I’ve eaten some of the world’s best hand-crafted chocolate, so I was delighted when, this weekend, ScoutMob sent us to Cacao, Atlanta’s “bean to bar” artisan chocolatier.
The chocolate here is has long been a critical darling, featured in Knife and Fork, among other foodie publications. The marketing copy talks a great deal about love and consciousness, and a New Age sensibility pervades even the truffle titles (which include monikers like Harmonize, Lotus Sutra, and Inner Calm).
In the end, though, all that *really* matters, though, is how the stuff tastes, right? And — I’m sorry to report — our party of three wasn’t much impressed.
The truffles were the best of the lot, and the “Harmonize” truffle (with a heart of clover honey, organic peanut butter, and dark chocolate) was the hands-down winner. But others (including the orange blossom-scented Wellness Within) tasted charred, evoking more winces than oohs and aahs.
The chocolate ice cream went down easy, as did the frozen fruit bars, but we felt the chocolate bark (studded with pineapple and coconut flakes) was far too harsh and much too bitter.
Critic after critic loves this place, so you may still want to make your way over to Inman Park and try Cacao’s wares for yourself. (Be sure to use your ScoutMob discount; otherwise, at $45.00 a pound, this could be an expensive experiment.)
That said: I suspect many people who rave about Cacao do so because they think they are supposed to … or because they are too intimidated or too disappointed to say “Wow. This stuff just doesn’t taste very good.”
Is that how you want to feel after a bout of chocolate indulgence?
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