Is Colin Gasko Gen-Y’s own Willy Wonka?
24 year old Colin Gasko happens to be the newest and perhaps youngest American “bean to bar” chocolate maker. That there are less than 50 bean to bar chocolate makers in the world lends this a bit more stature than one might imagine at first glance. Rogue Chocolatier is his baby and his baby happens to be pure chocolate alchemy.
A “bean to bar” chocolate manufacturer is actually a creator who performs every task beginning with the raw bean, starting with cacao beans that have been fermented and dried by the grower, but not yet roasted. The beans are escorted the entire journey from this raw state to a molded bar of chocolate by the same maker. Colin Gasko is that maker and that he is so young makes his particular skill set that much more more singular.
He owns no automobile, preferring instead to hop the bus to his Minneapolis factory each day where he labors with some of the world’s best chocolate beans. Beans, like wine, have a terroir tale to them and he knows it. Gasko, a life-long chocophile, searches the entire chocolate world to find the right crop of dark brown cocoa beans. He recently told a reporter from Minneapolis TV station KARE 11 “I have some beans that we get from a small farm in the Dominican Republic and there’s another one from an estate in Madagascar.” Colin has also created bars from other countries including Venezuela. Time spent with him talking chocolate is akin to reading Chloé Doutre-Roussel’s The Chocolate Connoisseur: For Everyone With a Passion for Chocolate over one’s lunch hour.
Check the video from the TV station story.
As evidence of just how close the chocolate and wine experiences are, check out Colin’s description of his Sambirano, a single-Origin Chocolate from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar. This growing region’s trees are derived from Venezuelan stock, but due to terrior and processing, has a remarkably different flavor. It has been carefully roasted, ground, refined, and conched to perfection in small batches. Bright flavors of plums, citrus, berry, and cedar are found in the finish.
The Hispaniola bar sounds even better: Fermented and sun-dried by a small cooperative in the Dominican Republic. This bar has flavors of citrus, red fruit, and a nice chocolate flavor.
Outside of a few select group of retailers in Seattle, Minneapolis and Cambridge, the best way to obtain Rogue Chocolatier is at the their site.
Special thanks to Casey Meshbesher for the pic of Colin Gasko.
