Of late, however, single origin bars (from a particular region, a particular bean, as opposed to blends of several bean varieties) are also making their presence felt: Choko La at Delhi’s Vasant Vihar, stocks single origin bars from Java, Sao Thome, Papua and Tanzania, each with its distinct undertones. “When we started doing single origins about a year back, it was a very new concept. Even now, only few understand it,” says Vasudha Munjal of Choko La. Munjal, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, started the unique chocolate lounge about an year back, and stocks bonbons with exotic fillings like ginger pear, Kahlua liqeur and champagne as well as pralines.

Essentially, chocolate is made of cocoa butter and liqeur (chocolate), and higher the content of cocoa mass, better the chocolate. They say, in the beginning, Lord Almighty created chocolate, and saw it was good. He then separated the light from the dark, and it was even better. Says Koshy, “Lately we have started stocking the Arabica bean from Brazil, which has 72 per cent cocoa butter while Cru Savage from Costa Rica has 68 per cent. But then, most people don’t know how to distinguish between them.”

Regular brands of cheap chocolate, he says, cut down on the cocoa butter content and dish out what is known as a compound, while real chocolate is called couverture. “Many people still believe that since couverture melts faster, it must be not be good quality,” laments Munjal, who buoyed with the success of Choko La is planning to branch out at capital’s Khan Market.

... contd.