What is Artisan Chocolate? (2024)

FAQs

What is Artisan Chocolate? ›

Artisan chocolate is made by hand and in small batches, which means it's not only fresh, but also carefully crafted. This results in a variety of interesting shapes and forms that you won't find in the mass-produced chocolates that dominate the chocolate industry.

In general, the making of artisan chocolates is a rigorous process. This involves roasting, winnowing, grinding, pressing, conching, tempering, molding, and packing.

Different Types of Chocolate. There are four types of chocolate: dark, milk, white, and ruby. Chocolate comes from the seeds, or nibs, of the cacao tree. They are roasted and ground to produce a paste called chocolate liquor.

Gourmet chocolate isn't defined by quantity but by its superior quality. It's crafted with precision and attention to details, often featuring exquisite flavor and /or texture profiles.

One of the most important reasons you should buy artisan chocolate is because it tastes better than mass-produced chocolate. An artisan chocolate maker takes pride in skillfully combining high-quality ingredients draped in the finest couverture chocolate to make chocolate products that stand out from the rest.

Hold your nose closed as you place a piece of chocolate on your tongue. Try to let the chocolate melt with your body temperature instead of immediately chewing and swallowing. Fine chocolate has a much wider array of flavors to offer if we allow its cocoa butter to melt fully as we taste.

Higher-end chocolatiers are also more focused on a quality taste experience, so they tend to source their beans from the more expensive, but better quality cacao farms of other African countries, like Madagascar and Tanzania, as well as some South American countries.

High-quality chocolate is typically made from premium cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes milk powder or other flavourings. These ingredients are sourced from reputable suppliers and are often organic or certified sustainably produced.

Heavy metals: Some cocoa powders, chocolate bars, and cacao nibs may contain high levels of cadmium and lead, which are toxic to the kidneys, bones, and other body tissues.

Is Lindt or Godiva better? ›

In conclusion, both Lindt and Godiva are reputable chocolate brands that offer high-quality products. Lindt is known for its affordability, wide range of flavors, and smooth texture, while Godiva is renowned for its luxurious taste, attention to detail, and elegant packaging.

To'ak Chocolate sets the standard for luxury, crafting some of the world's most expensive bars, priced between $100 and $300, from the rare Ecuadorian Nacional cacao.

Centuries later, the Mayans praised chocolate as the drink of the gods. Mayan chocolate was a revered brew made of roasted and ground cacao seeds mixed with chilies, water and cornmeal. Mayans poured this mixture from one pot to another, creating a thick foamy beverage called “xocolatl”, meaning “bitter water.”

A 100% chocolate bar is made from 100% cocoa solids. This could either be 100% cocoa beans (usually that have been roasted) or any combination of cocoa beans and cocoa butter (both are considered cocoa solids and are added together to get the 100% number).

The simplest mix was cacao with ground maize (corn) and water, providing a healthy, 'cheap-and-cheerful' gruel, that 16th century Spanish friar Toribio Motolinía described as 'a very common drink'. Frequently combined with ground chilli, this 'poor man's chocolate' was consumed throughout Mesoamerica.