Q: What does it mean if a chocolate is on pre-order or made to order?

Pre Order or Made to Order On our product pages you will see the product availability listed as one of the following: Available Sold Out Pre Order When you purchase an item on Pre Order (or Made to Order, which is considered the same) you will see the approximate delivery time highlighted below the ADD TO CART button. https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/aDIvXXFAzR/resources/vSCB0BuPpd/Pre%20Order.png (Pre Order.png) We will notify you if there is any change in delivery time for your pre order purchase. You are also welcome to contact us to check the status. More Questions? Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Q: What is terroir-driven chocolate & why do you release different harvest years?

Terroir The very finest of wines, be they from Bordeaux or Napa or Tokaj, allow us the privilege of tasting the valley in which the grape was grown. To’ak’s Harvest editions offer connoisseurs of dark chocolate this same opportunity—to taste not only the land, but also the characteristics of the particular year in which it was harvested. Similar to viticulturists in Burgundy and Bordeaux, cacao growers in Piedra de Plata practice “dry farming,” as it is known in the wine world. In other words, they do not irrigate their cacao. As a consequence, our harvest is especially expressive of terroir and varies each year according to weather fluctuations. Embracing these idiosyncrasies of land and weather, and likewise engaging their consequences during various phases of the production process, is the art and challenge of tree-to-bar chocolate-making. Further Reading The Main Steps in the Production of To'ak Chocolate The Different Grades of Ecuadorian Cacao More Questions? Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Question 1

How should I store my chocolate?

Accepted Answer

What to avoid

Definitely do not store dark chocolate in a freezer. And a refrigerator should only be used as a last resort—for example, if you live in a hot place and don’t have air conditioning.

Options for hot climate

If you live in a hot place and don’t have air conditioning, you can store your chocolate in a refrigerator or a wine cooler; in this case, we advise you to first put the package of chocolate inside a ziplock bag, to protect it from moisture.

General advice

If you live in a home where the indoor temperature doesn’t exceed 24° C (75° F), the best thing to do is simply store your chocolate at room temperature, in a dry place that is protected from sunlight and other strong odors. For example, in a cupboard.

Dark chocolate likes to be stored within the temperature range of 12-22° C (53-72° F), and temperatures as high as 25° C (77° F) are usually fine. The official melting point of dark chocolate is around 30° C (86° F).

We have also had success storing our bars in a wine cooler that has an option to reduce humidity/moisture. Generally speaking, most solutions that are suitable for storage of a fine wine will also be suitable for fine chocolate.

You don't have too much to worry about but chocolate is best enjoyed in the present

From a health and safety perspective, it will still be viable to eat for several years. From a flavor and aroma perspective, it’s best to eat it within a week or so of opening the bar. After several weeks (even months), the chocolate will still retain a surprising amount of its original flavor and aroma, but it won’t be as strong. The best way to prolong the flavor and aroma after opening a bar is to store it in a ziplock bag at room temperature. This can help maintain flavors and aromas for months.

For the record, there are documented reports of dark chocolate still being edible after 100 years. As part of our own experiment, we have chocolate bars that have been stored in our office for up to six years, and they are still in excellent condition.

View our more detailed storage instructions.

We've got you covered

It really depends on who the gift is for and what your price range is.

Fancy something fancy?

The fanciest and most extravagant gift would be one of our Origin bars, which is frequently included in gifting guides from publications like Forbes and Robb Report. Each Origin bar is packaged in a handcrafted hardwood box, with the individual bar number engraved on the back, and is accompanied by tasting utensils and a booklet that provides a guide to the art of tasting and pairing dark chocolate. You have a choice of Harvest editions or Aged editions. Origin bars are priced in the range of $200.

Going all out?

Unless you want to go really big. In this case, you will want to have a very close look at our Art Series chocolate. This is generally regarded as the single most luxurious dark chocolate in the world. The price is $450. Your gift is sure to impress even the hardest-to-impress gift recipients. The Art Series comes with a limited edition artistic print (with certificate of authenticity and mini display stand), a booklet which provides a guide to tasting and the artist, a copper tasting plate and bamboo tasting utensil, all encased in an exquisite handcrafted hardwood box, with the individual bar number engraved on the back.

Something that makes a statement?

Our Signature Collection is an ideal gift for foodies, chocolate lovers and/or connoisseurs, and anyone with a sweet tooth. There are a range of flavors and styles, including our hallmark cask-aged editions as well as our Harvest editions. If you want to try multiple flavors, take a look at our Mini Bar Selections, which offer the opportunity to taste practically every single harvest year that To’ak has produced...in one single box. It's the perfect dinner party or thank you gift.

For the health conscious

For the health conscious, we offer bags of 100% organic cacao powder aimed at everyday use. We also offer drinking chocolate in various flavors and styles, including barrel-aged drinking chocolate.

Gift wrapping?

Yes! We offer the option to wrap your gift in our in-house designed cacao wrapping paper. You can also include a hand written card with your order, for a personalized touch. More details here.

More Questions?

Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Question 9

How and why do you age your chocolate?

Accepted Answer

Aging Chocolate

Aged chocolate is a new phenomenon that To'ak has been pioneering since 2013. The process is grounded in the science of flavor extraction, and draws heavily from long-standing practices in both the wine and whisky traditions.

Chocolate has an interesting advantage in extracting flavor and aroma from the wood: namely, the absorptive oils that are naturally present in cacao.

Barrel Aging Applied to Chocolate

Cacao beans are roughly 50% fat. If you press a cacao bean with a great deal of strength, you can actually extract this fat, which is referred to as “cacao butter.” Cacao butter is used as an additive to some chocolates and also as a skin care product, among other uses. At To’ak, we usually don’t add extra cacao butter to our chocolate. But the cacao butter that is already naturally present in our chocolate is put to work during the aging process.

One of the interesting qualities of cacao butter is its remarkable ability to absorb other aromas.

The Element of Time

In some cases, aging chocolate takes many years—for example, our Ecuadorian wood-aged editions require long-term aging—up to six years so far. In other cases, a positive transformation is evident within one year—for example, our cognac edition—but the aroma continues to slowly improve over the course of many more years.

The value of this approach, as opposed to merely adding flavors at the point of production, is the subtlety and elegance of the aromas that are achieved. Over time, the flavor of the chocolate naturally evolves on its own through processes such as oxidation. Flavor extraction from barrels and other vessels adds another layer of complexity, which also evolves over time.

Doesn't Chocolate Spoil After Several Years?

Milk chocolate does spoil, because of the milk, but dark chocolate does not. The abundant tannins and polyphenols in cacao serve as a natural preservative. This study found that 80-year-old cocoa powder and 116-year-old cacao beans were still viable and "still show very high levels of antioxidant activity and flavan-3-ol content."

Many dark chocolate products have a "best by" date range of two years, but this is an entirely arbitrary number that isn't backed by any research. What is important, while storing or aging chocolate, is to keep it at a cool, consistent temperature and protected from direct sunlight.

We age our chocolate in the perpetually cool climes of the Andean city of Quito, Ecuador. The indoor temperature naturally hovers around 20° C (68° F), give or take one degree celsius, pretty much every minute of every day.

A New Frontier

There is no precedent for this. To’ak is the first chocolate maker to deeply explore aged chocolate, so we are learning as we go. In the process, we believe we are building a new system for the production of chocolate and the crafting of flavor and aroma—one which is based on the science of wine and whisky aging, and is implemented through the work of time.

Here’s the full article we wrote that explains why we do it and how it works.

How should I store my chocolate?

Once I open a bar of To'ak how long will it keep?

Which product do you recommend for a gift?

Can you ship my gift without the price?

What does it mean if a chocolate is on pre-order or made to order?

Is your chocolate GMO-free?

Is your chocolate vegan and gluten-free?

What is terroir-driven chocolate & why do you release different harvest years?

How and why do you age your chocolate?

What is the weight of each bar of chocolate?