Quality over quantity is a mantra of the microbatch chocolate movement. A small group of US chocolate-makers are getting global attention for their painstaking approach to creating chocolate that yields delicious results.
Microbatch Chocolate Trend
The microbatch trend started in the US in 2005 with Steve DeVries of DeVries Chocolate in Denver, Colo. Most of the today’s micro producers started out with little to no knowledge of the industry. For instance, DeVries was a glass blower before a trip to Costa Rica inspired his career in chocolate and Shawn Askinosie, owner of Askinosie Chocolate in Springfield Mo., is a criminal lawyer who started his business with "no idea how chocolate was made or where it originated." In 2008, five micro producers founded the Craft Chocolate Makers of America to promote small-batch chocolate.
Process of Creating Microbatch Chocolate
The Craft Chocolate Makers of America say they use “traditional methods” to produce their chocolate. Here is how they do it:
- Micro producers use single source cacao beans, which means the beans come from one farmer or one region. The micro producers buy the beans directly from the farmer, which allows the chocolate makers to trace the origin of their ingredients.
- After the beans are harvested, they are fermented and dried. Natural fermentation and slow sun-drying of the beans can add a dried fruit flavor to the chocolate and reduce bitterness.
- The beans are cleaned, de-stoned and roasted.
- A machine separates the exterior shell from the inside of the bean, which is called the nib.
- The nib is ground into a paste, called liquor. Some micro producers add ingredients such as cocoa butter, cane sugar and vanilla to the liquor.
- The liquor is heated and cooled before it is molded, and packaged for consumers.
Difference between Regular Chocolate and Microbatch Chocolate
There are several distinctions between the most common types of chocolate eaten in the US and the microbatch chocolates, including price, quantity and varieties.
- Most US chocolate is considered mass market or mass market premium and is priced from $15 to $25 a pound. Microbatch chocolates fall under the category of gourmet or prestige and cost $25 to $40 a pound and up.
- Microbatch chocolate is made with the highest quality ingredients available. Chocolate produced at high volumes is made from lower quality ingredients to be able to make a profit.
- Microbatch chocolate producers tend to focus specifically on chocolate bars.
- Micro producers take their products from bean to bar. Mass producers buy chocolate from other companies and remold it.
Where to Buy Microbatch Chocolate
There are a limited number of microbatch chocolate companies in the United States, but most offer their specialty goods for purchase online.
- Amano Artisan Chocolate (Orem, Utah)
- Askinosie Chocolate (Springfield, Mo.)
- Black Mountain Chocolate (Asheville, N.C.)
- DeVries Chocolate (Denver, Colo.)
- Mast Brothers Chocolate (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
- Patric Chocolate (Columbia, Mo.)
- Rogue Chocolatier (Minneapolis, Minn.)
- Taza Chocolate (Somerville, Mass.)
- TCHO (San Francisco, Calif.)
Microbatch chocolate is a must-try for anyone with a sweet tooth for fine gourmet treats.
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