Soma Chocolatemaker, Raising the Bar
Posted by Janeen Leynes on Sunday, May 1st, 2011Tags for this Article: aleppo pepper, bar, chocolate, cocoa, dessert, distillery district, ruby red, soma, Toronto
Flickr photo credit: Inkygirl
There are only a few artisan chocolate makers in North America making chocolate the way it should be; in small batches, made from organic beans purchased directly from the cocoa plantations. Soma, nestled in Toronto’s historic Distillery District is one of the few and is an experience your taste buds will love you for. Soma uses Central American grown Criollo, Trinitario, and Nacional cocoa bean varieties which are known for the care in which they are harvested as well as their distinctive complex flavour.
Flickr photo credit: MaxUnderhill
Set in an rustic brick building with it’s vaulted ceilings and cracked wooden beams, customers are introduced to the impressive line of chocolate products made fresh in Soma’s micro-factory. Inside Soma’s boutique you can drink their famous Mayan Hot Chocolate, and observe the chocolate making process. No detail is left out, from the wicker baskets they provide when shopping to prevent your hands don’t melt the chocolate to the heat resistant pouch they put your chocolate in to keep it out of the sun on a hot day.
Soma’s selection of bars is very adventurous, with well thought out combinations of fruits, spices and nuts to compliment their exceptional chocolate. Some of the other chocolate treats include creative individual chocolate pieces, chocolate covered espresso beans, and their chocolate gelato in the summer.
Photo credit: Matt SamyciaWood
Photo credit: Matt SamyciaWood
I recommend the Ruby Red Bar, a dark chocolate bar with dried wild cherries, cranberries, barberries, cocoa nibs, and dusted with sumac powder. Each bite of this bar was wildly different from the last, depending on which berry combination you got with the slight tartness of the sumac powder at the end. The Aleppo Pepper Bar is glorious, a dark Peruvian chocolate with Aleppo Pepper and laced with Maldon Salt. The light fruitiness of the Aleppo pepper with it’s mild cumin-like undertones make this bar the perfect finish to a rich meal. If you are into milk chocolate, you must try the Starry night Bar, a creamy Costa Rican milk chocolate topped with Maldon Salt.
Photo credit: Matt SamyciaWood
If you are living in Toronto, you probably already know and love this place. For those of you who haven’t been, or are planning a trip to Toronto make this a destination you don’t miss.
