Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Askinosie—Authentic Single Origin Chocolate

It's not often that you see the picture of the farmer on your chocolate package. That's why these chocolate bars from Askinosie Chocolate caught my eye the other day.

It's not just a pretty picture of farmers in the generic "oh isn't it charming?" style. It is THE picture of THE farmer who grew THE cacao beans that went into THE chocolate bar you see right in front of you.

This is for folks who care to appreciate chocolate the way wine lovers care about wine. Rather than generic chocolate, you can find out whether you prefer Arriba Nacional 70% dark chocolate grown by Vitaliono Saravia in Ecuador, or Trinitario 77% dark chocolate grown by Peter Cruz in the Philippines. And for the chocolate snob, you can distinguish between the different "choc-o-lots" much like wine snobs can tell you what vintage years are the best.

2 comments:

blueberrydream said...

This is interesting indeed!! In jap, we have pics of the farmers for the veges, but not for the chocolates!! Most people eat chocolates from Meji, which is a typical cheap chocolate like Nestle or Hershey's. The more expensive chocolates will jump to patissier class where you get them in Ginza or department stores like Isetan!! Maybe because japan chocolate is mostly rich with milk giving it a smooth taste, high cocoa chocolates is not that popular, which is why it is hard for overseas chocolates to get into the japan market.

IzzyInBliss said...

Interesting that high cocoa content is not appealing in Japan. Whereas here, there is a trend towards higher and higher cocoa content the higher end you go. What's your preference?