Graphic created from an Echocolates.com [1] tree and a Michael Recchiuti [2] bar
Money doesn’t grow on trees, but at least chocolate does. But unless you have a machete and want to travel through the rain forest, you probably won’t get to the source of your favorite food, until now.
Echocolates.com [3] ships live chocolate trees and includes two free Vintage Plantations [4] chocolate bars for $9.95 plus $8.30 shipping. This type of plant is native to the Amazon basin. Besides growing cacao fruit, these trees provide shelter for frogs, birds and other small mammals. By growing the tree inside your home, hopefully you’ll appreciate where your chocolate comes from.
Because the trees are sensitive to cold weather, they are only shipped on the first of June to October. So, you have five days to put in your September order, or else you’ll have to wait till October first. After that, you’ll have to wait another eight months.
If you’re deciding which chocolate bars to pick, my favorite is the 90%. That may sound awfully dark, but “Arriba” Ecuadorian cacao tends to be mild, it’s best without a lot of sugar. This tastes nothing like Baker’s unsweetened chocolate; I promise it’s not bitter.
Here’s my tasting notes on the other bars:
38% milk – toasted almond/pine nut aroma. Tastes like toffee, a bit salty.
65% dark – couldn’t make out the subtle flavors, but the texture was a bit coarse. No added cocoa butter.
75% with salted peanuts – chewy texture.
75% plain – surprisingly different from the peanut version. The chocolate was harder and tasted more fermented
90% – best texture. Very chocolaty without any bitterness.
100% unsweetened – spicy flavor. No sugar, vanilla, added cocoa butter or lecithin (a smoothing agent). A good effort for “pure” chocolate, but it’s an acquired taste.
Four ways to order:
- Visit Echocolates.com [3] ($20 minimum order)
- Call 800-207-7058 x104, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST
- Fax an order form to 908-354-9265
- Mail the form to Chocolate Tree Offer, Vintage Plantations Chocolates, 1 Atalanta Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ, 07206
The fine print: Technically, cacao plants don’t grow chocolate as we know it. They grow cacao, whose fruit is fermented and seeds are later processed into chocolate. Also, it takes two plants to cross-pollinate and produce fruit. So unless you have two plants and have lots of bees, you won’t grow cacao.