Are you looking for ethical and affordable chocolate subscriptions? Or lookin for a unique Mother’s Day present? Seek Chocolate Shop’s May 2023 offerings might interest you. In this article, I will review their Milk + Dark, Dark + Dairy-Free, and their new Refined Sugar-free boxes. I will provide you with detailed information about each option, helping you determine which one is suitable for you by the end of this review.
About Seek Chocolate Shop
Seek Chocolate Shop is a Utah-based chocolate shop that provides sustainable and ethical chocolate to chocolate lovers through its chocolate subscription service. You can receive each subscription monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly, and it costs $37 per delivery. Each box typically contains four to five unique chocolate items, with an additional $5 delivery fee within the United States.
Why Get A Chocolate Subscription?
Chocolate subscriptions make a great gift for your loved ones or even for yourself. They offer a hassle-free and convenient way to indulge in high-quality chocolate, without having to seek out new and exciting bars. Subscribers can taste various flavors and textures because of the assortment of chocolates included in each box. The chocolate subscriptions also enable you to support ethical sourcing and fair trade practices. This makes it an ideal choice for socially conscious consumers. These factors make it a unique and delicious gift that keeps on giving. These May subscription boxes are perfect gifts for chocolate-loving moms on Mother’s Day.
Dark + Milk Chocolate Subscription Box
The Milk + Dark chocolate subscription box is perfect for those who enjoy a mix of both milk and dark chocolate. The May 2023 box included the following items:
Raaka Hibiscus Cinnamon 67% Unroasted Dark Chocolate
Raaka made this dark chocolate bar using cacao beans from the Zorzal reserve in the Dominican Republic, mixed with hibiscus, cinnamon, and vanilla beans. It is the product of a gorgeous collaboration between Raaka Chocolate and the New York Botanical Garden. The special thing about Raaka is that they create their chocolate bars using unroasted cacao beans which makes their chocolate bars more fruity than the average chocolate bars. This tropical fruity flavor worked well with the organic hibiscus flowers and organic cinnamon.
Rhyme and Reason Raspberry Cheesecake Chocolate
This unique chocolate bar has a Midnight Raspberry Dark Chocolate base layered with cheesecake white chocolate. The Midnight Dark Chocolate base comprises of 70% Chanthaburi Thailand dark chocolate with a hint of raspberry added to it. This exciting flavor combination is not even on the Rhyme and Reason Chocolate Company’s website yet. This is one of the perks of being a Seek Chocolate Shop subscription box subscriber. You may get chocolate bars before they are out for the public yet!
Mausi Chocolate 62% Lavender Dark Milk Chocolate
Mausi Chocolate created this intricate dark milk chocolate bar infused with organic French lavender and roses, providing it with a delicate, floral flavor. The bar features dried lavender and roses, which add a contrasting texture to the smooth chocolate, making it a beautiful treat to the senses. One of the greatest challenges of incorporating floral flavors such as lavender and roses into chocolate is finding the right balance. This bar, however, has mastered the art, striking the perfect balance and ensuring that the floral notes are neither overpowering nor too subtle to taste.
Fossa Chocolate 53% Ginseng Chrysanthemum Dark Milk Chocolate
I was most excited about this bar in the box because I am a big fan of Fossa Chocolate. The unique flavors in this chocolate bar are reminiscent of those I experienced growing up in Indonesia. It features a 53% dark milk chocolate bar infused with ginseng and chrysanthemum, providing it with a distinctive herbal and earthy tea flavor. The cacao used in the bar comes from the Philippines’ Rehoboth Estate, known for its strong and comforting aroma. It is one of the most exciting flavor combinations I’ve had in dark milk chocolate. I hope that Seek Chocolate Shop continues to carry and feature Fossa Chocolate.
Dark + Dairy-Free Chocolate Subscription Box
For those who are dairy-free or vegan, Seek Chocolate Shop offers a Dark + Dairy-Free chocolate subscription box. The May 2023 box included the following items:
Rhyme and Reason 70% Thailand Midnight Raspberry Dark Chocolate
This dark chocolate bar contains cacao beans sourced from Thailand and is infused with freeze-dried raspberries to create a tangy and fruity flavor. If this sounds familiar it is because it is the base for the Rhyme and Reason Raspberry Cheesecake Chocolate featured in the Seek Chocolate Shop Dark + Milk Chocolate Subscription. The flavor was complex and reminicent of a luxurious, velvety raspeberry jam. Out of all the chocolate bars in the three boxes, this was one of the best chocolate bars I tried.
Mausi 62% Vegan Coconut Milk Chocolate
This vegan chocolate bar uses coconut milk instead of dairy milk, providing a creamy and rich texture. The bar is made using cacao beans sourced from Kokoa Kamili in Tanzania, making it a single-origin product. As with all other Mausi bars, this gluten-free bar has the most beautiful mold filled with an intricate pattern that reminds me of decorative tiles in a historical Mediterranean town.
Amano 55% Raspberry Rose Dark Chocolate
This 55% dark chocolate bar was inspired by a lovely memory from Art Pollard, Amano’s founder and chocolate maker. It is a homage to the delicious raspberry rose cheesecake she bought while visiting Pierre Herme’s pastry shop in Paris. This single-origin Ecuadorian chocolate includes a fusion of raspberries and roses, giving it a smooth floral and tart flavor. The addition of sugar crystals give the award-winning chocolate bar a satisfying crunchy texture.
Riversea Chocolate Zorzal 64% Dark Chocolate
This Riversea dark chocolate bar is made with cacao beans from the Zorzal Reserve in the Dominican Republic. It has a rich and complex flavor. The nuttiness in the bar reminds me of a walnut brownie, as well as hints of vanilla and raspberry. My favorite thing about Riversea Chocolate is the high-quality cacao butter they use. I’ve also reviewed Riversea Chocolate’s Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate bar and Angel Food White Chocolate which feature the same fragrant cacao butter. Reserva Zorzal is a 1,019 acre bird sanctuary and organic cacao farm in the northern mountain range of Dominican Republic. The cacao used in Raaka Hibiscus Cinnamon 67% chocolate featured in the Dark + Milk Chocolate box was also from the Zorzal Reserve. However, the taste is very different due to the different processing and inclusions added to the bar.
Refined Sugar-free Chocolate Subscription Box
The May 2023 box included the following items:
The Chocolate Conspiracy Raspberry 75% Dark Chocolate
Honestly, I’ve always been curious about this chocolate brand. The mysterious name paired with the whimsical packaging make for a very intriguing brand. The makers perfected this dark chocolate bar over many years of trial and error, sweetening it with raw, unfiltered wildflower honey instead of refined sugar. The bar features unroasted, single-origin cacao beans from Peru’s Ucayali region. I was pleasantly surprised by its perfectly sweet, elegantly tart, and beautifully floral flavor profile. I will definitely be trying more chocolate bars from the Chocolate Conspiracy!
Goodio Raspberry 49% Chocolate
Goodio is famous for only making 100% vegan and gluten-free chocolate bars.The makers of the Finnish bars use raw cacao, a superfood with high levels of antioxidants. This specific Goodio chocolate bar infuses coconut sugar instead of refined sugar and incorporates raspberries and coconut flakes for a fruity, tropical taste. Although I am not typically a fan of coconut flakes, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this bar, making it a standout in the box. The chew of the coconut reminds me a lot of an oatmeal cookie. If you like the flavor and texture of shredded coconut, you will love this bar!
Raaka 58% Oat Milk Chocolate
The Raaka 58% Oat Milk chocolate bar is made with oat milk as a substitute for dairy milk and coconut sugar instead of refined sugar, giving it a creamy and slightly nutty taste. It brings to mind the flavor of chocolate overnight oats, making it ideal for breakfast or dessert. The vegan chocolate bar contains cacao from the Semuliki Forest in Uganda, providing fruity cocoa notes. Gluten-free oat flour creates a cookie-like texture. The bar is sweetened with maple sugar, giving it a well-rounded and warm finish that reminds me of pancakes. With 58% cacao, it’s sweet and creamy while maintaining a cacao-forward flavor.
Deity Chocolate 72% Almond Dark Chocolate
I was not familiar with this brand, so I took some time to research it. Although I couldn’t find a lot of information online, I did come across their online store. I gathered that Deity Chocolate commits to using authentic and natural ingredients like honey and cocoa beans. They craft their chocolate bars with two goals in mind: preserving the many health benefits of the cacao bean and enhancing the unique flavor profile of each bean. This Deity Chocolate dark chocolate bar is sweetened with honey granules and studded with raw almonds to give it a crunchy texture.
Is Seek Chocolate Ethical?
In addition to providing high-quality chocolate, Seek Chocolate Shop is also committed to sustainability and ethical sourcing. The packaging for their subscription boxes and chocolate orders is eco-friendly, using repurposed cardboard boxes and packing materials to keep the chocolate bars intact during shipping. Seek Chocolate Shop works exclusively with ethical chocolate makers who prioritize fair wages and sustainable practices. Seek Chocolate Shop’s mission and vision are truly admirable, and it’s refreshing to see a company committed to doing good in the world while selling delicious chocolate.
Customization
At Seek Chocolate Shop, the owner Tye Reeder goes the extra mile to ensure that her customers receive personalized chocolate subscription boxes that cater to their preferences and dietary restrictions. If a particular chocolate bar in the subscription box doesn’t suit your taste or dietary requirements, Tye will gladly replace it with another option that you will enjoy. This level of customization is a rare find in the chocolate industry. I commend Tye for her commitment to providing exceptional customer service and creating a truly unique chocolate experience.
My Thoughts on Seek Chocolate Shop’s Subscription Boxes
In addition to the outstanding ethical sourcing of the chocolate bars, Seek Chocolate Shop’s May subscription boxes also impressed me with their attention to detail. I appreciated that there were no duplicate chocolate bars across the different subscription boxes. This made it even more exciting since I can try so many new flavors and brands. It is great for those who want to try multiple boxes. They can do so without the fear of receiving the same chocolate bar twice. The variety and uniqueness of each subscription box make it a perfect gift for the chocolate connoisseur in your life.
Another aspect that I particularly enjoyed was the number of raspberry inclusion chocolate bars in the May subscription boxes. This was a happy coincidence for me as my boyfriend loves raspberries and I received the box on his birthday weekend. We had a fun and festive raspberry-themed chocolate tasting as part of his birthday celebrations. It was a great way to explore different flavor profiles and support ethical and sustainable chocolate makers at the same time. With Seek Chocolate Shop’s commitment to supporting small-scale farmers and cooperatives, you can feel good about indulging in delicious chocolate while also making a positive impact on the world.
Conclusion
Seek Chocolate Shop’s May subscription boxes were a delightful experience for any chocolate lover. They provide the opportunity to try unique chocolate bars from ethical and sustainable chocolate makers. Seek Chocolate Shop’s commitment to supporting small-scale farmers and cooperatives make it an excellent choice for socially conscious consumers.
With three great subscription options that cater to various dietary restrictions and preferences, Seek Chocolate Shop’s chocolate subscription service is a perfect gift for your loved ones or for yourself. Sign up for the subscription on their website and enjoy a monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly delivery of unique chocolate bars. Curious about past Seek Chocolate Shop subscription boxes? Check out my reviews on past boxes.
More on Shela’s Chocolate Diary
For more on ethical and sustainable chocolate, subscribe to Shela’s Chocolate Diary. My mission is to educate others on ethical and sustainable chocolate through chocolate reviews and blog articles. I aim to inspire others to make a difference in the world through mindful chocolate consumption. Check out my Chocolate 101 series to be a chocolate expert and my recommendations to find your next favorite chocolate bar!
Disclaimer: Tye gifted the chocolate subscription box to me. I did not receive any payment for writing this review, and all opinions expressed are my own.
