Mast Brothers Chocolate | Brooklyn, NYC

The Mast brothers are leading New York's bean-to-bar charge

The status of high-end microbatch chocolate is quickly catching up to its cult coffee counterparts: Mass production is out; single-origin beans and small-batch roasting are in. Leading this movement in New York is Mast Brothers Chocolate, launched last year by barbate brothers Rick and Michael (33 and 29, respectively), who turn hand-sourced beans from small farms in Madagascar, Venezuela and Ecuador into beautiful, deeply complex chocolate bars.

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The Masts start with hulking burlap bags full of cocoa beans and process them in a Greenpoint warehouse, then wrap the bars in a motley collection of vintage paper from Florence and London. Their chocolates are sold mainly at outposts in Brooklyn ($7 to $10), though online ordering is coming soon. They also sell sacks of excellent chocolate bark ($12), heavily loaded with dried cranberries, nuts and pumpkinseeds.

Soon, we'll all be able to witness their bean-to-bar operation firsthand: Next month, the brothers plan to open their long-awaited factory and retail store in Williamsburg.

Mast Brothers Chocolates are currently sold at Marlow & Sons, Spuyten Duyvil, Urban Rustic, the Brooklyn Flea and the Artists & Fleas Market. mastbrotherschocolate.com

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