The great chocolate tour continued: ChocoVivo

Today I went to ChocoVivo, which was the first chocolate maker I can remember visiting. Going back to the "scene of the crime" would surely allow me to glean insights on not only their growth, but my own as well. I was excited to see how they had grown and changed their brand, and what I found surprised me quite a bit.

For starters, their shop had expanded a little, and there were an assortment of chairs and a table in the center of the room. They had coffee and sipping chocolate, not to mention lattes and hot chocolate, the latter of which I tried and found it excellent, if not a little hot (molten may be a better word here).

Another detail was the wall of bars, which had previously not existed. They had bars with Mayan heirloom cacao, bars with coconut sugar, and their quintessential 100% cacao bar that will forever give me memories of being unprepared to face down such an adversary as a ten-year-old.

The bars also gave me pause for thought in that their packaging was exquisite and very precise. There wasn't a crease to be seen, the adhesive on the back was of a very specific strength so as to be strong, but no so strong as to rip off the paper on the back that had text on it, text which detailed their process (soil-to-bar, meaning they also own the farm where their cacao is grown), and some of their bars had little cards that could be pulled off, cards that informed the reader of the bean origin.

Another thing to consider presented itself when I opened one of the bars. Last time I was there, their chocolate was untempered, which is generally considered a bold style choice, an innovation, or a radical, impossible idea. This chocolate, on the other hand, had a distinct snap and did not melt at all when I held it.

The chocolate, upon first bite, came apart easily in my mouth, and the flavors quickly presented themselves for a fleeting moment: lemon, salt, herbs, and something highly aromatic that I can't quite articulate; the best I can do is a combination of cardamom and rose, but this doesn't quite capture the unique note I found.

I think that overall, I was very impressed with how they had grown, and I was also interested in the fact that I tolerated their 80% chocolate without the slightest flinch, whereas four years ago, I surely would have.

I also think that for this post, which I intended to be a full-circle moment for me, it would be good to acknowledge the fact that I haven't done any of this alone. my grandfather has been with me this whole time behind the scenes, taking photos and doing research, locating new chocolatiers and finding out about chocolate conferences in Seattle, San Francisco, and Amsterdam. Thanks so much.

This is the wall of bars that I spoke of. Not many chocolate makers boast this many different types of bars, and I never would have expected such dramatic growth from ChocoVivo.

This is my first bite of one of the two bars that I got. This is the one that I described above as lemony and salty, with that mysterious aromatic.

This is me outside the store with the two bars I bought. The purple one has one of those cards with info on the bean's origin.