Chocolate Basics ~ Where to find good chocolate

Sometimes there isn’t a nearby shop that sells just chocolate. Then what?

Here is a list of places you can look for fine and artisan crafted chocolate.

• Chocolate festivals
• Speciality food shops
• Farmers or local markets
• Cheese Shops
• Kitchen shops
• Cafes and coffee shops
• Specialty pastry shops
• Wine stores
• Olive oil shops
• Craft markets

Chocolate goes with so many things that specialty shops often stock great bars that you can add to your basket as you shop. Some of my favourite places to look for locally made chocolate when visiting is in high tourist areas. Public markets, tourist destinations, even airports sometimes. Be sure to check packaging to find out if it was actually made locally, as often things may have packaging reflecting the location, but not have been made nearby. Look at the ingredients and the expiry date on the package as well.

Usually, smaller independent shops are the ones to have artisan and hand-crafted chocolate from a local chocolate maker. You can also find a lot of pop up shops or collaborations between businesses and chocolatiers and chocolate makers.

My favourite way to find new chocolate is just to poke into shops I have never been in and see what they have, especially in high traffic and touristy areas.

If you are lucky enough to have a specialty chocolate shop nearby, try and support them as much as you can.

You can also choose to shop online as well, and I will get into that more in a future post.

Interested in learning more about chocolate? Check out the other blogs in this series.

• Chocolate Basics (terms)
• Chocolate Basics ~ Chocolate Maker
• Chocolate Basics ~ Chocolatier
• Chocolate Basics ~ Desserts
• Chocolate Basics ~ Mass Production Chocolate
• Chocolate Basics ~ Shopping for Chocolate (bars)
• Chocolate Basics ~ Tasting Chocolate
• Chocolate Basics ~ Shopping for Bonbons
• Chocolate Basics ~ Tasting Resources (free ones)
• Chocolate Basics- ~ Shopping for Pastries