Craft beers
Artisan coffee roasters
Local, organic fruits and vegetables
Now, artisan chocolate
In the 1970’s the three major roasters largely supplied all the coffee in the United States. Now, nearly every neighborhood has someone who roasts coffee. Chocolate, until this time, has largely been supplied worldwide by three chocolate makers.
In the last 10 years, chocolate has taken off in a new and exciting direction. Whether you call it bean to bar chocolate or artisan craft chocolate, it is chocolate that is taken from the raw bean to luxurious bars and confection.
We start with the raw bean
Roast it
Crack and winnow the bean
Grind it into a paste
Then further grinding the beans (conching) into a liquid. If desired, other ingredients can be added at this point. Some of the ingredients that may be added are: milk products, sugars, vanilla, and cocoa butter.
Conching can last anywhere from hours to days depending on the product one desires and the equipment that is being used.
The last phase is tempering the chocolate. This is where the chocolate develops the shine and snap of a luxurious and well-made chocolate.
The result of small batch chocolate is that we are able to pay attention to the individual bean. Changing the roasting times, length of conching, and adding ingredients that best suit the bean, thereby giving each chocolate its own personality.