love is All you need and a smidge of chocolate

We’ve been with Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor since the beginning. Maybe it’s their classic style or the fact that they play in a band called Huckleberry Flint. We have an open relationship, meaning we dabble with others, someone from London, perhaps, or someone really attractive from the midwest. But at the end of the day, we always come home to Dick Taylor.

We’re talking about chocolate, of course. Dick Taylor chocolate, founded by Adam and Dustin, is one of those products we trusted when we first opened our doors nearly a decade ago, and it’s one of those goods you’ll still find on our shelves. There are a lot of truly delicious artisan chocolate producers in the US now. Compartes out of LA, with their wacky and delightful flavors (their milk chocolate with potato chips bar goes with us on every road trip), and Askinosie’s single origin bars are a staple for us. But when someone inevitably asks us which is our favorite, many on our team are going to point you to the Dick Taylor chocolates. They are exquisitely packaged and consistently rich and flavorful. Their Fleur de Sel sea salt chocolate ranks right up there with the best in the world (they’ve won over 80 awards for their craftsmanship), but we’ve also fallen pretty hard for the dark chocolate covered cherries, which are nothing like the kind we had growing up. Using tart, dried cherries grown in Michigan, they add multiple layers of Belize dark chocolate before dusting it with organic cocoa powder.

Having met the founders years ago, it’s wonderful to see how these two young men with a background in woodworking and boat building turned their love of creating with their hands into a source of pride for their hometown of Eureka.

When you’re thinking of showing a little love this Valentine’s Day, we hope you’ll consider some California-made chocolate. As always, we’ll be here to help you pick just the right something special, whether you’re in the crush phase, or hitting that double digit anniversary mark. We love to help!

Big hugs to all this Valentine’s Day!

XO-The Team at General Store Paso Robles