Mast Brothers Chocolate: Honoring Brooklyn and the Cocoa Nib
Mast Brothers Chocolate Bars, displayed at their Williamsburg store.Chocolate is probably the world’s best loved treat, but most people are having too much fun savoring the stuff to find out where it comes from. This is exactly the quandary that brothers Michael and Rick Mast set out to fix in 2007 with the opening of Mast Brothers Chocolate. The local, authentic food movement was starting to take hold in Brooklyn, and as the brothers set out on various culinary expeditions, such as brewing, pickling and baking, they ultimately discovered that their passion and creativity were with chocolate.
The cocoa pod, nib, and beans.What immediately set them apart from other chocolatiers is their pure and simple adoration of the cocoa bean. Anyone who has sampled their classic “single-origin” bars, which contain only cocoa and raw cane sugar, can attest to the value of letting the cocoa speak for itself. Naturally, this Brooklyn-born chocolate revolution is going to be on hand at Brooklyn Bounty this year for all to enjoy.
So where does a chocolate bar come from? A visit to the Mast Brothers Chocolate shop in Williamsburg quickly answers this question. You are greeted with enthusiasm by their knowledgeable staff who are eager to offer tidbits of chocolate and information about its origins, and they offer tours for those who want a deeper look into the chocolate-making action in the shop's factory.
The two day grinding process in action.On my recent visit, I quickly got my chocolate basics up to speed. The journey of a chocolate bar starts from a cocoa pod filled with cocoa beans, and inside of each bean are small cocoa nibs. I tasted one of the nibs in its raw form and was surprised to find that it tasted like a bitter nut. For their single origin bars, Mast Brothers imports these nibs from Belize, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Papa New Guinea, Peru and coming soon, Tanzania. Each country of origin has its own bar using only its native beans. They roast the nibs for 20 minutes at 300 degrees before they are winnowed and ground up. Then they are aged for 30 days, making the total time for the production of each artisanal bar a whopping 40 days. Finally, each bar is hand wrapped in their colorful designs.
The meticulous process Mast Brothers uses is one of the many ways that they show their Brooklyn food revolution roots. Beyond their purely beans-and-sugar line of bars, they also offer homemade creations like “Stumptown Coffee” or “Sea-Salt,” all based off their “Brooklyn Blend,” a mix of nibs from various sources. Their Williamsburg store and factory space is a vibrant fixture of the neighborhood, a place where people can explore chocolate and also attend their monthly dinners, where guest chefs craft full menus utilizing chocolate and cocoa nibs.
Mast Brothers Factory portion of the Williamsburg store.With burgeoning demand, Mast Brothers continues to expand. Nearby their flagship store is their new Brew Bar, a bar dedicated to the craft of chocolate beverages, and they have opened a supplemental factory near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Their chocolate bar distribution runs far and wide, with Mast Brothers Chocolate found in 40 states and eight countries, and local factories are set to open soon in Los Angeles and London, bringing the magic and mystery of chocolate closer to home for many more.
A true Brooklyn treasure, Mast Brothers embodies creative entrepreneurship and community building. It doesn't hurt that their brand is comprised of a pure and deluxe edition of everyone’s favorite food, which will be in plentiful supply at Brooklyn Bounty.
We’re giving away a Mast Brothers chocolate bar to a lucky BHS blog reader! Tweet about how much you love Mast Brothers using the hashtag #BKBounty14 and be entered to win! Winner will be chosen on Thursday, September 6th, and announced on Twitter.
Don't have your ticket to Brooklyn Bounty yet? Buy your ticket today!
Written by Avi Scher, Development Intern
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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