February 14th is Valentine's Day. In Japan, this has long been a day where people, especially women, give chocolates to the special someone that they like. Today, women continue to be the most common givers of chocolate. However, in recent years, I also often hear of people giving "friend chocolates" to their friends or "reward chocolates" to themselves. There are now many variations, and, with each passing year, it feels like the custom of eating chocolate on Valentine's Day is becoming more deeply rooted in Japan.

Today, I would like to introduce Dandelion Chocolate in Kuramae. Dandelion Chocolate is a chocolate maker that carries out the entire chocolate-making process, from the selection and purchase of cacao beans to the creation of chocolate bars, in its own factory. Factors such as cultivation location, harvest year climate, and even the bean farmer all affect the taste and aroma of cacao beans. After acquiring a deep understanding of these details, Dandelion Chocolate then puts the beans through many rounds of roasting and tasting to produce satisfying chocolate bars for each bean variety. As their chocolate bars are made from only cacao beans and organic millet sugar, the flavors of beans are allowed the exhibit their full potential. Put another way, this also means that there is no way to play tricks with the flavor: one must face the beans head-on. All of their chocolate bars are single-origin bars that are made from one type of cacao bean. This allows one to enjoy the distinctive aroma that a bean carries.

So why did this chocolate maker from San Fracisco choose Kuramae as the location for its first overseas location? The reason is that Kuramae is a city alive with the spirit of craftsmanship. Since long ago, it has been a place where artisans have set up shops and offered their wares. For Valentine's Day this year, how about choosing some fine craft chocolates?

Address: 4-14-6 Kuramae, Taito-ku, Tokyo