CH Edition: Mast Brothers and June Taylor
Cool Hunting marries bean-to-bar chocolate and artisanally-processed fruit in a delicious collaborative bar
We admit to a serious weakness for the mind-altering tastes of the artisinal chocolates crafted by the Mast Brothers. Intent on bringing out the heavenly natural flavor of cacao, primarily sourced from Venezuela and Ecuador, the brotherly duo of Rick and Michael Mast developed a process for producing the finest in small-batch, bean-to-bar chocolate. Their signature flavors, running the gamut from single origin Dominican and Madagascarian bars to chocolate sprinkled with roasted Stumptown coffee beans, range from the deliciously rich to the downright sublime.
We’ve previously featured the Brooklyn-based Brothers in our Cool Hunting video series, so it seemed only natural that we would pair these chocolatiers with stem-to-fruit guru June Taylor, another video subject. Taylor, a longtime favorite of Cool Hunting, uses traditional preserving methods to make positively ambrosial jams, preserves, syrups and marmalades. Her creatively paired concoctions include Oro Blanco Grapefruit and Rose Geranium marmalade as well as Wild Fennel Syrup; everything she whips up in her Berkeley kitchen is yummy, natural and inventive.
The Mast Brothers bar that utilizes June Taylor’s fruit combines the best of each purveyor’s specialties; the CH Edition 72% bar features sumptuous Madagascar chocolate as well as Taylor’s candied blood orange peels and candied oro blanco grapefruit peels. Of his collaborator, Rick Mast gushes, “June Taylor is the greatest woman on Earth who is pioneering amazing fruit confections. She is also a babe.” We can’t imagine a sweet treat (from two sweeter companies) that we’d rather find in our stocking than this delightful concoction.
Find the Mast Brothers and June Taylor chocolate bar exclusively at our Cool Hunting for Gap holiday pop up shop.
