Fair Trade Chocolate: Theo Makes Everything Better

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Credit: Eli Duke a.k.a eliduke (cc)

I'd found myself in a liminal place of obstinacy between my commitment to fair trade foods and an arms-folded-over-chest displeasure whenever I had vegan chocolate from a fair trade manufacturer. No one had it right. The ethical dark chocolate of old possessed a frown-conjuring bitterness, and could only be made slightly palatable when I added a bar to simmering soy milk with heavy extract and agave-based flavor tweaking.

Then I met Theo Chocolate's Cherry&Almond bar, and, for a moment, all was right in the world.

Flavor

Theo chocolatiers are based in a quaint little brick building that offers samples of their heart-nourishing flavors without any pressure to purchase their confections. There are at least 20 inventive marvels on their sampler in the chocolatey brick wonderland.

The presentation of teensy bow-tied chocolates or broken bits from majestic slabs upon swiftly-replenished tasting piles are specially engineered to melt the hearts of cacao-enthusiasts (even hearts that are hardened by older, more stubborn woes). And, best of all, there are no attendants positioned by them to glare at you with telepathic demands to retract your hand as it reaches for fourths.

Theo got it right. They made a green, organic bar that refuses to participate in animal cruelty to make their bars “creamy” or whatever the reasoning is for less-compassionate chocolatiers. And, it turns out, no cruelty's needed. The perfect chocolate bar can be made without chemical or soul pollutants, and it can be made well.

Even dear Veruca would be pleased.

Overall Benefits

Chocolate is a potent source of antioxidants. Theo's chocolate is a high-grade, natural, earth and life-loving variation of that. The farmers who provide the cacao at the base of the magik in Theo Chocolates are paid living wages, and the earth itself is farmed properly without any carelessly negative impact.

Price-Point

At “Whole Paycheck” you're likely to pay 5.00 a standard size bar, but it's worth it. This is double the price some of Theo's competitors are charging, but I'd rather swoon and make strange joyous squeaks over one bar of Cherry&Almond than have a complimentary case from the brands I've previously sampled.

Applications

You can use this bar as a standalone vanquisher of cravings on a lonely Friday night, melt it in your soy milk for a hot chocolate that will make you weep thanks, and blend its bits into the fudge base for brownies any den mother would envy. Theo will make magik with your chocolate sauces, chocolate mylks, cacao smoothies, towering cakes, ribbon tied cakelets, and the like. Incorporate it into your aproned play whenever you get the chance.

Theo chocolates can be acquired in their Seattle location, at participating green markets, and through green-hearted digital retailers.