s previous Tumaco releases — a deliberate push for something different. This was one of the best dark chocolates I have tasted in a while.

The aroma leans creamy and chocolatey rather than fruity, closer to dark chocolate cake than raw cacao. As it melts, that cake-like richness builds, with roasted peanut settling in alongside a gentle sweetness rather than pushing it aside. The higher roast and conch shows in the texture — smooth rather than gritty — and in real clarity to the chocolate and nutty notes and I find it a considered, well-balanced profile.

The aftertaste is where this bar really lands. The finish stays creamy and lingering, with a hint of salt just detectable underneath — enough to make you want another square, as a segment or two feels just as indulgent as it does satisfying. A comforting, traditional-leaning bar for anyone who prefers warmth over acidity.

Dandelion Website

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

This single-origin dark chocolate comes from Costa Esmeraldas on Ecuador’s northern coast, where Freddy Salazar converted former pastureland and inaccessible wild forest into a 10-hectare farm alongside 50 hectares of virgin forest. Freddy’s fermentation shows through immediately: chocolatey depth up front, with fruit held gently in reserve rather than announced.

Dandelion make several 70% single-origin chocolates, as it is a common cacao % for them to use, so it makes comparisons between batches and between origins easier. The aroma opens warm and toasted, and sweet, rather than having raw cacao punch — this is a comforting first impression. Rich, sweet dark chocolate hits straight away on tasting, with a surprisingly smooth character given the sweetness level.

Although this is a rich chocolate it does become more lively, with notes of toasted almond arriving next, nutty and rounded, before blueberry finally surfaces mid-palate — not bold, but a genuine, welcome lift of acidity against the almond’s richness.

The finish brightens briefly on that blueberry note before it vanishes almost as quickly as it arrived, leaving a lingering, moreish warmth behind. This does feel like the more approachable Costa Esmeraldas Dandelion was chasing after — a comforting bar, rather than a divisive one. This is a very approachable dark chocolate bar to try, it is recommended.

Dandelion Website

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

This 2024-harvest single-origin comes from Semuliki Forest near Bundibugyo in western Uganda, where cocoa is grown by around 1,000 organically certified farmers, 52% of them women. Beans are fermented in local eucalyptus boxes over five to six days by Latitude Trade Company in Kasese — working with more than 4,500 smallholder growers — then sun-dried on portable raised decks for six to seven days before being blended into consistent export lots.

It is going out of stock soon, but the new batch should be as good.

The bar opens with a fairly understated aroma before the plum jam character gradually comes forward, joined by a gentle maple sweetness that never tips into cloying. Bread-like warmth develops alongside it, giving the whole profile a comforting, homely quality rather than anything sharp or overly fruity. There’s a toasted quality to the finish that felt like a natural echo of that bread note — genuinely comforting rather than heavy.

At a medium roast level and a high natural sweetness, this reads as a more generous, rounded bar than many single-origins at 70%, leaning into sweetness and warmth rather than intensity or acidity. Roaster Akari’s aim, balancing sweetness and acidity from this particular harvest, comes through clearly in the final result. This light touch is a wonderful choice to bring out real distinctive flavour notes to this chocolate. This is chocolate made with real skill.

This is Batch 1 from the 2024 harvest — grown at 3,400ft elevation, in beans dried across a mix of raised wooden beds, cement patios, and greenhouse space, reflecting the careful, varied processing Latitude Trade Company applies before export

Dandelion Website

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10

This 2026-harvest single-origin from Tabasco is made with just cocoa beans and sugar, fermented for seven to nine days and given a 36-minute roast — the longest in Dandelion’s history. The aroma leans dark wood and tobacco leaf, with cacao sitting underneath rather than out front.

This bar is slow to show its true colours — it takes a moment before the plum jam character actually arrives, more patience than punch. Once it does, there’s real ripeness to the fruit rather than sharp acidity, with a warm, comforting quality the maker attributes to that extended roast. Champurrado notes bring a spiced, almost drinking-chocolate richness through the middle.

This bar announces itself, but there is also a touch of tannic bite on the finish, which felt right for a bar this restrained rather than a flaw. A considered, patient single-origin.

Dandelion Website

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10