There are a few things I always look for when I'm in a new city, in this case, Madrid a couple months ago - and craft chocolate shops are definitely near the top. I really don't understand how this fantastic shop in the heart of Madrid, still doesn't have any reviews on Yelp, and only a small handful on Tripadvisor, where I found it, over a year after they opened it - it's literally right off the Plaza Mayor, with entirely reasonable hours... it seemed like it should be busier and more well-known? It is definitely a craft chocolate shop, though... it's owned by two women who are also the two core employees, one in the front, one in the back making chocolate - I was sad I didn't have a chance to tell the chocolatier how great her chocolates were, because, well, she was busy actually making them (you could see her and all the chocolate-making equipment in their one small back room through a window as you entered the building.)
I did have the chance to ask as many questions to the co-owner about the chocolate as I wanted, in what was effectively a private chocolate tasting - you could tell they were both super excited to be sharing their chocolates with the world, that it wasn't just about the money, and that they cared deeply about the quality of all the products they were selling. You could also tell from, well, tasting it - we had a chance to taste quite a number of products, both just chocolates of various cacao percentages and made from cacao from various sources, as well as bars flavored with a number of other local ingredients. Everything we tried was truly fantastic, milk through 90% (I'm not normally a fan of milk chocolate, but theirs was excellent; I *am* normally a fan of very dark chocolate, and theirs was also excellent.) Their bars aren't cheap, obviously, but they were actually *quite* reasonably priced for the quality, compared to similar-quality craft chocolates in the US.
I also tried their truffles - obviously those aren't available for sampling, so I just had to buy a package of 4 truffles for 7 euros. Bars are obviously a bit of a better value, but unsurprisingly, the truffles were also equally great. Strongly recommended if you're in Madrid and looking for craft chocolate. read more