Dark chocolate artisan “nuggets” ready to mix with milk

Photo via Askinosie Chocolate

If you’re looking for a great-tasting drink to bring comfort as the colder weather works its way into our lives this fall, check out this superb new Sipping Chocolate from my friend Shawn Askinosie. Everything we’ve gotten from Shawn for the last fifteen years has been nigh on phenomenal and this new offering is as outstanding as the rest. The crew at Askinosie alters the chocolate origin from time to time depending on what’s tasting best for this application. Right now, it’s Tanzania, a few months ago it was from the Philippines. All are excellent. I rarely drink milk, but I made a cup to try it out and it was so good I drank the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Because it’s chocolate and not cocoa (which is alkalized), the flavor is more chocolatey with less of the light, slightly bitter taste of cocoa.

The chocolate it’s made from is, like everything we get from Shawn, superb. It’s from the Mababu coop in Tanzania. Shawn has been working with the farmers there for about fifteen years now. You can taste the chocolate in its “eating”—as opposed to sipping—form in the terrific Tanzania chocolate bars we have from Shawn at the Candy Story and Deli. Made with rare Trinitario cacao beans, it’s been one of my favorites for ages. Smooth, cocoa-y, dark but not at all overwhelmingly so. The Askinosie crew shared that, “When roasted, the beans evoke subtle, fruity notes of strawberry and blueberry and when tempered, it creates the creamiest mouthfeel of all of our chocolates.” The single-origin Sipping Chocolate brings that same super tasty complexity to the cup.

To make the Sipping Chocolate, the chocolate is broken up into small “nuggets.” The crew at Askinosie makes them by using a special mill that’s designed specifically for that purpose. I’ve been eating them out of hand at home—it’s a good way to sneak an afternoon pick-me-up (keep a container in your desk drawer?). There’s a recipe/ratio on the “can” (it’s made from recyclable cardboard) but Shawn suggests warming the milk or heavy cream and whisking in the small morsels to your own taste and thickness. No additional sugar is needed. Want a second opinion? A few years back the Wall Street Journal wrote that the Askinosie Sipping Chocolate is “basically pure, satiny ganache. The bittersweet chocolate is intense and brooding, brightened with hints of sandalwood and spice.”

Snag some Sipping Chocolate at Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory

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