I found out about Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates after watching Good News Pilipinas in GMA News TV. Fortunately, there’s a place near my office that carries the chocolates, Jojiberry along Panay Ave. And for a curious foodie, off I went to Jojiberry to check them out.
Ever heard of artisan chocolates? It’s the first time I’ve heard of this and with some googling:
Artisan chocolate, like any artisan product—jewelry, furniture, couture clothing—is handmade by a skilled artisan in small batches, using time-honored and honed skills. Modern artisans are also innovators in flavor and technique. No assembly line is used to make artisan products and they are never made in large quantity; you will find chocolatiers in the kitchen preparing and packing each batch. A batch of 10,000 boxes or bars is not an artisan product.
Theo & Philo Chocolates is proud of being a bean to bar chocolate. The cacao is from Davao and sugar is from Bacolod, locally made with local ingredients.
There are a number of varieties and I bought 70% dark chocolate, labuyo, green mango & salt and barako.
- Dark chocolate is really strong.
- Labuyo is very unique, the spiciness kicks in at the back of your tongue, kind of a surprise taste.
- The barako coffee flavor is strong too and has a different texture because of the coffee granules at the center. Coffee lovers will like this, I guess.
- Green Mango & Salt sounds a weird combination for a chocolate but it’s addicting. This is my favorite among the bunch. Think of a fruit & nut flavored chocolate, instead of the raisin, it’s the green mango for this one. The rock salt in the chocolate is some sort of a gem hidden in the bar.