If chocolates were simply a mix of sugar, cocoa, and cocoa butter, you might as well buy them at the dollar store. Or, better yet, not at all

Good chocolate needs to be so much more

A chocolatier must understand the sounds of the ingredients that make the chocolate.

MEHRBAUMS DECISION TO LEAVE

Hardly anyone today can recall the joy of exchanging a fistful of coins for Mehrbaums delicate hand-made chocolate morsels. Mehrbaums was the nineteenth-century German confection shoppe that made passersby inhale deeply. Then Mister Mehrbaum decided to leave.

But he had foresight.

He trained (with brutal intensity) his long-time friend and fellow chocolate lover Jacob Frankel on classic methods. Once it was clear Jacob had mastered the training, he was given the closely-guarded family recipe. Mehrbaum boarded a ship left the US forever.

Today, the 3rd generation of Frankels is running things.

Every chocolate brand is faced with two options.

One is to study whats out there and do whatever’s trending. Nothing wrong with that. Its an intelligent way to build a stable brand. Cover bands might be reproducing someone else’s music, doesnt mean they arent talented musicians themselves.

But there is this other path. Here, the artist rejects all norms and explores their own interpretation. Theyll likely make mistakes and have to return to the drawing board often. There is suffering in this path. And self-doubt. But its the one we chose for ourselves.

ITS TRUE

Its true that chocolate magic is born in equatorial wetlands, and where we get ours.

Its also true that when the beans arrive, they are inspected carefully by inspectors for flavor and aroma.

But in our opinion, the thing thats kept our customers coming back for over 71 years is what they experience when they taste our finished product.

We wont pretend we understand whats happening inside other chocolate companies; we simply dont know.

What we do know is what happens inside our 4 walls. All our free time goes into experimenting flavor combinations.

When making an almond patty

And when making dairy-free Kosher Berry Swirl, should the berry center be wrapped in creamy chocolate ganache followed by dark chocolate -or- should the dark chocolate be wrapped in creamy ganache? Theres a difference.

SMALL BATCHES

When making cereal boxes, production speed is an important detail.

Were not in the cereal-making business, so we do everything by hand, one batch at a time.

The chocolate youre about to buy doesnt exist yet. Only after you complete your order, will Mr. Frankel give us the signal to start.

Theres something different about chocolate

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