Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate

I absolutely love trying new craft chocolate bars.  While the prices are a bit higher, I like supporting small producers that are doing business ethically and using quality ingredients.  Also the chocolate is unquestionably superior to your average chocolate.  

I am already a huge fan of the magnificent Dandelion Chocolate, from The Mission in San Francisco.  If you haven't tasted this bean to bar maker, hurry online (or in person) and check them out.  But this past week Brian introduced me to a new chocolate producer that I had never heard of.  

 Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor are the chocolate makers, hence the name, running their operation in the most Western city of Arcata, CA.  These two guys have an interesting background in that they met at Humbolt State and went into furniture making (and the restoration of old boats), before starting the chocolate business just a few years ago.  They create not only really delicious, pure organic chocolate bars, but they also make some bars with some really interesting combinations of ingredients.  Two of my favorites are the Black Fig bar and the Maple Coconut bar.  Both are dark chocolate bars of 72%+ with the ingredients stuck right into the back of the bars so that you can see it, plain and clear.

The front of each bar is a beautiful and delicate design that reminds you that the true art of chocolate making is really just that, an art.

  

The perfect dessert is just to break off a piece and place it in your mouth.  Ignore the temptation to bite into it...which is SO hard for me.  But, be patient and let the chocolate melt on your tongue.  The flavors will blossom and bloom,  much more so than they would have had you ground the chocolate down by chewing it with your teeth.

I only wish that many more companies would put the same patience into their ingredients and processes as these guys do.  I am such of supporter of craft producers, whether it is chocolate or beer or most any other product, I continually find that the added care from the craft producer is incredibly evident in the final product.
Do you have any favorite craft chocolate makers?