From Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs to Craft Dark Chocolate: The Unexpected Path to Dick Taylor's Small-Batch Bars
- stevenmfiore
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 22 hours ago
Quick Links
· Single Origin
· Organic
· Small Batch
How It All Started
Welcome to my chocolate journey. If you’ve ever wondered what makes craft chocolate so special, this story is for you.
Let me take you back to where this journey began - with trucks, TV shows, and one unforgettable bar of chocolate. When my middle son, Michael, was growing up he had a love for anything truck related. We watched countless episodes of garbage and fire trucks on DVD. As he got a little older, we started taping and watching Mike Rowe’s TV show, Dirty Jobs. Similarly, we watched these shows over and over again and we became Mike Rowe fans.
Discovering Dick Taylor Chocolate
Fast forward to the fall of 2014 when I was at a technology conference and Mike Rowe was the keynote speaker. He had just finished up his long running tenure on Dirty Jobs and was starting a new show called Somebody’s Gotta Do IT on CNN. Mike shared a bit about Dirty Jobs and then started talking about his new show and highlighted the very unique co-founders of Dick Taylor Chocolates, Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor. Adam and Dustin were carpenters who decided one day to make chocolate. Their first manufacturing site was in a lumber yard; they have since moved to Eureka, CA.
That moment inspired me to order my first bar of chocolate from them and fell in love with it. Here is the 15-minute episode if you would like to watch it. You will get a real sense into the uniqueness and passion of Adam and Dustin. My hope is someday to make a trip out to visit the store and I keep trying to get them to host virtual tasting sessions, like what they do in store.
How to Enjoy Craft Chocolate
Each day, typically after lunch and dinner, I will go and grab a piece of chocolate and eat it (I even started traveling with it on trips). But as you can imagine, it is not the kind of chocolate most kids like from the more famous brand in Pennsylvania. To get the most out of your experience, when you unwrap it, close your eyes and smell it, then bring it to your ear to hear the signature snap of perfectly tempered chocolate. Only now should you place it on your tongue and let it slowly melt. Resist the urge to just bite it. Let it slowly melt in your mouth so you can get the full experience of the taste.
My Favorite Bars
My two favorites are the Belize and Madagascar chocolates, and I usually buy them in bulk of 5-10 at a time. I also try to mix in a few different varieties to try for each order. Each month they also offer a limited-edition bar that sometimes catches my interest, and I will make a special purchase. My other go-to favorites are the Black Fig bar which has bits of California Black Mission Figs in it and the Dark Chocolate Coated Almonds.
Expanding My Chocolate Use
Now it’s been about 10 years since I have been buying these bars and just recently started expanding into both the Nibs and the Baking Chocolate. I find the Nibs are great for my acai and granola bowls that I make (if I liked yogurt, they would be great in that too). Using the baking Chocolate was driven by my interest in making a better chocolate chip cookie, like the ones you get from a bakery or restaurant that taste so much richer and tastier than what I was making at home. In another post, you will see that I have also upgraded my flour to complement the upgraded baking chips.
Visiting a Cacao Farm
Recently, I had a vacation where I was able to visit a Cacao farm and was able to watch the guide break open the Cacao pod, allow us to eat the fruit and then the bean. The tour helped me better understand the care and passion these small farmers and craft chocolate makers take to give us the amazing products they create.
If you’re curious to start your own chocolate journey, I’ve listed my favorite bars above. Give one a try and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Recommended Products
For Transparency: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I truly love and use myself.
72% Madagascar Dark Chocolate Bar
72% Belize Dark Chocolate Bar
72% Tanzania Dark Chocolate Bar with California Black Mission Figs
70% Belize Baking Chocolate Chips
Roasted Belize Cocoa Nibs
Tanzania Dark Chocolate Coated Almonds
I hope you enjoy.
