克劳迪奥·柯罗拉巧克力工厂位于圣多美市中心的海滨大道 978 号,被誉为全球顶级巧克力的诞生地。这里的品鉴活动通常在下午 4 点半开始,单人费用约 150 到 250 圣多美多布拉,访客能亲身体验从可可豆到成品的极简加工工艺,感受不含香草与卵磷脂的可可原味。
工厂就在圣多美市中心 Avenida Marginal 12 de Julho 大道上,路过时可能稍不留神就会错过那个不起眼的绿色门脸。这里不是那种隔着大玻璃窗看机器轰鸣的现代化工厂,更像是一间充满实验室气息的手工作坊。克劳迪奥·柯罗拉(Claudio Corallo)这位意大利农学家在 1990 年代来到圣多美和普林西比,把荒废的种植园重新经营起来。他那 40 多年跟热带作物打交道的经验,全浓缩在这一块块巧克力里。
进到店里,你会发现这里的巧克力包装纸甚至有点寒酸。但别急着下结论,克劳迪奥的产品在巴黎、伦敦的高端食材店里经常卖出惊人的价格。圣多美岛上的这家工厂店是直接面对消费者的窗口,不仅价格比欧洲零售店便宜一大截,货品种类也是最全的。
走遍全世界,你很难找到第二个像他这样坚持不加香草的巧克力大师。克劳迪奥认为香草是为了掩盖可可豆本身的劣质气味。他家所有的巧克力,无论 70% 还是 100% 含量,配料表干净得吓人:只有可可、可可脂和少量的糖。这种对风味的追求近乎执拗,目的是为了让你吃出土地的味道。
原材料全部来自该国第二大岛普林西比岛上的 Terreiro Velho 种植园。那里保留着 19 世纪从巴西引进的最原始、未经过基因改良的可可品种。由于产量极低,每一颗豆子都弥足珍贵。这种豆子带有一种自然的泥土芳香和微妙的酸度,是工业化大规模生产的巧克力完全模拟不出来的。
想进工厂内部参观或者参加正式的品鉴会(Tasting Session),必须提前预约。通常品鉴活动安排在周一至周五的下午 4 点半或 5 点,持续大约一个半小时。去晚了或者没预约,大概率只能在门市买几块巧克力就走,错过最核心的体验。说真的,没有听过现场讲解,你很难理解为什么有些巧克力吃起来会有烟草或葡萄干的香气。
品鉴过程很有仪式感,克劳迪奥的团队会引导你尝试不同浓度的巧克力,甚至会搭配他们自家产的烈酒或普林西比咖啡。最惊艳的莫过于加入姜粒或者浸泡过烈酒的可可豆(Ubric)。那种味道在舌尖炸开的感觉,会让很多人意识到自己过去几十年吃的可能只是含糖的棕色油脂。
工厂距离圣多美国家博物馆步行不到 15 分钟,建议把这两个地方排在同一个下午。看完博物馆的殖民史,刚好转弯去工厂喝杯冰巧克力降降温。钱的问题也得算清楚,这里的品鉴费折合欧元大约在 5 到 10 欧之间,具体取决于当季提供的品种数量,建议出发前查看官网或邮件确认最新价格。
圣多美常年高温,买完巧克力千万别在大太阳下拎着逛街,那会直接化成泥。建议行程最后一天再去采购,或者买完后立刻送回酒店冰箱冷藏。工厂会提供简易的铝箔袋包装,但如果要长途飞行,最好自备一个小保冷袋,否则回到家巧克力可能已经失去了完美的晶体结构。
建议至少提前 2 到 3 天通过邮件或社交媒体账号联系。由于品鉴室空间有限,每场通常只接待 10 人左右,旅游旺季时临时上门几乎拿不到名额。
完全可以携带,但因为不含防腐剂且可可脂含量高,它们对温度极其敏感。如果室温超过 25 摄氏度,巧克力质地就会改变,建议放在手提行李中并保持避光阴凉,不要放在容易发热的托运行李箱靠近发动机的一侧。
首选 75% 的纯黑巧克力和带有 Ubric 标签的酒渍系列。此外,这里的海盐味巧克力(Fleur de Sel)用的是当地出产的海盐,咸甜平衡感极佳,单板价格通常在 5 欧元起步,非常适合作为伴手礼。
Dame Setor An absolute cocoa/coffee nerd. This man is an encyclopaedia on his subject matter. His passion and expertise was immensely inspirational to me. "The more you transform/process sth, the more you lose its essence" Allora!
N K The most thorough and interesting lecture I have ever attended about cacao and chocolate. Can be a bit tiring as there is not much space for sitting and you spend there at least an hour. Claudio is a chocolate enthusiast and scientist, might not be the best experience with kids but super interesting for adults. Tasted all types of chocolate and chocolate-derived products in the range. Price wise is reasonable for the quality and individual approach to each and single cocoa bean.
Sanam H. Zaer Hands down, this is the best chocolate I have ever had in my life. That said, there are a few important things to note when visiting this place: 1. The main demonstration is in Portuguese but it is also translated in English on the side. The translation is condensed. If you want a full "chocolate tour" with all of the stories and explanations, I recommend attending one at Alegio chocolate in Palo Alto. 2. Like everything else on the island, it is cash only. Chocolate is significantly cheaper to buy here than in the United States, so bring lots of cash if you are planning to buy. 3. This isn't a great experience with young kids. We brought our 4 and 5 year old. However, we also brought our Ipad so we hid them under a table and threw chocolate samples at them every few minutes and it seemed to work out fine. If you have an option to leave your kids somewhere with a babysitter, you will probably enjoy the experience more!
Kelly Nelson Amazing chocolate! The tasting is on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4:40. Tickets go on sale starting at 3:00. 100,000 dobras. We tried at least 10 amazing versions of the chocolate! It's the best I've ever had. Prices on boxes and packages were not as expensive as I was expecting. (4 euros for small, 8 euros for big to bring home.)
Anu Olopade Visited the Chocolate factory in July 2018! History and chocolate testing and sales pitch! Nice tour value for 100Dobra