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Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Made in North Carolina
At Longleaf Pine Chocolate we believe chocolate should be experienced and savored. We treat each batch of chocolate as its own artistic creation, whether it is bold dark, classic milk, dark milk, or a botanical, fruit or spiced infusion.
We are a small batch, craft chocolate company that is focused on quality over quantity. Follow our Instagram so that we can notify you when we release new batches of chocolate, and inquire below at our email to purchase.
We also produce custom orders for company events, galas, receptions, weddings, and other functions. Email us at hello@longleafpinechocolate.com if you are interested in a custom order.
Welcome
Site Under Construction - Not Operational
Our Chocolate
Our bean-to-bar chocolate is crafted with great attention to detail and care in the North Carolina sandhills. Below are samples of our chocolate bars. We are always releasing new batches and exploring new formulations and inclusions so please click on our Shop link to see what bars are currently available. All of our chocolate is made with a focus on simplicity, purity and quality.
Blood Orange Dark Chocolate
All of the flavor of our 70% Peruvian Nacional dark chocolate with just the right added hint of blood oranges. A match made in heaven! The blood orange flavor infusion comes in small waves as the chocolate melts in your mouth. It is the first fruit inclusion chocolate we made because it is such an enticing combination. Enjoy!
Fruity
Balanced
Nutty
70% Dark Peruvian Nacional
Our 70% PeruvianNacional dark chocolate is a customer favorite. This chocolate is made with only three ingredients (the cacao bean, cacao butter, and organic sugar), so you can experience the cacao bean in its fullest. The chocolate is delightfully aromatic with a rich and punchy flavor. In our blind taste tests it is consistently rated high for its balance and long, clean finish. Its nuanced tones delivers nuttiness with a balanced bitterness present in dark chocolates.
Nutty
Punchy
Rich
White Chocolate
Our white chocolate is made with only cacao butter, organic sugar and dry whole milk powder. If you like the gentle sweetness of a white chocolate this bar delivers for you! This white chocolate has an exceptionally smooth profile that melts away in your mouth. We are currently refining a new white chocolate with fruit inclusions - so be on the lookout for that flavor shortly!
Velvety
Sweet
Creamy
Peruvian Dark Milk
Our Peruvian dark milk chocolate is cocoa-forward and blends the intensity and edginess of a dark chocolate with the creaminess of a milk chocolate. People that prefer this chocolate are often misunderstood as not being able to commit to dark or milk chocolate. On the contrary, this chocolate is for people that are committed to both dark and milk chocolate! Like our milk chocolate, this chocolate only has four ingredients: cacao beans, organic sugar, cacao butter, and dry whole milk powder.
Milky
Balanced
Gentle Sweetness
Peruvian Milk Chocolate
We utilize a Peruvian Nacional cacao bean as the base for this milk chocolate. To keep it pure and simple, we add whole milk powder to only three other ingredients (cacao beans, cacao butter, and organic sugar). It embodies the smooth creaminess of a traditional milk chocolate . The result is a chocolate you will want to eat slowly and savor, appreciating its simplicity and pureness.
Smooth
Creamy
Rich
60% Dark Ecuadorian
Our 60% Ecuadorian Arriba dark chocolate is one of our personal favorite chocolates. This Ecuadorian cacao bean has slightly less edge to it than other cacao beans and the 60% blend makes it a touch sweeter than our 70% chocolates. Like our other dark chocolates, this chocolate is made with only three ingredients (the cacao bean, cacao butter, and organic sugar), so you can experience the cacao bean in its fullest. Our customers consistently rank this as one of their favorite Longleaf Pine Chocolate bars.
Smooth
Bittersweet
Balanced
How to Purchase
You can make a one-time purchase or sign-up for a regular chocolate subscription where we will send you chocolate on a scheduled basis. As a small-batch chocolate company we often sell out of chocolate for individual purchase so if you want to be assured of being able to obtain a particular chocolate you may want to consider a subscription.
Shop Online
You can purchase on our website via the "Shop" capability. Just click on the button below to start shopping!
Subscription
A subscription is the best way to ensure you can obtain the particular type of chocolate you desire. Monthly subscriptions receive a 15% discount. You can cancel your subscription at any time after the first three months by emailing us.
Corporate & Special Events
If you are planning a corporate or special event and would like Longleaf Chocolate to be part of it let us know! You can email us at the email below and let us know about your event and chocolate order interests. Please include any initial thoughts you have on the order including chocolate bar selection, quantity, bar size, timeline, custom labeling, ... We will reply to your inquiry as soon as possible. If you would like to discuss specifics of your order include your telephone number so that we can contact you.
Our Process
Our Process
Quality Ingredients
Our chocolate ingredient philosophy is “less is more”. We want you to experience the nuance of the cacao beans and other natural ingredients and not fillers or additives. In our dark chocolate we limit our ingredients to fair-trade cacao beans, cacao butter and organic sugar. No emulsifiers, no fillers, no additives, no unnatural ingredients. So what you taste is the unique, natural essence of the cacao bean. For our milk chocolate we add dry whole milk powder. In our specialty and seasonal bars we blend in “inclusions” such as natural nuts and fruits.
The composition and flavor profile of a cacao bean can change from year to year based on variations in each year’s crop conditions. We roast small batches of cacao beans to determine the optimal roast profile of a particular cacao bean before we roast larger batches to produce our chocolate. It is an iterative process, and takes time, but it is the best way to determine the roast profile that will produce the most stimulating, flavorful and rewarding chocolate.
Meticulous Roasting
Winnowing
After the cacao beans have been meticulously roasted we "crack" the beans to separate the cacao bean from the cacao bean shell. We then winnow the resulting cacao nibs from the cacao bean shell to prepare the cacao nibs to be refined into chocolate liquor. It is important to ensure the shells have been successfully winnowed or the viscosity and taste profile of the resulting chocolate will be impacted.
Refining and conching are about achieving optimal texture and taste. We transform the cacao nibs into chocolate liquor through a time intensive refining and conching process that grinds the cacao nibs into chocolate liquor. We utilize granite stone grinders to complete the refining with the process typically taking between 24 to 48 hours. We monitor the process to ensure the chocolate liquor has been refined down to the desired micron level, which is anywhere from <20 microns for our smoothest chocolate to a >20 microns for our “rustic” chocolate. We then conch, or agitate and aerate, the chocolate liquor to optimize its acidic profile.
Exacting Refining
Watchful Tempering
Tempering chocolate is art and science (and often frustrating!) When you limit your chocolate ingredients, like we do, it becomes more difficult to obtain the level five crystal structure that results in chocolate with that perfect shine and "snap” and no cacao butter blooming. We adjust our tempering process to account for the specific cacoa beans we are utilizing, the composition of the specific chocolate we are crafting, as well as humidity levels and ambient temperature.
About Us
About
Greetings from Longleaf Pine Chocolate!
We are a purpose-driven, small-batch, craft chocolate company based in North Carolina, home of the magnificent longleaf pine tree. Our purpose is to produce the highest quality, purest chocolate possible in the most ethical, fair, and sustainable manner. In crafting our chocolate we are focused on the following:
Simplicity.
We include minimal ingredients to ensure the cacao bean is the star of the show.
Purity.
We source and utilize natural and organic ingredients.
Quality.
We craft our chocolate with an artisans’ attention to detail and care.
Longleaf Pine Chocolate focuses on quality over quantity. In as such, we take great care in crafting and producing limited chocolate batches of the highest quality. We believe our suppliers should be paid fairly even if it ends up increasing our costs slightly. We do not produce and carry a large inventory of chocolate but make our chocolate available as we produce it. If we currently do not have the chocolate bar you want please check back with us as we are releasing batches regularly. You can also link to our Instagram site for updates on new batch releases and limited edition and seasonal chocolate bar introductions.
We hope you share our passion for chocolate and invite your feedback and thoughts on our chocolate offerings. You can email us at hello@longleafpinechocolate.com
Follow Us
- On Instagram
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