Askinosie Whiskey Dark Chocolate
Boisterous flavor wrapped in a cloth pouch
Former criminal defense lawyer Shawn Askinosie found his second career in chocolate. His family-run Askinosie Chocolate makes bean-to-bar deliciousness in Springfield, Missouri and they have consistently made some of our favorite treats (coLABoration bars and their bean-to-ball chocolate covered malt balls are just a few of them). Extremely transparent about their process, their website is worth a pitstop to learn how they direct trade with farmers from four countries, pay above Fair Trade market prices for beans, practice open book management in their factory, and make their chocolate in 70 steps.
Their latest project is two years in the making: the 1098 line, where an experimental recipe is made in a limited edition of 1,098 bars. The debut product is the single origin 77% Whiskey Dark Chocolate bar, for which Trinitario nibs are aged in a Jim Beam oak whiskey barrel for two years, then ground in the factory’s century-old melangeur. Add organic cane sugar, and the result is a nuanced bar that’s refreshingly different than most—boisterous and complex, leaving behind a mild whiskey aftertaste. The cloth pouch it is packaged in was sewn by monks at a nearby Trappist Cistercian monastery, where Askinosie is a Family Brother.
Askinosie chocolate bars are available from their webshop or at their factory storefront on Commercial Street in Springfield, MO.
Images by Cool Hunting
