This is a collection of the best Bean-to-Bar that I have tasted so far (2010 -2011) with a few honorable mentions at the end. This isn't an exact reflection of what is available on the market, this is based on what I have personally reviewed and tasted so far.
After going through a lot of chocolate, and I mean A LOT of chocolate, and Lord above help me now, I still have WAY more to try, I have decided to present my findings thus far on whom I think are some of the best chocolate makers in the world. It's only me judging. It's based solely on my tastes and preferences and should be considered 100% subjective. This list will change every year, naturally, as more and more chocolate is introduced into my life. If you are a chocolate maker and are not on this list, either try harder for my affections, or send me products because I may not have had it yet!
You will notice if you go back and scroll through older reviews, that my review style is noticeably changing. This is the point exactly of my journey through chocolate. To learn about and grow with it. And to understand my own palate better. I have no intention of changing the old reviews, but rather move forward get better with time. I only bring this up because as I scroll through older reviews, I am totally laughing at myself. Some are vague, and some are overly descriptive. I am learning people, I am learning!
[Image via FatWallet.com]
Art Pollard is something else. To say the man is gifted when it comes to chocolate is putting it mildly. In my most recent review of an Amano product, the Cuyagua, I stated that "I truly believe Amano are masters at drawing out the true potential in chocolate." "They are one of the world's best chocolate makers. Their skills in making cocoa beans show their true potential via aroma and taste is simply unrivaled."
It is in my opinion that Amano, are masters at making chocolate truly shine. The aromas they manage to naturally draw out chocolate are simply amazing. The Dos Rios bar is the only bar on this blog to date, that has received a 100% score in a single category. Pure bergamot and lavender. So gorgeously aromatic and pretty without over doing it. And then there was the Cuyagua which put me right back into the mindset of truly and enjoying and being passionate about chocolate. So much to review and plow through lately, it's beginning to feel like a chore to review sometimes. And then the Cuyagua came along and brought me back to life.
There is also the passion and commitment factor. The dedication to the local farmers and harvesters of cacao in the regions Art selects for his products. Fair trade, tasting parities with the farmers and their families, the constant travel to the various regions for quality control and a better understanding of the region. It makes a difference.
Consistently across the board, Amano, has not let me down yet. And even though there are other chocolate's with higher technical scores, it is Amano with the most consistent profile. They are simply the most enjoyable and thought provoking out of any chocolate maker I have had to date.
[Image via What Makes Us Blog]
He only makes a few bars of chocolate, but Colin Gasko is one of today's finest chocolate makers in the world. He has a relatively unknown profile to a lot of chocoholics. He is being newly discovered each day in places such as Paris thanks to David Lebovitz, and all over London due to the hard work of the chocolate bloggers who continue to keep their finger on the chocolate pulse.
Another highly passionate chocolate maker, whose geekery sometimes overshadows is professional business persona. He is not afraid to go toe-to-toe and reveal his inner chocolate passions most aggressively. Nonetheless, he has one of the best chocolate blogs out there and details great stories and personal adventures of traveling to various South American regions for cocoa sourcing.
His Sambirano Madagascar bar, single-handedly changed my whole world and outlook on chocolate. I hadn't had anything quite like that bar of chocolate before and it flipped me upside down completely. There was always this talk of chocolate descriptors on Madagascar cacao that had vodka esters. I didn't quite believe it until I had this Sambirano. I, full on, had the actual esters and heat blowing back through retro-olfaction. It was incredible. The huge bright cherries and wood flavors. It is the bar that made Madagascar my favorite region in the world for chocolate.
And even through my review of that bar isn't as detailed as I could have been, It still holds one of the highest overall scores on this blog. I have had all in his collection but the Hispanola. But his place on this list is solely about the Sambirano. One of my all-time favorite bars of chocolate.
Having personally met Alan McClure and discovering our similarities in coveting our passions, be it through craft chocolate or craft beer, Patric Chocolate must be included in this top ten list of best chocolate makers in the world. Another fine Madagascar producer who has solidified my love with Madagascar cocoa.
Alan has a natural ability to draw out the pure and unadulterated rawness of cacao. I once reviewed his Rio Caribe bar in an unconventional way, as if I were tasting a funky Gueuze. Describing it with descriptions not typical of chocolate, or at the very least it may not have sounded like the most appealing chocolate in the world. But for those in the know, and those who can appreciate the funkier side of things, the rawness of it all, they understood perfectly well. Untamed is what I mentioned in the review and is exactly the reason his is in such high regards on my blog.
While his predecessor on this list has a knack for pulling out the big and pretty flavors in chocolate, and making more delicately refined chocolate bars, Alan brings out the pureness and the reality of chocolate. The reality being that sometimes it's not the prettiest thing you will ever taste. That is not to say his chocolate isn't good, but it's world class in a different way than the others mentioned on this list.
Now if I could only get Alan to ditch his newer packaging and go back to the old ways.....
My partners in the craft world as I commonly refer to them. As I am from the craft beer world, they are from the craft chocolate world. Small-batch, artisan producers whose handiwork keeps getting better and better.
Introduced to me by Shane Welch of Sixpoint Craft Ales, Rick and Michael Mast, are wonderful makers of chocolate. A couple of Brooklyn hipsters with an eclectic, old school style, they built their little chocolate empire in a few short years by hand-making all of their chocolate and stone grinding their beans to perfection.
Not only are the Mast Brothers fantastic at making chocolate, but they're stylistically some of the coolest chocolate makers around. Their hand packaged chocolate bars with imported Italian paper are some of the most beautifully packaged bars. (I've kept all my wrappers and hope to use it for wrapping paper one day.) The Mast Brothers are also very generous. They once came to Boston and helped participate in one of the best Chocolate and Beer Dinner's I have ever hosted. Alan McClure of Patric, was also apart of this amazing dinner. The Mast Brothers left the restaurant with blocks and blocks of chocolate. To which the restaurant then made the best goddamn chocolate mousse on planet Earth. Ocumare, Venezuelan chocolate mousse. Yeah, it was like that!
My initial reaction to the Mast Brothers showed to be confusing on my blog. I ranked them very high on scores, but felt like they needed time to grow. What I was tasting was so good but it felt like they were on the cusp of really becoming stellar chocolate makers. I felt like they were sitting on a powder keg waiting to explode and hit the craft chocolate scene like a bomb. Their Venezuelan base for chocolate was always aces to me, but it was the Madagascar, I felt, that needed to be perfected. Well, they have certainly done that and continue to raise the bar. They have gone from exceptional to stellar. The Brooklyn foodie elite covet them, while the London chocolate nerds fight desperately to get their hands on more. Paul A. Young knew not what he was getting into by deciding to carry the Mast Brothers chocolate at his London shop. Inundated be thy name.
While their chocolate has always been superb, they have truly grown into their roles as serious artisan chocolate makers. Today they are, in my honest opinion, some of the finest chocolate makers in the world. They have a simple rustic approach to their chocolate making, which yields simple and beautiful chocolate bars. Nothing is overly complicated or too simple for that matter. They balance flavored bars like no other as well. Their Stumptown coffee bar with a Madagascar base, is hands down one of the best flavored bars I have ever had. Stumptown being another super-ally in this artisan world.
Well done Brotha's!
5. Valrhona
What can be said about Valrhona that hasn't already been said? Long-standing French chocolate makers that have the history and accolades to back it up.
For me personally though, this has been and interesting journey. I didn't like Valrhona initially. I thought their chocolate was off for the longest time. A lot of imbalances and strong acidity that left sharp pangs in my neck when I would try to eat it. Granted, when I first started learning about chocolate, these were the big dogs on the scene, and the artisan makers hadn't really shown their presence yet. The bean-to-bar makers weren't really at the top of anyone's list yet. It's almost as if this flood of artisan products forced their hand to be better. The single origin collections really started cranking out from everyone's profile in the last few years. Now, I know that sounds completely presumptuous from a novel chocolate taster such as myself. But from my own tastes, their products went from nearly inedible to amazing. Maybe it was my palate that did the whole 180° switch and there was nothing ever wrong with them to begin with. How else would the be one of the world's finest producers of chocolate? Whatever the case may be, I have finally realized what a world class chocolate maker they really are.
There is a reason they are used predominantly in fine dining restaurants for desserts, and used largely around the world as the base and couverture chocolate for many chocolate and confection shops. They are world-class. They have been for a long time, and I am just beginning to see it now.
6. Zotter
Austrian-made bean-to-bar producer. Handmade from the mad scientist-like mind of Josef Zotter. Insane, but wonderful art designs and packaging of Labooko, crazy product lines such as the Hand-Scooped series, lollipops, chocolate shots (chocolate-filled, fun syringes), and even chocolate spirits. He has also created the first social-issue activist chocolate bar, Labooko Rainbow in solidarity of gay rights.
But, it's his Labooko series as a whole, that has me hooked on what a masterful chocolate maker he is. The Labooko line usually features a single origin, like take Brazil for instance, and then features two bars in one package, but from different regions of the origin. Brazil being the easiest example to site as it is so big, he featured a bean grown in the Amazon rainforest, and another bean grown towards the center of the country in a completely different landscape. This is to highlight how vast and different the beans can taste from one generalized region. It's brilliant and quite worthy of long discussions while eating it. You can learn so much from one bar.
7. Askinosie
Askinosie was one of the first chocolate's I have ever reviewed. It's a foolish review of a novice trying too hard to get started and get my feet wet with chocolate reviewing, yet being so "principled" in what I thought I knew was good chocolate and who made it. But Shawn Askinosie has bared with me. As have my followers and you can see the growth happening.
I first met Shawn years ago at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. He was there slinging that chocolate as fast as he could, spreading the gospel to as many drunken novices as he could. But this wasn't a frat party. These were seasoned beer geeks who also have their own appreciations for artisanal things. Why else would they travel from all over the globe to taste as many of the 1600 beers being offered in one giant room? And the beer makers themselves were interested in fine chocolate and how they could incorporate that chocolate into their beers. Craft beer and Craft Chocolate are a natural fit. Luckily, Sam Caligione of Dogfish Head, snatched them up and together created an amazing beer called Theobroma.
Shawn Askinose has some of the purist intentions in the business. Leaving his job as a lawyer and now making some of the finest chocolate in the world. Another fair trade producer who works tirelessly with the farmers and local communities of the regions he sources from. Even offering rare chocolate auctions to help generate donations for African villages he sources chocolate from.
His chocolate happens to be world-class. He touts one of the best white chocolate bars in the business as well as making amazing dark chocolate bars using Filipino cacao. His Davao collection is the some of the worlds best from that region.
I would love to try some of his more rare collections like the Liberian bars. And extremely small batch of chocolate produced using the first-ever, single origin Liberian beans. This happens to be his acutionable chocolate for charity. The popularity of his brands ensure that the bids are too steep from my wallet. But that is a tesitiment to his strong fan base.
8. Duffy's
A single origin producer from the UK. Given to me in a collection as a trade from the ever-so awesome Louise Thompson of The Chocolate Consultancy. This was the first time I began to like chocolate being produced from Ecuador. Nacional beans haven't been a favorite of mine. They have a drying effect that I am not in love with and such a delicate flavor that it's really hard to get it's true flavors drawn out. It takes real skill, in my opinion, to make those beans shine. They even made a milk chocolate with the Ecuador beans. I tasted it and then I melted it down for one of the best hot chocolates I have had in a while. Strong, rich, and creamy flavor.
Duffy's is a breath of fresh air for the UK. They make fabulous single origin chocolate and source their own beans. There are quite a few bean-to-bar producers in the UK, but even more couverture shops. I like them all, but I support the bean-to-bar effort much more. And especially one of this caliber.
Long-standing, French chocolate making masters. One of the oldest and most trusted names in the business. A true family legacy in the world of chocolate with a history spanning all the way back to the 1800's.
I am fairly new to Bonnat, despite their tremendous history. A name long seen in gourmet food shops, or fine purveyors of chocolate, I hadn't had the honor of trying their chocolate until recently. One review on the site to date, but two more on the way and many more if I am lucky enough to get my hands on their creations. For me, they earn a spot on this list largely based on their gorgeous and amazing silky texture. Yes, their chocolate is more than just a soft, melt-in-your-mouth like butter texture, but clearly it is very important to me. No other chocolate I have tasted has this sort of texture.
Now imagine this superfine texture, as smooth as silk, with intensely rich and bold chocolate flavors that honor the origins they come from in the finest of details. It's really quite unbelievable. Bonnat is one of the true old school masters of chocolate.
10. Amedei
My love for Italian chocolate will never die. I once proclaimed the Italians to be some of the finest chocolate makers in the world. And while other producers have been forcibly changing my mind, Amedei still holds the distinction of being one of the best chocolate makers in the world. The brother and sister duo who have come to rule the chocolate world with pure sophistication and masterful skills.
Their Toscano Black 70% is the most versatile and beloved in their collection, but they have rare gems like their Porcelana, Chuao, and 9 bar which really sets them above and beyond most chocolate makers today.
When I tasted their 9 bar, I was absolutely floored by being able to taste certain distinctive cocoa regions. 9 bar is a blended bar of single origin beans from nine different Amedei plantations around the world. It was an unbelievable chocolate journey with one bar.
They are so good that some of the top patissier's in the world use their chocolate as couverture chocolate or simply to create some of the best chocolate pastries and desserts. William Curley from London is one such master who swears by Amedei, makes you believe it too by the brillaint dessert creations he comes up with. His sea salt caramel bar with Amedei as the chocolate is one of my favorite things on planet Earth.
Honorable Mentions:
Best White Chocolate: Askinosie Davao White Chocolate
Best Milk Chocolate: Maglio Papuasia 33%
Best Dark Chocolate: Rogue Chocolatier Sambirano 70%
Best Baking Chocolate: Scharffen Berger 70% Bittersweet
Best Flavored: Tie: Rococo Milk Chocolate/Sea Salt and Mast Brothers Stumptown Coffee
Best Filled Bar: Fine and Raw Truffle bar with Pink Hawaiian Sea Salt
Best Caramel: William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Bar
Best Tuffles/Bon Bons: Elbow Chocolate and Patric Chocolate Madagascar Collaboration
Best Hot Chocolate: L.A. Burdick's Dark Hot Chocolate (At home and In-store.)
Best Chocolate Covered: TCHO Chocolate Drenched Mango Pieces
Best Brownies: Vosges Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Brownies
I openly invite discussion for this list. While this might be my own personal preferences based on what I have had so far, I want to know what your Top 10 lists would look like. Do you agree or disagree with some of my personal sentiments about these chocolate makers?
**There is no American bias intended in this list. The natural progression of my personal favorite chocolate makers ended up being American heavy in the top slots, but it had nothing to do with being an American myself. If you would have asked me a year ago or even 6 months ago, it would have been largely Italian. My how times have changed for me.
Best Chocolate Beer - Chocolate Ale from Boulevard, collaborating with Christopher Elbow
Posted by: Tim | 04/22/2011 at 07:04 AM
How about low acid great dark chocolate? Is that possible? Love chocolate, can't take the acid. Any recommendations?
Posted by: cary | 07/09/2011 at 01:49 PM