Chocolita

Sarah Ann Lesslie’s journey with her chocolate business started out with her wondering if she had done drugs. She hadn’t. But the experience Lesslie (pictured) had at her first cacao ceremony, during an astrology workshop in Mesa, made her feel so happy she thought she’d ingested more than just chocolate.

“I felt like I was on cloud nine — so much so that I called the woman who ran the workshop and asked her if there was anything else in that chocolate,” Lesslie says. “She responded, ‘There’s only chiles and chocolate.’ And I thought, That’s it? Wow.”

So began Lesslie’s interest in chocolate and learning how to make it herself. “The moment I got to Sedona, I told someone, ‘I really want to know how to make chocolate,’ ” she says. “I had the most magical day, and I wanted to share that with people.”

Lesslie was introduced to Kelly Johnson, of Sedona’s ChocolaTree, and told him about her interest. He offered her an apprenticeship at his shop, and from there, she learned the ins and outs of the chocolate industry. 

But Lesslie didn’t turn her new skills into a business right away. Only several years later, when she created an herb and chocolate mixture to alleviate her menstrual cramps, did she realize there was a market for her specialty chocolates. “I called it my Moontime Rose Chocolate and shared it with some ladies,” she says. “Then, I started selling it and realized, Oh, this is a business.”

At first, she offered her chocolates through ChocolaTree, where she was still apprenticing, but she branched out to Etsy in 2013. By 2019, Chocolita had four different chocolate bars and Lesslie was selling wholesale to stores while working out of a commissary kitchen in Sedona. “Everything got kind of wonky between the 2020 and 2021 years,” she recalls. “Chocolate actually did really well during COVID, and my business grew considerably.” She helped stores keep their shelves stocked with chocolate, and that helped her scale her business enough to build her own shop and kitchen in Flagstaff at the beginning of 2022.

Chocolita chocolates are certified organic and free of soy, dairy, gluten and white sugar. Lesslie says the chocolate she makes is not “candy”; rather, she considers it health food. “Chocolate is one of the most chemically complex foods on the planet — it’s super high in iron and magnesium,” she says. “We’re not here to load it up with sugar and make it something that you can only have every now and again.”

The natural ingredients and low sugar content are what longtime customer Tess Challis likes most about Chocolita. “I love that I can eat almost anything they make and still feel great,” she says. “The chocolates are responsibly sourced, and Sarah only uses the best ingredients.”

In addition to chocolate bars and truffles, Chocolita sells what Lesslie calls “sipping chocolate.” The powder is similar to hot cocoa but has a richer flavor because it contains chunks of chocolate that provide a deep flavor when melted in hot water or milk. 

Lesslie and her team handcraft each chocolate product sold at Chocolita, and from stone-grinding the raw cacao beans to hand-painting the designs on the bars and truffles, the team is hands-on throughout the process. The resulting chocolates are not only beautiful and unique, but also delicious. One of the most popular flavors is Pine Pollen Lemon Chocolate, which Lesslie says is a plant-based white chocolate that tastes like a lemon cookie. “It reminds people of all sorts of nostalgic flavors from their childhood,” she says.

Creating chocolates with ethically sourced ingredients is part of what Lesslie enjoys about her business, and she says she plans to keep doing her part to help the planet. “I’m going to listen to my heart and I’m going to keep doing this, because it’s good for people,” she says. 

Chocolita has two locations in Flagstaff, and customers can also order chocolates online.