Americans have gotten used to cheap chocolate. Hell, a bar of Hershey’s from Walmart is under a dollar, and when push comes to shove, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing a shitty heart shaped box of chocolate and pairing it with the right wine. But when it comes to getting the good stuff — the pure cacao and cane sugar stuff — chocolate can get pretty pricey.
Like the $173-per-ounce To’ak bar. Why so expensive — around $155 dollars more per ounce than silver? Well, for starters, it’s made from a small growth of 100-plus year old Arriba cacao trees in Ethiopia, according to Forbes. This are some of the last trees of their kind. Then the beans are fermented and dried, roasted, shelled, and ground by hand. All in all, it takes two years to make a batch of 574, 1.5-ounce bars.
You won’t find that kind of dedication anywhere else — even with a Toblerone.
Of course, money doesn’t always always mean great taste. Life really is like a box of chocolates, and just because it’s an expensive life doesn’t mean it’s fulfilling. The VinePair Staff got a taste of a $1,000 box of chocolate and, well, you can read our review.
