Theo Coconut Bites
Theo Chocolate of Seattle, Washington recently introduced Coconut Bites: three distinct types of sweet and chewy coconut bars that seem to be the Pacific northwest’s answer to the sibling duo (Almond Joy and Mounds bars by Hershey) that originated in the northeast.
Talk about taking something from good to great. That’s Theo Chocolate. Last year the organic fair-trade certified company did it with the rollout of peanut butter cups made with CB’s Nuts Peanut Butter and their own homemade chocolate and this year the Seattle chocolate maker combined coconut and chocolate to create Coconut Bites. Read more 
Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolate
Five years ago, a visitor to Santa Barbara, California would have thought that the seaside town had nearly everything: great weather, lovely beaches, perfect sunsets, a creative vibe, aromatic coffee shops, artisan grocery stores, and a fabulous farmer’s market but one thing was missing: a bean-to-bar chocolate maker.
It’s not that visitors couldn’t buy chocolate in Santa Barbara – a wide variety of chocolate could be purchased at various retail stores including Chocolate Maya; instead, the town lacked a hometown chocolate maker who was willing to take on the monumental time-consuming task of making chocolate from fresh cacao beans. Read more
The CORE Meal
Core Foods – based out of Oakland, California – was established by Corey Rennell, a self-confessed adventurer who traveled the world and learned two lessons along the way: eat mainly whole fresh fruit and vegetables, and treat others the way you want to be treated. Sounds simple, but as we all know, the day-to-day demands of life often keep us from eating healthy and forgetting about the people we interact with each and every day. Read more
15 Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Makers
Whether you prefer chocolate bars with 56%, 70%, 80%, 82%, or even 90% cacao, there are real bean-to-bar chocolate makers who understand and strive to provide a pure chocolate experience for those of us who still love to rip open a chocolate bar when the craving hits.
A real chocolate maker produces chocolate from raw cacao beans and goes through eight (8) processes (along with many subprocesses) – selecting, roasting, winnowing, refining, milling, conching, tempering, and molding – to make a rich, earthy bar with very subtle flavors of nuts or fruits: Remember that. There’s a test at the end of this post. Read more
Andie’s Specialty Sweets
Andie’s Specialty Sweets makes some of the most picture-perfect beautiful candies including Vintage Candy Buttons, Sugar Butterflies, Hard Candy Sea Glass, Chocolate Antique Candy Keys, Chocolate Candy Winter Acorns, Chocolate Filled Candy Sea Shells, Nuts, and more. So exquisite as to take your breath away, each beautifully designed candy elicits wonder and joy in both appearance and taste. Chocolate, peppermint, vanilla, and fruit are just a few of the many flavors of these very special candies. Read more
Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate
We have never shied away from a challenge in order to produce a beautifully finished product. It is just part of who we are. ~Dustin Taylor and Adam Dick
How did two craft masters – Dustin Taylor and Adam Dick – specializing in furniture and wood boats come to be premier bean-to-bar crafters of chocolate? According to Taylor and Dick, the answer lies with time, care, courage and commitment. Fitting a mortice or shaping a plank is not unlike handcrafting chocolate from a cacao bean says the co-founders of Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate. Both processes are challenging and must be done slowly to exacting specifications to produce a beautifully finished product. Read more
Domori Biancomenta
Creamy and spearmint are two words not normally used together but the Italian chocolate maker, Domori combined white chocolate with real spearmint leaves to come up with one of the creamiest minty chocolates on the market. Called Biancomenta, an Italian word meaning “white with mint,” the chocolate bar comes in two sizes: a single serving taster square (4.7 grams) and a regular sized bar (25 grams of .88 ounce). Read more
Potomac Chocolate
The Washington, DC metropolitan area is a powerhouse of intrigue with politicians, lobbyists, judges, lawyers, and government offices but today the spotlight is on a chocolate maker in our nation’s capital. Ben Rasmussen owns and operates Potomac Chocolate: a real bean-to-bar chocolate maker who handcrafts truly incredible dark chocolate bars in a suburb (Woodbridge, Virginia) of Washington, D.C. Read more
NuttyPirateGranola Bars
The western coastal waters off central Florida are known for treasure hunting opportunities with long ago sunken ships waiting to be discovered but this area (Ellenton, Florida) is also the home of Nutty Pirate Snacks – the makers of NuttyPirateGranola Bars: all natural, gluten and lactose-free granola bars that come in a variety of flavors.
Made of wholesome ingredients including oats, tapioca flour, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, dark chocolate chips, and nuts blended with agave nectar and homemade brown sugar (organic sugar and molasses), NuttyPirateGranola Bars are flavorful, chewy, slightly crunchy, and delicious. Read more
Vivi Chocolate
What Love Tastes Like…Simply Chocolate
Back in 2006, Barbara Yeager was in an herbal apothecary store in Seattle, Washington when she noticed a jar of cacao nibs (cacao beans that have been roasted at a low temperature, separated from their husks, and broken into tiny pieces). After she tasted the nibs, she understood why people are really into chocolate: because cacao nibs taste like chocolate without the sweetness. It was love at first bite. Read more
Paddock Post 