Located in the heart of the highlands, Coco’s Chocolate Café is known for their European-style drinking chocolate and chocolate covered bugs. Don’t be turned away by the insects though! Coco’s offers a variety of delicacies including delicious truffles, chocolate fountains, ice creams and more.
Fred Moore, owner of Coco’s, has recently launched a line of chocolate bars. Made with organic and fair-trade ingredients, these chocolate bars put chocolate first and foremost in taste. The variations include 45% milk chocolate, 65% dark chocolate, and 73% dark chocolate.
When asked to describe his products, Moore said, “The 65% has a smooth, creamy mouth feel with just a hint of fruit on the aftertaste. It is not overly bitter yet has a good earthiness to it. The 45% is a more robust milk chocolate with less sweetness since it has more chocolate in it – I would consider this to be a dark- milk chocolate. I like the rich flavor of milk chocolate with its caramel, buttery notes. So in developing our milk chocolate, I wanted to it to have a good milk presence, but not be overly sweet. Our chocolate also has organic vanilla bean added to give it more depth of flavor.”
The 73% dark chocolate bar is unique in that it is made with coconut palm sugar in place of cane sugar. Moore explained, “Coconut sugar has a low glycemic index (35) and doesn’t enter the bloodstream as readily as other sweeteners. The theory is it will keep your blood sugars from spiking. Since it is more difficult to metabolize, this should be a better alternative than cane sugar for diabetics. The taste of coconut sugar is that of burnt sugar almost toffee like. It is definitely less sweet which allows the chocolate to stand out more.”
I have tried all of the chocolate bars and can vouch for their deliciousness. Don't hesitate to pick some up at Coco's Chocolate Cafe in the Highlands or at any Heine Brothers location. Later this year, Fred Moore plans to have another chocolate ready for market. It will be a fusion of chocolate and espresso into a bar. I can't wait to taste that one!
Coco’s Chocolate Cafe is located at 1759 Bardstown Road.
http://cocoschocolatecafe.com/
Photo courtesy of Fred Moore, Coco’s Chocolate Cafe
