Behind Oxford Street in London there is a little church called St Peter’s, whose outside steps afford some shelter from the riptide of shoppers. It was here, some years ago now, that I first sampled Zotter’s Plum Brandy hand-scooped chocolate bar, and a little bit of the sky opened up and the angels started to sing.
I had fooled myself I only ate 70% cocoa but, in an attempt at a little more indulgence, I found this funny little bar (still 70% cocoa) in the John Lewis food hall. It was intriguingly expensive, but not prohibitively so (a twitch under £4); it contained alcohol and, that day, I convinced myself I was drunk, but on exactly what, I wasn’t sure.
This is how I discovered Zotter and now, whenever I go to Oxford Street (my nearest stockist, 70 miles away from home, that’s how keen I am) I buy myself a bar. The ingredients can be crazy: bacon, cheese, grapes, seaweed. Not all are, in my opinion, successful, but none are boring and some are positively spectacular: Schilcher with Pumpkin Nougat (a delectable chocolate- clad sandwich of pumpkin seed nougat and rosé wine ganache) is a recent discovery. If there is a real life Willy Wonka it is Josef Zotter.
Slightly more conventional bars are found in Zotter’s Labooko range and it is here you will find one of the best dark milks to be found in all the world: the sublime, preternaturally smooth, Nicaraguan 50% cocoa bar.
