spenser magazine: issue four

technology-based chocolate making. Referring to the giant mélanger, Parson is fairly animated.

“A lot of what you are doing is reducing the particle size smaller and smaller. It does that by grinding with a stone and it slings the chocolate around and spreads it thin,” he says A modern production method would measure particle size with a micrometer and once the desired size is obtained, be it 25 microns, 17 microns, whatever, that's when you’re done. However, at Escazú, this is all done by taste, texture and mouth feel. It might take three to four days of continuous grinding on the mélanger to make the particles small enough such that the chocolate is smooth in your mouth. But they are always careful not to go too far.

“At a certain point you start to lose flavor,” Parson warns. “So we have to stop when the flavor is perfect even though the particle size may not be quite there yet.”

That’s where the artistry and the talent of the chocolate maker come into play; the ability to find that balance between particle size and taste. Modern production techniques do not always take this into account, as the machines will keep grinding until they hit the pre-determined micron size.

Says Parson, “If you just grind to make it the best particle size you aren’t taking into consideration the flavor of the chocolate – which is really the reason you are eating it.”

Much like making chocolate, the business side of the operation required a great deal of hands on testing.

“There was a lot of learning and trial and error to come up with the right combination of equipment, staff, and product line that works for us,” Parson says.

Whatever the combination, it certainly seems like it is working. A new location is currently in the works in an old building that is being renovated just a few blocks from their existing store. They are looking forward to more retail space, enough room for a featured hot chocolate and coffee bar, and most excitedly a series of windows where customers can see every stage of chocolate making. More antique equipment is on the horizon too, including a second mélanger so they can increase production, and maybe a new line of seasonal specialty bars.

There are also plans to spend more time in Costa Rica. Like winemakers who work directly in the vineyards with their grape growers, Parson and Centeno realize that the best chocolate starts on the farm. While they both admit to having much to learn about the growing process, because of the valued relationships they have built over the years, Parson says, they are working with their farmers to “tweak" things at the farm level, "which is really cool.”

And those friends for whom Parson initially adventured to Costa Rica? They never did buy that chocolate shop. In what might have been the luckiest bit of all, they made the decision to invest in Escazú instead. Without the backing and support of their friends, Parson and Centeno laugh, “Yeah, we wouldn’t be in business.”

Lucky for us.