Chocolate access

Wilbur, whose buds I love.

Every day, without fail, at around 2 p.m., I crave chocolate. Not just any chocolate. The at-least-65%-and-75%-cocoa-is-better kind of chocolate. The kind you can’t get out of a machine. The kind you don’t buy at the movies. Sometimes it kind of gets in the way of conference calls I’m leading. Or of projects I’m trying to finish. But the cravings call. And I must answer.

Lucky me. Most days, I have free access to my pantry and the supply I spend a fortune on every weekend at People’s Food Coop. When I’m on-site at Cool Company, I can raid the bottom drawer of my friend Peter’s files for a lovely supply of high-quality stuff.

But back to the cravings. I don’t understand them fully. I’ve been told that it’s not just about the pharmacological properties of the chocolate but rather about the “aroma, sweetness, texture and calories.”

I do by now understand what it takes to create a truly satisfying chocolate experience.

1. Is it Fair Trade? As my young friend, Anna, reminds us all in a report she developed for school, free trade chocolate values: the farmers who grow the cocoa beans…those of us who love to consume it in its smooth, flavonoid-rich products…and, of course, mother earth. My two favorites: Dark Chocolate with Pure Cocoa Nibs from Equal Exchange and Maya Gold from Green & Black’s.
2. How does it taste? In the category of chocolate, buying a product that’s good for us all happens also to be just plain good. All the dark-chocolate offerings from Equal Exchange and Green&Black’s excel on this front.
3. Can I afford it? To supplement bars that cost $3-to-$5 dollars for 3 oz., I keep a supply of amazing Wilbur Buds on hand. I can buy these historic little nuggets in bulk at my coop for much less per ounce than my Free Trade brands. Check out the online store for exquisite chocolate currently on sale for $5.56 a pound.

Wilbur Buds may not be free trade, but these 3/4-inch drops of dark chocolate are amazing. (Photo © S. Yoder, 2009.)