The great chocolate tour continued: Twenty Four Blackbirds

Today I took a second lengthy drive down to Twenty Four Blackbirds, another chocolatier that was well outside our radar before we decided to cast a wider net. Just as with Bella Sophia, it was well worth the wait.

On the way there, I read a few articles about it, and a few things caught my eye, all of which I'll explain later.

When we got there, I found a few things that were different from what I'd initially expected. For example, almost every chocolatier I'd previously visited had either exclusively bars or exclusively bonbons and truffles. Here was both bonbons, truffles, and bars, which in my experience (keep in mind, there's only so many chocolatiers I can go to, so my experience may be opposite to someone else's) was very rare.

Also, I had heard that the place offered tours, but we were unable to secure one. However, I was taken on an abridged version of the tour by the lady behind the counter, which was both very nice and very informative.

First off, there was a lot of custom machinery, such as a "all-in-one" where one feeds in bonbon or truffle centers, and the machine creates the shells and decorations.

Second, one of the owners, Mike Orlando (not to be confused with another Mike Orlando, a guitarist), had a background in chemistry, and gradually that developed into an interest in chocolate.

Third, they had a fully functional factory there. It was small, compared to others like andSons and Dandelion, but it worked well nonetheless.

The fourth and final thing that stood out to me was the one that blew me away, and the one I had read before. In the far back of the factory, they were growing cacao.

I was shocked by how well they had recreated the optimal conditions for cacao here. I may not be an expert on growing cacao, but I can tell you that it requires a lot of heat and humidity. This room was maybe 90 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 32 Celsius) and it was so humid, our tour guide/cashier's glasses immediately fogged up. It was something I'd never seen before, and it was quite spectacular.

Once the mini tour had concluded, I went and selected a few chocolates, always keeping in mind the palettes of my family.

I had never seen such a creative approach to making chocolate, and everything was done in such a unique way. I can guarantee that the moment I stepped into that room with the heat and humidity of a cacao plantation will be forever burned into my brain. All things considered, it was quite possibly one of the most informative and creative chocolatiers I'd ever been to.

These are the available bonbons and truffles on display. There's a lot of caramel, which I think is a good way to carry flavors, especially the more delicate floral ones, like lavendar and rosemary.

This is the machine I mentioned that makes bonbons and truffles automatically. I wouls suspect it was extremely expensive, probably somwhere around $50,000.