By Nicole S. Colson
Biting into a rich, creamy, and delicious piece of chocolate is one of life’s biggest pleasures. Visiting the place where the chocolate was made—maybe watching it made before your eyes—adds to that experience. Connoisseurs can appreciate that chocolate made in Vermont is made not only with quality ingredients but also in a way that is both environmentally and socially conscious. This extra layer of enjoyment comes from knowing you’re not only pleasing your palette, you’re also supporting those who produced its ingredients and the planet on which they were grown.
Here’s a list of such producers, each essential to a proper and delectable chocolate tour of Vermont. Enjoy!
Big Picture Farm’s Chocolate Candy-Gram: “Two of our award-winning sea salt and vanilla caramels dipped in organic dark chocolate for a heavenly combination.”
Big Picture Farm
1600 Peaked Mountain Road, Townshend
Shop at 109 Grafton Road
Open Monday–Friday, 9a–4p
Started in 2010 by Louisa Conrad and Lucas Farrell, Big Picture Farm is a small hillside goat dairy and farmstead confectionery and creamery that produces award-winning goat milk caramels made with fresh raw goat’s milk from their herd of 40 free-range animals. They chose to us goat’s milk for their products for its creamier and longer-lasting flavor compared to cow’s milk. Their ingredients are all GMO-free, local and/or organic.
You can visit the farm during special events (listed on the website) or schedule a meet-the-goat tour on Sundays at 3 p.m. (e-mail bigpicturefarm@gmail.com). Products can also be ordered from the website.
Try it: Chocolate-covered sea salt and vanilla caramels with 74% cacao fair trade dark chocolate; and goat milk truffles featuring a delicate goat milk ganache spiked with a light touch of brandy and with an organic dark chocolate shell hand-painted with a cocoa butter impression of one of the farm’s goats.
Tavernier Chocolate’s Blue Hour Terrine Chocolat: “House made smoked maple pecan praline folded into dark milk chocolate ganache that’s enriched with Jasper Hill Farm’s award winning Bayley Hazen Blue cheese makes a thick, rich and creamy pâté-style chocolate with a hint of crisp, nutty texture.”
Tavernier Chocolates
74 Cotton Mill Hill A124, Brattleboro
Open Monday–Friday, 9a–3p
802 257-5806
http://www.tavernierchocolates.com
The terms fair trade (which pays a higher price to exporters of products in developing countries) and single origin when referring to chocolate (as well as coffee) have become part of the vernacular. At its most basic, single origin means that the chocolate is made using cacao beans from one place—its origin. Most chocolate is made using a blend of beans from several countries so their chocolate always tastes uniform.
Cacao is a plant that, like other plants, takes on the characteristics of the region where it’s grown: its terroir. Similar to wine, single origin chocolate is described in similar terms: earthy, floral, and herbal, to name a few. Artisan chocolate makers have started making bars using beans from one country—and sometimes even one farm—in order to focus on the terroir of that specific bean.
One such maker is Tavernier Chocolates in Brattleboro, which sources single origin chocolate from Venezuela as well as American and French coverture (chocolate made with extra cocoa butter to give a high gloss) from South American producers that follow fair trade precepts, either as cooperatives or ethical estate-run farms.
The company also partners with nearby producers and growers that provide ingredients for their chocolates, including Vermont chévre and créme fraîche, Cabot Creamery Butter, and local maple, foraged mushrooms, seasonal fruits and herbs as well as from their own garden.
Try it: Vermont smoked maple truffles and dark chocolate ganache-dipped figs with Vermont bleu cheese; also savory chocolate charcuterie such as the Soppressata Piccanté, a hand-rolled vegetarian sliceable dark chocolate ganache log made with organic fermented black garlic from High Meadows Farm, Hungarian chili peppers from Deep Meadow Farm, sliced California almonds and a lot of Vermont dairy.
Village Chocolate Shoppe in Bennington.
Village Peddler and Chocolatorium
261 Old Mill Road, Arlington
802 375-6037
Open Sunday, 11a–5p; Monday–Saturday, 10a–5p
http://www.villagepeddlervt.com
Village Chocolate Shoppe, Bennington
471 Main St., Bennington
802 447-3789
Open Sunday, noon–4p; Monday–Thursday, 10a–6p; Friday, 10a–8p; Saturday, 10a–6p
http://www.villagepeddlervt.com
The Monte family operates two distinct locations. At the Village Chocolate Shoppe, you can meet Benny, the chocolate moose and his wife, Molly—each 100 pounds of chocolate. It’s a more traditional chocolate shop, with chocolates, fudge, truffles and buttercrunch made fresh in the kitchen and sold on-site along with Vermont specialty foods such as maple candy, homemade preserves and cheeses.
The Chocolatorium at the Arlington store is where you can delve deep into the world of chocolate. You can learn about where chocolate comes from and how it is made via a self-guided tour and movie; make your own chocolate bar; watch a chocolate-making demonstration or do a tasting.
A flight of chocolate tasting allows you to sample three different kinds of origine chocolates. Everyone is given a sheet to help guide you through the tastings and to allow you to take notes on your favorites. After the tasting you may explore an exhibit and view the shop’s collection of antique chocolate molds.
Mother Myrick’s Buttercrunch: handmade toffee with Cabot Creamery butter.
Mother Myrick’s Confectionery
4367 Main St., Manchester Center
802 362-1560
Open Sunday, 10a–6p; Monday–Thursday, 10a–6p; Saturday, 9a–6p
Mother Myrick’s Confectionery began in 1977 as a small fudge shop and grew to include a full line of chocolates and a bakery. Everything is made on-site from scratch in small batches. You can visit the retail store or order products for delivery. A popular favorite is buttercrunch toffee made with Cabot butter.
Try it: Nip into the lemon lulu cake; take home a jar of homemade fudge sauce for your ice cream sundaes.
Lake Champlain Chocolates
2653 Waterbury Stowe Road, Waterbury
802 241-4150
Open daily, 9a–6p
http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com
A pioneer in the American chocolate movement, Lake Champlain Chocolates is a multi-generational family business (and Certified B Corporation) started in 1983 that sources non-GMO, organic, fair trade and local ingredients with no preservatives or artificial flavors.
The Waterbury store and café is one of three Vermont locations and offers full selection of chocolates, a hot chocolate and espresso café, award-winning house-made ice cream, and Vermont souvenirs factory seconds. You can build your own custom box of chocolates, in which you might want to include truffles (spiced pumpkin, dark rum and white raspberry are among the varieties) and caramels (dark chocolate with maple-infused caramel is a notable selection). You can also find Lake Champlain Chocolates nationwide at specialty stores and grocers and online at Amazon and from the website.
Try it: We’ll recommend… the 8-piece Chocolates of Vermont sampler. “All-natural Vermont ingredients such as pure maple syrup, fresh cream, and local honey, and custom designs that bring you the beauty of our seasons — sugar maple leaves, a beehive with wildflowers, a moonlit lake and a majestic mountain. And of course, they’re also made right here in Vermont.”
An assortment of handmade buttercreams from Laughing Moon Chocolates.
Laughing Moon Chocolates
78 South Main St., Stowe
802 253-9591
Open daily, 9a-6p
http://www.laughingmoonchocolates.com, info@laughingmoonchocolates.com
Established in 2002, Laughing Moon Chocolates creates hand-dipped chocolates and specialty confections in an open kitchen and offers a free chocolate-dipping demonstration every day at 2 p.m. Among the shop’s bestsellers are salted caramels, maple truffles, and fudge. You can accompany what you sample with a selection of hot chocolate, coffee and espresso drinks and, weather-permitting, enjoy them on the front porch. This environmentally conscious company prides itself on its careful examination and decision-weighing about its use of resources, energy, raw ingredients and packaging material as they create their handmade chocolates. It’s how they give back to the community.
Try it: Laughing Moon Chocolates offers private adult and family workshops to create your own chocolates. Spend time the front porch. You can order ahead by calling or e-mailing.
