There are many other high-quality brands, but my favorite is perhaps Domori. For anyone interested in how good chocolate can really get, go here:

http://www.chocosphere.com

quote:

Originally posted by Montegrano:
There are many other high-quality brands, but my favorite is perhaps Domori. For anyone interested in how good chocolate can really get, go here:

http://www.chocosphere.com

That's a pretty kewl site, thanks.

Sharffen Berger Chocolate is pretty good. Wicked good at times. Mrs. TJ and I took a tour of their facility in Berkeley in April. It's amazing how much attention to detail is paid there, particularly to working with the farmers that grow the stuff for them.

I do have a soft spot for high quality german chocolate, though. I grew up on it. I still remember when I gave Mrs. TJ her first taste of non-Hershey's chocolate. You should seen her eyes open wide at that point.

The beauty with a lot of these companies, such as Valrhona, Cluizel, Domori, et al is that they mostly work with smaller scale plantations and farmers. After all, they usually have higher quality beans that yield much better flavor, whereas the larger manufacturers simply want bulk, so in order to supply the larger market, they have to buy inferior beans...in large quantities.

A lot of people complain about the high price of "artisinal" chocolate, but if you take into the consideration the labor intensive methods employed, the care, the superior quality of the ingredients, the direct relations with which the companies work, etc. etc. etc., then the $6 or so per bar is actually a small price to pay for quality and excellence.