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Today’s Nibbles is designed to give you righteous reasons to eat more chocolate every day. I talked with a Boulder chocolate artisan who melds cacao with fungi. Plus: a new sushi/noodle eatery in EBo, two new Boulder restaurants and two cool community potlucks. Send your comments, local food info and quibbles to nibbles@boulderreportinglab.org.
— John Lehndorff
Hardcore chocolate lovers know that Boulder County is home to a wealth of first-class chocolatiers who can satisfy their passions with gem-like truffles and other goodies. Those shops make their creations using ready-made, high-quality Belgian chocolate.
Moksha Chocolate is something completely different. The mom-and-pop company owned by Michael and Jennifer Caines is Boulder’s sole bean-to-bar chocolate maker.
Like a growing coterie of cacao nerds across Colorado, Moksha sources beans directly from farmers across the globe. Michael Caines roasts and grinds the beans himself, and forms small batches of chocolate bars.
According to Caines, besides improving your mood and making your mouth happy, bean-to-bar dark chocolate can also be a wellness-enhancing supplement.
Dark chocolate includes flavanols that lower blood pressure and improve blood flow, as well as effective amounts of magnesium, selenium, zinc, potassium, phosphorus and vitamin E. Cocoa butter is considered a “good fat.”
Theobromine, a stimulating compound in dark chocolate, may even slow the aging process, according to a study published in Aging.
Combine the world’s most popular confection with today’s hottest dietary supplement, and you get a Boulder chocolate that has earned a significant national recognition.
Moksha was recently honored as a finalist for the 2026 Good Food Awards, the Oscars of American artisan food and drink. Other local finalists in various categories include Boxcar Coffee Roasters, Mountain Girl Pickles and Spark + Honey.
“We entered our 65% Dark Milk Vegan Chocolate with Reishi, and I was really surprised that it was included. Reishi mushrooms are incredibly bitter, but the judges decided the chocolate tasted good.”
Moksha’s dark chocolate is mellowed with coconut sugar and coconut milk powder, but this is not a shy taste.
“When you eat it, you definitely can tell that it’s there. That’s good. You can tell it really has reishi in it,” he says.
Mushrooms and cacao were made to be married
“Mushrooms and chocolate have a very similar consistency or structure provided by fiber. When you extract alkaloids from mushrooms you lose the fiber. I realized that adding whole mushrooms to the chocolate makes it easier to digest the beneficial functional alkaloids that help with energy or calmness,” Caines says.
Ironically, Moksha’s best-selling item is a byproduct. “I press some of the beans to make cocoa butter for the bars. I grind the pressed cake into powder that we offer as Ceremonial Cacao, which is very popular at group events. We also have Ceremonial Cacao combined with all the functional mushrooms. I can’t keep enough of it in stock,” Caines says.
This sweet prescription comes with cacao caveats. First and foremost, the chocolate must be dark and at least 60% to 70% cacao.
“Yes, it contains many beneficial qualities, but you need to understand the reality of even good chocolate. If you eat too much, you’ll have a problem with all the fat and sugar,” Caines explains.
The high cost of high-quality chocolate
Bean-to-bar chocolate may be better-tasting, better for the earth and even good for you, but it also comes with a significant price tag.
“A lot of people are confused when chocolate prices go up and down. A lot of it is about seasonal fluctuations, and a little is tariffs,” Caines says.
“Many are starting to treat chocolate as a luxury item. If you buy quality products with fewer ingredients from people who make the chocolate from bean to bar, you’ll taste a much better product you can feel good about,” he adds.
Making the case why chocolates like Moksha are worth the price means that Michael and Jennifer Caines are devoted to education and marketing. Translated, that means getting chocolate into people’s mouths.
Jennifer Caines represents Moksha at Front Range farmers markets, private chocolate tastings and events at spas. She also co-hosts tastings that pair chocolate with artisan whiskeys and with Gong Fu-style teas.
Inside Moksha’s Boulder chocolate factory
To take a quick dive into the world of cacao, visit Michael Caines at his East Boulder chocolate facility. It’s nothing fancy, but it does smell like chocolate. This is the best place to buy Moksha’s limited-edition bars with inclusions like blood orange.
“I have a little table with all of the current offerings arrayed along it. I take people on a little world taste tour. I help them understand where it’s from and they tell me what they like,” he says.
“They pick out things they’ve never tasted before in a chocolate. The look of joy and wonder I see when someone tastes my chocolates is great.”
Growing up in Australia, Michael Caines readily admits that his highly honed palate took a while to mature, judging by his most fondly remembered Easter candy.
“The ones I loved were these foil-wrapped, hollow chocolate eggs packed in an egg carton,” he says.
Caines notes that the eggs were made from cheap, waxy chocolate, but it didn’t matter. “It was amazing. It was like: ‘I get all that chocolate.’ Later, when Lindt solid chocolate bunnies were introduced, we moved up. That was like the luxury item.”
Shopping list: Colorado bean-to-bar chocolate
- Moksha Chocolate, Boulder
- Bibamba Artisan Chocolate, Denver
- Cultura Craft Chocolate, Denver
- Animas Chocolate Co., Durango
- Nuance Chocolate, Fort Collins
- Blue Spruce Chocolate, Kittredge
- Dirty Lil Cacao, Grand Junction
‘EBo’ adding upscale sushi/noodle bistro
The growing roster of food attractions in East Boulder along Arapahoe Avenue, an area I’m dubbing “EBo” (ee-beau), will soon add another gem.
Christopher and Ariana Teigland will open Odd Rabbit at 5845 Arapahoe Avenue, featuring non-traditional sushi and noodle dishes. The couple also operates the Michelin Bib Gourmand-recommended glo Noodle House in Denver.
Odd Rabbit will join EBo’s lineup of Ironwood Bar & Grill (at Flatirons Golf Course), Yotsuba Sushi, Le Frigo, Sherpa Kitchen, Boulder Baked and Blackbelly, the restaurant where the Teiglands originally met while working for chef Hosea Rosenberg.
Closing
Bellota has closed at 4580 Broadway. The Mexican eatery was opened four years ago by Boulder’s Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality, which also operates Corrida, Oak at Fourteenth and C Burger.
Coming attraction
A favorite authentic Lafayette taqueria, Tacos Aya Yay, will open a sit-down eatery at 2845 28th Street, tucked between Boulder Pho and Panaderia Sabor a Mexico. The space formerly housed La Mariposa Mexican Restaurant, which operates eateries in Longmont, Lyons and Greeley.
The Okigiri Cafe is set to open in the former Myco Café space at 629 28th Street offering onigiri and Okinawan and Taiwanese dishes.
Community potlucks focus on fungi, and the Lunar New Year
Missing your summer market family and friends? Grab a seat for the next Boulder County Farmers Markets Supper Club on Feb. 19 at the Boulder Elks Lodge. Bring a dish to share at this seasonal dinner centered around locally grown culinary mushrooms. BYO serving utensils, plates, cutlery and drinks. Tickets here.
The City of Boulder and Monarch High School’s Asian American Student Association host a free Lunar New Year Celebration & Potluck 5-8 p.m. Feb. 13, at the Boulder Public Library main branch. The 7th annual event includes lion dances, catered food, crafts and activities. Attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to share. Register here.
The Year of the Fire Horse will also be celebrated, on February 27, at Boulder’s Ku Cha House of Tea. Co-owner Rong Pan will offer a tasting of Gong Fu-style traditional Chinese teas including Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Compassion) and Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe).
(Get your upcoming food event, festival or class listed free in the Boulder Reporting Lab’s using the self-submission form on our events page.)
“People who habitually drink chocolate enjoy unvarying health and are least attacked by the host of little illnesses which can destroy the true joy of living.” — Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Want more Boulder bites?
Longmont pizzerias launch ‘Pizza With Purpose’ to fight food insecurity
Three Main Street pizza shops are donating proceeds to hunger relief and planning a statewide pizza festival to support local communities. Continue reading…
New Boulder cocktail bar Siren brings a nautical, East Coast tavern vibe to South Boulder
The team behind Jungle has opened a martini-forward neighborhood bar with tinned seafood, vintage-ship decor and a family-friendly feel. Continue reading…
Check out recent editions of Nibbles:
🍲 Saigon District One brings Boulder County a taste of Vietnam
☕ At CU Boulder, students engineer coffee, chocolate and beer