Chocolate Road Trip To Escazú Chocolates In Raleigh

Mark Damon Puckett|June 22, 2018 3:05 pm EST

Escazú Chocolates

936 North Blount Street

Raleigh, NC 27604

This is a story about five chocolate bars and a fifteen-hour, roundtrip journey to a beach in North Carolina.

And nine chocolate truffles in a tic-tac-toe box.

The destination? Escazú in Raleigh, four hours from Asheville on 40.

I would be greeted by co-owner Hallot Parson the day after Valentine's Day, their big production time, and ushered back to the imported ball roaster from Barcelona, then on to the vintage red melanger.

"We roast in a very different way than anyone," Hal said to me, "using low heat for a longer period of time." This type of roasting yields a brighter flavor. Plus, higher temperatures can ruin the beans.

"Our chocolate is our own," he added. "It doesn't taste like anyone else's."

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As I was leaving Hal gave me an oat milk latte, five bars and one small box of nine small chocolates. And a recommendation to check out the beach at Beaufort on the North Carolina coast. My visit to his café/factory was short. They were coming down from the Valentine's Day rush, so I didn't want to overstay my welcome.

As I headed down 70 to the beach, I found myself opening the small box of truffles and savoring them, three at a time, the colors and tastes so vivid and dreamy that I had to pace my nibbles.

Morehead City came.

Then yacht-clubby Beaufort where I only stopped for an hour to photograph the boats on the water. "I'll stay in Wilmington," I told myself, another two hours of driving, but by the time I arrived, it was dark and I saw a sign for 40 West, so I took it, taking another three chocolates from the box for courage, staring up at Orion constellating the dark sky in front of me.

It's a six-hour trip from Wilmington to Asheville by the way, and so at about 10:00 PM I ate the last three truffles, powering me back to Asheville around 1:00 in the morning.

Nine truffles later . . . I had been on the road fifteen hours.

And I still had five chocolate bars to eat the following week.

The next day I started with the Goat's Milk Single Origin Patanemo Venezuela. I had always liked the smell of sweet pungency of goat's milk and never thought I would see it in an artisanal chocolate, but the strong aroma comes out in the taste of this 60% bar made with the Patanemo cacao.

Following this, I worked on the Pumpkin Seeds & Guajillo Chili 74% that had a sort of dry perfection to it with the roasted pumpkin seeds and nuanced bite of chili amid some salt flavor. The bar was filled with seeds and had a texture I liked because of them.

The 80% Single Origin Patanemo Venezuela had its turn and I spent a lot of time on this bar with the richer cacao content, especially because of the cherry tang that came with it.

The fourth bar was Rio Caribe Vzla 70%. A perfect chocolate, I think, in this one. Just the right balance of everything.

And the fifth: Origin Piaroa Venezuela 73%. As I finished with it, I read up on the Piaroa people who have harvested this uncommon cacao, having to canoe it out due to the remote area where it is grown. In truth, I'm still on this bar as I write because I don't want it to end.

I didn't have a chance to try the historical Drinking Chocolate menu at Escazú, but I know where I'll be stopping in Raleigh next time, en route to the beach.

On that note, Hal, who got his start in Costa Rica, mentioned that they will be expanding in the next six months or so to a new location.

What a superb place.

Nothing under- or over-roasted here.

Disclaimer: Travel expenses for this article were paid for by Mark Damon Puckett. The meal(s) [or product sample(s) or wines, etc.] that is/are the subject of this review was/were provided at no cost to the contributor.

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