Marco Colzani is committed to making the purest, cleanest chocolate imaginable. Lago di Como Blu (Lake Como Blue) Dark Chocolate is his signature recipe, crafted to perfectly balance the aromas and rich flavors of the cacao bean. With notes of ginger, red fruits, and freshly ground pepper, this chocolate is remarkably smooth with no bitterness. ...read more
Lago di Como Blu is a 70% blend of two single-origin cacao beans: the Criollo cacao bean variety and the Trinitario. Still, Marco keeps the countries of origin and exact percentages of these beans top secret to protect his recipe. This phenomenal chocolate melts in your mouth much slower than conventional chocolate, and that's because it contains about 30% less fat.
Working closely with South American cacao cooperatives, Marco is one of the world's few true bean-to-bar chocolatiers. He regularly visits his suppliers to taste the beans right at the source and work with the farmers to develop the best fermentation methods. Marco's chocolate contains just two ingredients: cacao beans and raw sugar from Emilia-Romagna - no additives, preservatives, soy, or vanilla. He calls his chocolate a "spremuta di fave" - a freshly squeezed juice of cacao beans. His recipe is never the same twice since he adjusts the sugar-to-cacao bean ratio based on each batch of beans. He also ages his chocolate for 2-3 months. Like in winemaking, aging allows the chocolate's deep flavor to develop, but it's a costly process that most chocolate makers skip. Marco's chocolate is also un-conched, which means it is processed as little as possible, allowing the beans to maintain their natural flavor characteristics.
But there is more. Marco's cacao butter comes from the same cacao farms he sources his beans from. This is almost unique in chocolate production: cacao butter is typically a mass-market commodity, and it's infrequent finding chocolatiers who opt for a process that starts from scratch. Now, if that doesn't elevate your chocolate-eating habit, then we really don't know what will!
