Dark Matters Chocolate Reviews

I'm delighted to bring you this interview with Lan Phan bean-to-bar chocolate maker of 9th & Larkin Chocolate located in San Francisco, CA. From their lovely packaging to their delicious chocolate bars, 9th & Larkin is a delight to have in one's own chocolate stash!

In this interview we get to learn more about 9th & Larkin's bar wrapper design, Lan Phan's creative inspiration and so much more. Enjoy!

Victoria Cooksey: What is your first memory involving chocolate before knowing about craft chocolate?

Lan Phan: My first memory with chocolate was probably when I was 4 years old, tried making chocolate milk with a piece of bonbon. After that was teatime with my mom. It was very simple, just a little cup of tea, and a little piece of chocolate or a tiny cookie, and I would retell her story or book she read to me the previous day. I love teatime with my mom.

VC: When and how did you become interested in making bean-to-bar chocolate?

LP: 2014, I was working my day job as an analyst. There was one project that I interacted with lots of people in manufacturing startups companies in the SF Bay Area. They were making all sorts of things, from electric skateboards to personal devices. They were all excited about what they were doing and they were full of energy. The idea of making something tangible was really inspiring, it made me want to make something by myself, with my hands. So with curiosity of how to make chocolate from scratch and the love of eating chocolate, we started experimenting in our home kitchen soon after.

VC: What's your process for choosing a cacao origin to experiment with?

LP: We usually get samples of beans and test to see how we like them, sometimes out of curiosity when we see a new origin and wonder how they taste, other times because we tasted bars made with that origin, liked it and wanted to see what we can bring out from these beans.

VC: Your bar packaging is always so lovely. What was the inspiration for the colors and design?

LP: The design was inspired by the cacao pod. It wasn't a random splash of ink. We painted a cacao pod, and rolled it on a paper to create these patterns. The patterns are then transferred to the wrapper by screen printing. The colors reflected the tasting profile of each origin, such as the bright copper patterns on the Tanzania bar reflects the bright chocolate background, with cherries, berries notes. We tried to choose the color as close as possible to match with the flavor profile of the beans.

VC: Your chocolate bars always look fantastic! Any tips on tempering or bar mold prep for improving the shine on the finish bar?

LP: Thank you! I always polish the moulds and warm them up so the surface is similar temperature to the tempered chocolate before pouring the chocolate into the mould.

VC: What's has been your greatest challenge with making bean to bar chocolate?

LP: From a business standpoint, the biggest challenge is probably how to get people to know about us. We are so small, and don't even have our own store that people can just stop by, taste and shop, so it can be very tricky. I remember in 2020 when Covid started and so many makers said on Instagram that their sales dropped significantly and they had to rely solely on their online store, that is actually our normal. From a technical standpoint, it is tempering. After 5 years, I still learn something new about it and probably still far from being able to fully understand the tempering machine that we use yet. I still get this scratching head, why moment sometimes.

VC: How do you like to enjoy chocolate on an average day? How does that change on holidays and special occasions?

LP: Just a little piece here and there. I consume less chocolates than Brian, he snacks on chocolate throughout the day. During the holidays and special occasions, it would be a bit more as besides eating chocolates, we have cakes, cookies that we make with chocolate. We also buy chocolates as gifts to each other, haha, yes we make chocolates but still buy lots of chocolates for ourselves. And we'll try all of these chocolates when opening our presents on Christmas Day.

VC: What continues to inspire and drive you forward with chocolate making?

LP: I find chocolate fascinating. It's never bored me. From tackling different harvest with, sometimes, quite different flavor profiles, to how to keep chocolate safe during shipping in summer. It never gets old. And through making chocolate, I get to learn a lot of new things that otherwise I wouldn't have a chance to, and get to meet so many wonderful people. I enjoy what I am doing, and that is very important to me.

VC: At the end of the day what does chocolate mean to you?

LP: To me, chocolate is not merely food or snack. It is a fond memory of my childhood. It gave me comfort and energy on the way home from late night class. And now when I get to make it, it is the connection between me and my home country. Being able to use Vietnamese beans to make chocolates here in San Francisco means a lot to me. It is a way that I can share a little of my homeland with you and everyone.

Thank you so much for this interview Lan!

When I dream of desserts in bar form, or a white chocolate bar with cheese, Foxglove Chocolate pops into my mind first! In fact, if I was asked to make a list of inclusion bar makers to watch and learn from by tasting their bars Foxglove would most definitely be on that list!

In this interview Linnea Surla of Foxglove Chocolate, located in Portland, Oregon, shares the inspiration for how she picked the name Foxglove for her craft chocolate and we gain insight into her cheese in chocolate bars thoughts. Enjoy!

Victoria Cooksey: How long have you been making bean to bar chocolate and how has your view on chocolate changed since the beginning of your journey?

Linnea Surla: I started making chocolate in the summer of 2018, after taking a class with Mackenzie at Map Chocolate. The class really ignited something in me, and I spent the summer practicing what I had learned. I had my first pop up sale in November of that year! As far as my view on chocolate changing - I have a much greater awareness of the social impact that chocolate has. I am still finding my voice in this - I still have so much to learn, but the least I can do is encourage customers to think about the impacts their purchases make beyond buying from a local maker.

VC: How did you decide on Foxglove as the name of your chocolate?

LS: Gardening is another big hobby of mine. I love hollyhocks, but hollyhock chocolate is a lot of c's and o's! Foxgloves grow prolifically in the Pacific Northwest and I liked the way it sounded. I looked up Foxglove chocolate to see if anyone already had the name and learned there is a variety of Foxglove called a "milk chocolate foxglove." It seemed like a sign to me and the rest was history!

VC: What has been the trickiest ingredient to work with or most difficult dessert to capture in bar form and why?

LS: On a trip to Hawaii I was very inspired by something I tried called Li Hing Mui. It translates as "travelling plum," and was originally a salted preserved plum that was brought to Hawaii by the Chinese immigrants who came to work on the sugar cane plantations. It's now ground into a powder that is a condiment on fruit, candy, and shaved ice among other things, adding sweet, salty and sour flavor. I decided I wanted to make a pineapple li hing bar. The pineapple flavor turned out a bit muted from the milk powder, and the li hing mui flavor didn't come through as much as I wanted. I tried again, with a plum bar with li hing cherries, and the flavor popped like I wanted it to!

VC: Is there a difference in difficulty level to create a bar with dairy versus one with plant-based milk?

LS: Sometimes, but not necessarily. If not using dairy milk I have to think about what type of plant based milk I want to use and how that will affect the flavor and texture of the bar. It's fun to experiment!

VC: Your bars with cheese in them are so interesting. How tricky is it to balance the salty, sweet and savory elements when it comes to making chocolate?

LS: At my day job I work with cheese, beer, and wine. I am a certified cheese professional, and I love cheese! You may not think of cheese and chocolate pairing well together, but they really do! A lot of popular cheeses like cheddar or gouda have a sweet element to them - it made me wonder how it would work to make bars with these elements combined. The truth is, with anything I make - some people like it, some people don't, and some people love it! I try to make things with intention that I like, and eventually the right people will find them. I love riding that fine line between sweet and savory, and pushing people's boundaries for what chocolate can be.

Thank you so much for this interview Linnea Surla!

When thoughts turn to soothing, yet exciting inclusion bars Hogarth Chocolate comes to mind. While Hogarth Chocolate (craft chocolate made in New Zealand) makes lovely dark single-origin bars, the Gianduia, Buttered Toast & Sea Salt, Maple Walnut and now the new Anzac Biscuit bar satisfy the comfort dessert cravings within.

I always find each chocolate maker's individual path to discovering cacao so fascinating. Karl Hogarth originally worked his way up becoming the skipper in his own trawler with a total of 20 years experience at sea. Next, he earned a business degree before traveling through several countries and eventually coming across cacao in Guatemala which lead to Karl learning how to make bean-to-bar chocolate.

Victoria Cooksey: Is there anything from your experience of being a skipper of your own trawler that has helped you with any challenges with making chocolate?

Karl Hogarth: Absolutely. Working at sea teaches you to be very resilient, flexible and creative. Things break all the time and you just have to come up with a solution on the spot or you could waste whole trip. So over the years I've sort of absorbed a lot of engineering knowledge which helps me problem solve in the chocolate factory.

VC: How has your thoughts on chocolate/chocolate making changed since starting Hogarth Chocolate?

KH: I don't obsess over small details anymore. And I try not to go off on tangents as much. Like making complicated products that just add more problems. Definitely trying to keep it simple and focus on what we do best. And over the years I've come to realize that what I like isn't necessarily what my customers like, so I need to focus more on them.

VC: What continues to inspire and drive you forward with chocolate making especially when it comes to your inclusion bars?

KH: Definitely finding new interesting flavours to wow our customers with, and we try to keep a New Zealand theme with our range so we are always looking for ways to showcase New Zealand, in chocolate.

Thank you for this interview Karl!

Frequently in interviews with chocolate makers, as well as some that I've conducted, the maker is asked what chocolate they most like to pair with a certain wine, beer, coffee, cheese and so forth. Then there are those chocolate connoisseurs who adamantly say wine does not pair with chocolate at all, while still others express enjoying various wine/chocolate combos. So, everyone has an opinion—what's yours?

Over the years I have found some wine/chocolate pairings to be delightful while others to be terrible. But what if there was a way to make it easier? That thought, along with various inspirations, led me to put together a series of 3 videos on pairing sea salt dark chocolate bars with Pinot Noir, Champagne and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Spoiler Alert: Some of these pairings did work! I found the Pinot Noir to be the most hit and miss while the Cabernet Sauvignon worked better and I'd say the Champagne was a bit more successful than the Cab pairings. There was also a specific bar I tasted in all the videos that worked with all 3 wines.

While I tasted the wine and chocolate bars separately, the first time I try them as wine/chocolate combos is in these videos to give you my very first impressions. I invite you to grab some sea salt dark chocolate bars and some wine and join along with each of the tastings as you watch these videos. Enjoy!

The Dick Taylor Fleur de Sel bar worked well with all 3 wines and I felt it was the most scrumptious with the cabernet sauvignon.

While you have most likely tried a chocolate bar of some type, have you ever tasted a whole cacao bean? Kim Wilson of Good King Cacao works with farming communities to bring the healthy snack of roasted cacao beans that have been lightly caramelized with organic cane sugar and a variety of flavors for us all to enjoy. While these high fiber snacks are delicious they are also part of Kim's goal of finding ways to increase the possibility of a living wage for cacao farmers.

My favorite flavor happens to be Love which is seasoned with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and cardamom. A bonus of the cacao beans is that they won't melt during the summer months or in your pocket!

Victoria Cooksey: What lead you to be interested in the food/wine business and can you tell us some of your background prior to starting Good King?

Kim Wilson: In high school, I wanted to be the next Mrs. Fields. I had dreams of my own shop and several of my own recipes - almost all including chocolate. In college, I realized the world didn't need another cookie maven. So, when I was recruited by E. & J. Gallo Winery, I gladly accepted despite only having tried White Zinfandel prior to receiving my offer! I remained with Gallo for 11 years in various marketing and supply chain roles.

VC: How did you decide on having a product of whole cacao beans instead of a chocolate bar type item?

KW: Since the beginning, our business goal has been to create more justice and equity in wages - especially at the cocoa farming community level. One way to do this is to create new foods and products that can be made in the growing communities themselves. But, we didn't want to compete with chocolate makers - cocoa growers' primary customers. And, we wanted products that could be made in their local context - often without reliable electricity, water or infrastructure.

VC: What are some of the health benefits of whole cacao?

KW: I've been surprised to discover that when you don't process or even nibify cacao beans, they maintain A LOT more fiber - 11g per serving or 39% of the RDV for our 80% cacao content flavors - and a little more protein. This may not seem like a big deal, but in 2020, the FDA listed lack of fiber as a nutrient of public health concern.

Thank you so much for this interview Kim!