Your Guide to Coffee & Chocolate Pairings at the Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025
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Espresso‑crunch bars, rum warmth, cardamom spice—these bars are everything your morning brew could want.
Coffee & Chocolate: More Than Just Flavor Twins.
From bean to bar to brew, chocolate and coffee are a natural pair.
Coffee and chocolate share more than just rich, roasted flavor:
- They come from similar tropical origins
- They follow nearly identical processing steps
- Aroma hits before flavor – think caramel, nut and sometimes even fruit or floral flavors.
- And they bring out the best in each other when combined.
The reason these coffee + chocolate bars work so well is because bean-to-bar chocolate makers understand the bean-to-brew world.
That shared respect for source, roast curve, and sensory detail means they’re not just tossing in coffee for the buzz — they’re engineering a flavor experience that lets both beans shine.
At the Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025, you’ll find bars infused with espresso, rum-aged beans, and crunchy coffee nibs that capture the magic of both worlds.
Here’s your guide to the top coffee-inspired chocolate bars to taste (and sip) this year
5 Coffee Infused Bars to Taste at the Festival
1. Microphone Bar: Espresso (feat. Caffè Vita)
Maker: Cocoa Legato
Travelling from: Washington, USA
Cacao Origin: Colombian single‑origin bean
Inclusion: Cold shot espresso from Caffè Vita
The Vibe: Urban jazz in bar form—smooth and buzzy
Why Try It?
Made with espresso from Seattle’s own Caffè Vita, this bar sings with layered roast notes and a mellow dark chocolate backdrop. It’s the ultimate local collab—caffeine and cacao, harmonized.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma: Coffee crema, dark roast, chocolate syrup
- Flavor: Creamy espresso with mellow cacao richness
- Texture: Glossy snap, soft center
Try This if you like: Cold brew, café mochas, or Seattle-style indulgence..
2. Coffee & Cardamom Dark Chocolate
Maker: Chocolate Metiche
Travelling from: Mexico
Inclusion: Roasted Mexican coffee + ground cardamom
The Vibe: Spiced café de olla meets craft chocolate
Why Try It?
Inspired by traditional Mexican flavors, this bar brings together the comforting bitterness of roasted coffee with the warming spice of cardamom. Chocolate Metiche nails the balance—bold but not bitter, spiced but not sweet.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma: Cinnamon toast, espresso crema, warm spice
- Flavor: Roasted cacao, cardamom lift, smooth coffee finish
- Texture: Smooth with a faint spice dust
Try This If You Like: Café de olla, masala mochas, or cardamom biscotti.
3. Flat White Chocolate Bar
Maker: Chocolate Naive
Travelling from: Lithuania
Inclusion: Specialty coffee & creamy milk chocolate
Flavor Personality: A morning flat white in edible form
Why Try It?
Naive’s Flat White bar is a love letter to barista culture—crafted with real specialty coffee and lush milk chocolate that mirrors the silkiness of a café-made flat white. It’s mellow, comforting, and just caffeinated enough to make you smile.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma: Steamed milk, café crema, toasted sugar
- Flavor: Milky sweetness with a balanced espresso kick
- Texture: Velvety melt with a creamy mouthfeel
Best For: Flat whites, café au lait, or mellow espresso drinks with a touch of sweetness.
4. 62% Dark with Coffee & Cardamom
Maker: Mirzam Chocolate Makers
Travelling from: UAE
Inclusion: Ground cardamom and local coffee
The Vibe: Spiced Arabian café in chocolate bar form
Why Try It?
Mirzam infuses Vietnamese cacao with traditional Arabian coffee spices. The floral lift of cardamom paired with deep-roast coffee gives this bar a storytelling richness that goes beyond taste—it’s a journey.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma: Turkish coffee, spice market, dark earth
- Flavor: Smooth dark chocolate with warming spice and roast
- Texture: Polished, silky, refined
Best For: Anyone that loves Turkish delight, masala chai, or cardamom lattes.
5. Coffee-Infused 70% Dark Chocolate
Maker: Karu Chocolate
Travelling from: Brazil
Inclusion: Brazilian coffee beans
The Vibe: Balanced, smooth, and slow
Why Try It?
Karu Chocolate’s take on a coffee bar is all about balance. Using Brazilian-grown coffee and cacao, this bar delivers smooth roasted notes without overwhelming the palate. It’s elegant, not jarring—and perfect for slow savors.
Tasting Notes:
- Aroma: Roasted almonds, fresh coffee, cocoa butter
- Flavor: Soft roast, gentle bitterness, mild fruitiness
- Texture: Polished melt with tiny bean flecks
Try This If You Like: Café au lait, milk chocolate with depth, or Brazilian-style drip coffee (coado).
Pairing & Tasting Tips
For years, fruit has been the star of baking’s boldest moves — think:
- Match Intensity. Darker chocolate or bars with high cacao % pair best with strong roasts or espresso. Milder or sweeter bars pair well with creamier or lighter brews.
- Complement & Contrast. Either match flavors (e.g. chocolate with caramel + coffee with caramel notes) or contrast them (e.g. bitter dark chocolate with a sweet milky coffee) to highlight different parts of each.
- Use Texture to Enhance. Coffee nibs, grounds, or crunch in bars add texture that alters the melt and the way coffee’s flavors hit. That crack in the chocolate or the gritty snap can make the experience more dynamic.
- Palate Reset is Key. Between bars, sip water or plain seltzer (no sugar), or nibble a neutral cracker.
- Pair with Coffee Styles.
- • Strong espresso with bold bars (like Cocoa Legato)
- • Light roast or milk coffee with bars that have spice or softness (e.g. Mirzam with cardamom or Naive’s creamy flat white)
Make the Coffee Bar Drink at Home
(Just for fun — pair your bar with its inspiration.)
- Espresso Shot (for Microphone Bar) — Brew a single or double espresso, let it be strong. Bite the bar, then sip.
- Cardamom Coffee Latte (for Mirzam Chocolate Makers and Chocolate Metiche) — Brew a strong coffee, steep cardamom in your choice of milk, steam milk or plant‑based alternative, finish with bar piece.
- Flat White (for Chocolate Naive): Pull a double shot of espresso using medium-roast beans, steam whole milk (or oat milk for a creamy plant-based twist) and pour over the espresso for a smooth 1:1 ratio. Optional: Grate a square of milk chocolate on top for a sweet, melty finish
.
Planning Your Northwest Chocolate Festival Day
Here’s what you need to know to make your tasting journey smooth and satisfying:
- What: The Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025
- Location: Meydenbauer Center, 11100 NE 6th St, Bellevue, Washington
- Dates: October 4–5, 2025
- Time: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (both days)
- Website: nwchocolate.com
For More details:
- See our headline article here: Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025: The Insider’s Guide for Chocoholics
- Check out our entire section dedicated to all things Northwest Chocolate here: Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025 Beanstalkr Guide
If you’re keen we’d love to see you at our session.
“Craft Chocolate: Flavors You Never Knew You Needed”. See here for details: Beanstalkr’s Session – Craft Chocolate: Flavors You Never Knew You Needed
See here for the full Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025 schedule: Northwest Chocolate Festival Schedule
FAQ: Coffee + Chocolate Bar Edition
Q: Do bars with coffee contain caffeine?
Yes, typically. With coffee nibs or espresso, there will be a measurable caffeine amount — though usually far less than a full cup (depends on how much inclusion is used).
Q: Are these bars good for people who don’t like bitter coffee?
Yes — some of them use sweeter or spiced elements (cardamom, rum, milk chocolate styles) that can soften bitterness. If you’re sensitive to bitter, start with ones with mix‑ins or sweeter base (See Semilla, Mirzam, Metiche).
Q: Which bar is best after a meal / dessert moment?
Bars with spice or rum (Semilla, Mirzam) or those with creamy balance (see Organic House) make great “digestifs” after heavier food. They feel richer.
Q: Are these bars vegan?
Some are (like Karu and Metiche), but not all. If you’re plant-based, check the label or ask at the booth—many makers are happy to share sourcing and ingredient info.
Q: Can I buy these bars after the festival?
Usually, yes! Many of these makers ship internationally or are available at select specialty shops. But festivals often have limited batches or exclusives, so grab them when you can!
Q: Where can I buy these after the festival?
Many of these bars are limited-batch and only available online or at specialty retailers. Grab what you can at the festival, and check the makers’ websites or Instagram for restocks.
Keep An Eye Out for this Magical Duo.
Coffee and chocolate have danced together for centuries.
From mocha to tiramisu to plenty of pastries — you’ve seen how they enhance each other.
Now craft chocolate makers are treating that relationship with the nuance it deserves:
- roast levels,
- inclusion types (grounds, nibs),
- nuances of spice and rum
- — all carefully balanced.
At NW Chocolate Fest, these bars aren’t just tasting like coffee—they feel like your favorite café moment captured in chocolate form. That’s the beauty: you get both sides of the bean in every bite and sip
Which coffee bar are you most excited to try? Let us know in the comments!
Want more chocolate reviews like this? Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive tasting notes, festival guides, and small-batch picks from around the globe. As always, thanks heaps for talking beans with us.
Where to next?
If you’re off to the Northwest Chocolate Festival 2025, we recommend:
And if you’re curious, we recommend:
And if you’re still not so sure, check out what events or makers are in your area:
Talk Beans with us!
Got any questions? Feedback? Want to hi say? Reach out below – we’re always happy to chat!
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