If you’re looking for the finest dark chocolate money can buy, you might want to try , a delicate, handmade chocolate, made from the finest cacao beans Ecuador has to offer. At a hefty $260 per 1.5 ounce-bar, it is the most expensive chocolate in the world.
According to the makers of To’ak, 95 percent of the world’s chocolate is made from mass-produced beans, whereas they use rare cacao seeds harvested from the coast of Ecuador. These seeds are fermented and converted into liquid chocolate, which is then hand-moulded into bars. Each bar contains 81 percent cacao, and requires 36 different steps to create. Finally, a single, hand-selected, hand-measured, shelled cacao bean is placed in the center. The bean, measuring between 7 and 8 mm, has to fit perfectly.
“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,” said co-founder Carl Schweizer. “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 percent involved in absolutely every step of making chocolate – from earth to tree to bean to bar.”
The $260 To’ak bar is presented in a numbered box made of Spanish elm, which is the same wood used to ferment the cacao beans. Apart from the chocolate, the box contains a pair of special wooden tongs used to pick up the bar, so that the oil from the fingertips doesn’t alter its taste. Given that the production unit is so small, there were only 574 bars available for purchase last year.
“We make chocolate with the same care and precision as we know it from fine wine and premium small batch whiskey,” said co-founder Jerry Toth. And just like fine wine, To’ak is to be savored in a particular sequence. Using the wooden tongs, you’ve got to break the bar along the incised lines. Then, pick up the piece, smell it, and let it melt on the palate without chewing, breathing through your nose to take in all the complexity.
“To’ak is firmer than other bars I’ve tasted, very intense, with notes of cherries, earth, flowers,” wrote Irene Virbila, a reporter with the LA Times. “As it melts, you find sandalwood, caramel, hazelnuts, orange blossom, and more.”
Interestingly, To’ak translates to ‘earth’ and ‘tree’ in ancient Ecuadorian dialects. “We’re trying to remind people that chocolate doesn’t come from a factory,” said Toth. “It comes from the land.”
But will it make your skin look younger, like Esthechoc, the world’s first beauty chocolate?
Photos: To’ak Chocolate
