Aficionados argue gourmet chocolate should be appreciated like fine whiskey or wine
Some people take their chocolate very seriously. To true chocolate aficionados, chocolate is more than a delicious snack or dessert, it is a gustatory experience nonpareil. Chocolate aficionados will travel the world to taste the best chocolate, and will laugh at those who enjoy mass-produced “gourmet dark chocolate”, while they themselves are reveling in single-source hyper-gourmet chocolate bar that elevates their palate and enhances their spiritual well-being.
To’ak chocolate, which translates to ‘earth’ and ‘tree’ in ancient Ecuadorian dialects, is made for true chocophiles. Read on to learn more about this truly amazing world’s most expensive chocolate.
Other chocolates on the market may have higher price tags than To’ak, but the firm states that their chocolate bar is the most expensive pure chocolate available anywhere in the world (i.e., all those other wannabes add other expensive ingredients like gold flakes or truffles to their chocolate products).
$260 is a pittance to pay for the experience
$260 is a small price to pay for a true chocolate connoisseur, especially when it comes to experiencing the best of the best. Of note, To’ak chocolate bar is certified organic and is made with certified fair trade cacao beans. Only 574 bars have been produced to date.
The cacao beans used in To’ak chocolate come famed Arriba region, in Piedra de Plata, a valley cut off from the rest of the country by road until 1990. The 100-120 year-old trees found here pre-date the genetic hybridization of cacao that occurred in the wake of the 1916 outbreak of Witch’s Broom disease, and offer cacao beans of unparalleled richness and flavor.
Labor intensive process for world’s most expensive chocolate bar
The creators of this amazing chocolate say one key reason for To’ak’s sky-high price tag is that 95% of chocolate is made using mass-produced beans, whereas To’ak chocolate comes from the less than 5% of the cacao bean crop every year that makes the cut as fine grade cacao.
The firm also notes that every step involved in making the 81% cacao-mass bar is exacting and time-consuming, and it requires a mind-boggling 36 steps to produce each the bar.
The finest, top quality cacao seeds are harvested from the hills of coastal Ecuador, and then after winnowing down to the absolute most choice beans, they are fermented and turned into liquid chocolate.
The incredibly rich liquid chocolate is then hand-molded into a bar and a hand-selected, hand-measured cacao bean is placed in the center.
To be eaten with wooden tongs
To’ak is best eaten using wooden tongs, or a similar utensil, so that you can best perceive the aroma of the chocolate bar on the nose.
Statement from To’ak co-founder
Jerry Toth, the co-founder of To’ak, notes that their approach to chocolate is all about quality. “We make chocolate with the same care and precision as we know it from fine wine and premium small batch whiskey.”
Carl Schweizer, co-founder of To’ak, continued to say: “It is the most expensive pure dark chocolate in the world without any fancy stuff like gold leaves or diamonds in it to increase its value. We produce our chocolate in the country of origin and focus a single origin that sums only 14 small farmers. Being so small permits us to be 100% involved in absolutely every step of making chocolate: from earth to tree to bean to bar.”
