Castronovo Chocolate

Delicious bean to bar chocolate, including vegan options. I was very happy to see that almost half of the bars contained no milk. We were lucky to visit when there was a vegan truffle option. It was made with juice from Honeybell oranges and it was so good! (Since the chocolate is made in batches, once they run out there aren't more until they make more.)There were some dark chocolate peppermint bells, which unfortunately came in a pack with some milk chocolate (which we gave to our friends). It would be great if they came separately, because they were probably our favorite. Hubby got a Columbian chocolate bar, and I got this Puerto Rican bar. The staff was very helpful at offering suggestions on what we might like, including which chocolates were sweeter that the children might prefer.

Let me start by saying that likely every bar you eat at Castronovo will very likely be the best chocolate you've ever had in your life. And Denise is a fantastic person and great small business owner. Every bar she makes has a story behind it, and her work is masterful. Love is the secret ingredient: her love for the rain forest, the indigenous people who harvest the cacao, her love for the craft, and you'll taste all of that ion every bar.That said i deducted one star because I was told that they had one day shipping in Florida and i placed an order on thursday night thinking it should make it by the weekend (as a birthday gift). It didn't ship until monday morning and didn't get to me until wednesday. So six days which made for a fairly belated birthday gift.

An unbelievable culinary experience. This was a cottage industry that has blown up worldwide.