World's most expensive chocolate SOLD OUT for Valentine's Day

QUITO, Ecuador - Feb. 8, 2017 - PRLog -- Boundary-pushing chocolate company To'ak announces that the world's first-ever vintage chocolate edition sold out right before Valentine's day. At $345 per bar, it is the most expensive bar of chocolate in the world and the first ever to be aged in a Cognac cask.

A waiting list is already open and quickly filling up with pre-orders for their next vintage editions, which includes chocolate aged for 2 years in a Laphroaig Scotch Barrel and 3 years in a French oak Cognac Cask.

The Aging Process

To'ak's co-founders concede that if the science behind wine aging is still not fully out of the woods, the science behind chocolate aging is stuck in a cave. To explore this question, they contacted a wide range of wine-makers, master sommeliers, professors of enology, and even molecular scientists. Their findings are revealed in a 116-page booklet that accompanies each engraved box of vintage chocolate.

Dark chocolate and wine are both rich with tannins and other polyphenols. These compounds, also called flavonoids, largely determine what we taste in a wine or dark chocolate and how it feels in our mouth. Over time, these compounds are chemically altered through processes such as oxidation. Aging dark chocolate or wine can allow the perception of astringency to decrease. This can produce a more rounded flavor profile and reveal subtle flavor notes that had previously been overshadowed. To'ak is currently working with enology researchers to quantify this process and analyze tannin content of chocolate as it ages.

The Cacao

To'ak chocolate is sourced from heirloom Nacional cacao in the valley of Piedra de Plata, Ecuador. To'ak's cacao has recently received the prestigious Heirloom designation from the Fine Chocolate Industry Association.

The Experience

Each chocolate bar produced by To'ak is presented in a hand-crafted Spanish Elm wood box that is individually engraved with the bar number. Each box includes a 116-page booklet that comprehensively explores the science behind the aging of dark chocolate, drawing heavily from the science behind aging wine. Also included with each box is a pair of hand-made tasting utensils.

The Company

To'ak was born from a rainforest conservation project started in 2007, in a province of Ecuador that is to cacao what the French province of Burgundy is to wine. It was here that co-founder Jerry Toth began cultivating cacao trees and making chocolate in a thatched bamboo house secluded in the middle of the forested mountains of the Jama-Coaque Reserve. The powerfully floral aroma that wafted from these early experiments was his first cue that Ecuadorian cacao was unlike any other. After years of honing his passion, Jerry eventually linked up with co-founder Carl Schweizer and fourth-generation Ecuadorian cacao grower Servio Pachard. Their mission was to change the way that the world experiences dark chocolate.

To'ak Chocolate can be purchased online at toakchocolate.com (http://www.toakchocolate.com/shop/products) or at select retailers in the U.S and at Harrods in London. Please consult its website (https://toakchocolate.com/retail/) for retail options.

Facebook and Twitter handle is @ToakChocolate

  Contact: Eddie Pezzopane, eddie@toakchocolate.com