Man, chocolate is fancy! I had no idea what went into making excellent chocolate. One visit to the Mast Brothers Chocolate Lab in DTLA and my appreciation has blossomed.
This isn’t just a chocolate making factory, this is a swanky chic chocolate museum.
When you walk through the front doors it feels like you have just stepped into a museum. The warehouse is pristine. All the chocolate bars are displayed like fashion models during fashion week. It’s super spacious, total industrial vibe and the chocolate maker/masters wear black gloves. I’m sure there is a scientific reason for that but in my mind it just takes it up to another level. Oh and I have to mention the smell. It smells like chocolate, I mean it is a chocolate factory, but it’s a real intense, deep, rich chocolate smell.
This is a great tour especially for a novice chocolate eater like myself. The whole process starts with the cocoa pod that is delicious on it’s own and much bigger than I thought it would be. The seeds are covered with a juicy flesh, which is comparable to the consistency of jackfruit. It doesn’t taste anything like chocolate, it tastes like fruit and has a sweet essence and all you can really do is suck on it since the flesh doesn’t come off the bean.
The cocoa beans are harvested in places like Tanzania, Peru, Papa New Guinea and Madagascar. And the selection of beans plays a huge role in the quality and taste of Mast Brothers Chocolates.
It was fascinating to watch the process of how a cocoa bean turns into decadent smooth chocolate. They have these large drums where the chocolate just spins and spins for days until they get the right consistency before adding flavors for testing.
It doesn’t end with chocolate bars because these chocolate scientists are taking things to another level. They’re brewing non-alcoholic hibiscus chocolate beer, making dainty confection chocolates that are filled with flavors like, cactus, beer, jalapeno, orange, cilantro, peanut butter and almonds.
They’re newbie’s to the downtown area but not newbies to the chocolate world. They have other locations in New York and London. I would highly recommend getting on their mailing list because who wouldn’t want to get invited to chocolate tastings and be notified of decadent crazy out of the box new flavors, right?
Welcome to the neighborhood Mast Brothers!
MAST BROTHERS
816 S Santa Fe Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90021