Chocolat Inn & Café
ICS Chocolate Bar Awards
This is a free sample post of a Chocolate Bar Review that’s on the critical side; here is another sample post of a review that’s more positive (because, you know, objectivity). They give out free samples at chocolate shows—so why not a few freebies here on The Cacao Muse? These two posts give you a taste of what The Reviews look and read like. And if you’d like the keys to the Chocolate Review Kingdom, tap that paid subscription button! Cacao Trees and Deities (aka paid subscribers) get special discounts from the chocolate makers only available to Cacao Muse members.
Chocolate maker: Chocolat Inn & Café
The Chocolat Inn & Café is a bit of an outlier when it comes to chocolate shops. Husband and wife team Dustin and Mai Cornett started by making Dustin’s grandmother’s special family confection recipes, then expanded to bean-to-bar chocolate, pastries, coffee, and a country inn with eight specially themed suites. Nestled in the hills of Appalachia, Chocolat Inn & Café is a Kentucky Proud and Appalachian Proud business.
Location: Beattyville, Kentucky
Awards: Chocolat Inn & Café participated in the 2021 Chocolate Bar Awards, an annual competition hosted by the International Chocolate Salon. It received:
A Bronze Award in the Best Milk Chocolate Bar category for its Appalachian Milk Chocolate bar
Honorable Mention in the Best Flavored Chocolate Bar category for its Espresso Dark Chocolate bar
Congratulations to Dustin and Mai! And may I tell you just how special it is to be able to share the award entry photos with you—if not the actual chocolate, alas! Many of the award entries we judges receive are not available for the general public. You won’t see these bars on the chocolate makers’ websites.
Dip here below the fold to read my independent review1 and tasting notes for the three bars that Chocolat Inn & Café entered into the competition.
White Lightin' Moonshine Dark Chocolate
Cacao Muse review: This chocolate slab is a piece of moonbeam-splashed art that makes me want to get up on the bar and dance. Ah, if only my taste buds could share the same thrill as my eyes! My tongue felt a little let down with the grittiness level. Fine chocolate should not have grit; it should be smooth, silky (non chocolate ingredients of course notwithstanding). Your tongue is an extraordinary organ: it can detect particles as fine as ~15-20 microns2 so there is little chance of getting away with large particle sizes! I do hope Chocolat Inn & Café will improve on this important point, as their visual artistry is exquisite.
Tasting Notes: For those who appreciate a good chocolate/alcohol pairing, the White Lightin’ Moonshine is a nice one to try, though perhaps not to keep. This chocolate holds a hint of moonshine which gives it an unusual taste, but the excess grittiness disrupts the flavor flow. It feels a touch like fine sandpaper—the particle size is simply too noticeable to ignore.
Origin: Not listed
Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, moonshine3
Espresso Dark Chocolate
Cacao Muse review: I’m drawn to the artisanal, rough-in-the-mold aesthetic of these chocolate squares. Yes, this is the steam punk of chocolate! And how fun to run your fingers across the rugged back of this piece, where all of the coffee beans lie embedded in a chocolate substrate. If you’re geologically inclined, you might conduct your own sedimentary analysis and get lost in time.
Tasting Notes: A rich, dark flavor suffuses throughout, punctured by fragrant espresso grounds. Smoother than the milk chocolate, but still has a little way to go to achieve full silk factor. Recommended pairing: tiramisu or wine.
Origin: Not listed
Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, coffee
Appalachian Milk Chocolate
Cacao Muse review: Apologies—I was unable to photograph this entry (it broke during shipment). Of the three entries, this was my least favorite (because, tasting notes). I do realize the unfairness here: due to its very nature, milk chocolate carries an extra burden to please this author’s palate. Adding milk to chocolate immediately downgrades its flavor profile, in my not so humble opinion. And here, the gritty texture and the over-roasted sensation certainly keep this bar firmly in the back of the line. And yet, and yet, the one saving grace for this entry is the bourbon. You simply can’t go wrong with bourbon chocolate.
Tasting Notes: A light yet abundantly warm bourbon infusion washes over the gritty texture like foaming ocean waves over a gravel beach… sandals are strongly recommended if you wade into this water! This ocean however is devoid of fish—a distinct sensation of over-roasted cacao beans results in a washed-out flavor profile.
Origin: Not listed
Ingredients: Sugar, milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa, pecans, bourbon
Please note that many craft chocolate makers and chocolatiers create special, one-of-a-kind bars for the Awards entries. This is why you may not always find these particular bars on their websites. It might also simply be timing—many of these chocolate bars are made in small batch, and each one is different. Or the maker decides to move on and do another flavor. This is why you might not see the exact same chocolate offerings on their site, at the time you visit, as on these pages of the Cacao Muse.
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To protect the confidentiality of the judging process, I do not publish my ratings or votes for any of the entries. The reviews published here reflect my personal opinion outside of any official selections.
1 micron = 0.001 millimeter
What is moonshine? Why, it’s the effervescent light of the moon cascading down onto Earth after the blinding light of the Sun dips beneath the horizon. Also, a high-proof liquor produced without government authorization, historically distilled at night to avoid pesky law enforcement authorities. Made from any fruit or grain, but commonly from corn. Usually 80-proof. Do not distill this at home.