Check Your Local Shop for Chequessett Chocolate; This Cape Cod Craft Chocolate Company Makes Divine Bars

How did this happen? How did I not know about this?

How many times have you asked yourself that question in life, and why? What did you discover that made you question something so fundamental? What was the magic moment that was almost out of body, like a duality where you sensed things on a different level, on a different plane?

Once in a while, an experience of wonderment happens to us with chocolate. And it definitely happened when we saw the Chequessett Chocolate bar packaging, molding and then also tasted the cocoa. TLDR: Chequessett chocolate is incredible.

We’d never even seen Chequessett Chocolate bars before visiting Chocolate House DC, our very favorite chocolate shop to find new craft cacao.

The Chequessett packaging is what caught our eyes; it’s colorful and features map lines. Turns out that the packaging features ocean floor maps, or Bathymetry maps. “Handcrafted on Cape Cod,” the packaging states.

Everything about this brand’s packaging reminds us of boating. The deep ocean blue of the paper, and also the opening uses a two-twist-tie with twine… Somehow delicately unwrapping the twine makes us feel like we’re completing a boat knot, securing something sacred to the docks so that it doesn’t drift away into fantasy. Into a tropical chocolate river. Into the Bermuda Triangle, or El Dorado.

The bright pink Zorzal Comunitario is what we gravitated towards; it just felt like that light house in stormy seas. Safe and intriguing. Tropical. Origin: Dominican Republic. 72% direct trade dark chocolate.

Read more about Zorzal bird sanctuary and Chequessett’s cocoa processing in the region, here.

And then, when we opened the packaging, we can’t even convey our surprise.

The molding of this bar has beautiful chocolate rectangles with various boat knots. How had we never seen this glorious design on social media? How had this evaded our chocolate design radar screen for so long? The Chequessett craft chocolate bar molding is certainly one of the most unique and beautiful that we have ever beheld. It deserves some attention. The chocolate molding (marine knots) naturally replicated knotting the twine on the packaging itself. We loved it.

The aroma of the bar when we carefully slid it from its protective packaging did not disappoint either. A very strong roasted cocoa bean aroma wafted through the air. We carefully snapped a small corner of the bar. It was time to conduct a chocolate tasting.

Again, astonishment.

Tasting Notes

Dominican Republic cocoa is generally known to be fruity. Yet, this bar’s first introduction and “hello” was SPICE. And strong spice. Like black pepper.

Spicy: Black pepper and some clove

Buttery: Caramel (a bit burnt)

Fruity: Red fruit – cherry, pineapple, with some raisin

The bar had an acidic, smooth, undercooked brownie-like finish. Mega complex and a joyful ride. One of those chocolate bars where you really feel like you experienced some unique local terroir.

According to the Chequessett website, the official notes of this bar are: “Butterscotch, guava, molasses, cherry, maple.” We weren’t super far off with the caramel -> butterscotch and noting the cherry.

Out of curiosity, we checked the ingredient list: “Organic cacao beans, organic evaporated cane juice, organic cacao butter.” Amazing. Wonder if the cane juice is sourced from the DR, too? Either way, this bar is divine.

Was this a time cupsoul? 100%. We recommend this bar without hesitation. By the way, read about the awesome couple that owns Chequessett Chocolate. Couple goals 🙂

As always, wishing you many time cupsouls — moments with serenity with coffee or chocolate. Have a beautiful remainder of your week, and stay well.

This bar cost approximately $11 and was purchased with personal funds. If you enjoyed this article, please consider sending us a {latte} heart by buying us a coffee, here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/timecupsoul 🙂