Taking The Manchester Chocolate Tour

There’s a city in Pennsylvania that is home to one of the world’s largest chocolate producers that claims to be the sweetest place on earth. Manchester would like a word. Anyone with a refined sweet tooth will tell you: Some of the finest chocolate anywhere can be found in the span of several blocks in downtown Manchester. Four shops — each unique and each offering something different and decidedly sweet — can be visited in an afternoon stroll. It’s enough to make Willy Wonka envious.

Loon Chocolate, 81-R Hanover Street.

A bean-to-bar chocolate shop, Loon Chocolate crafts innovative, surprising and ethically sourced items, from the familiar, dark chocolate with Maine Sea Salt, to the slightly more complex like The Ghost and the Sea: 70% dark chocolate with chocolate ghost peppers (bhut jolokia chocolate) and sun-dried sea salt. According to Loon’s experts, it’s a fun play on the senses, starting sweet then traveling to salty before finishing with the heat.

“All the work is done at the shop,” owner Scott Watson says. “The cocoa beans are on one side of our small kitchen. We roast it over there, grind it right here and then form it into bars right here. From the burlap sack to hand-wrapped in foil, it’s all being done in the back side of 81 Hanover Street.”

Step inside the Hanover Street shop and visitors will often find Watson behind the counter, accompanied by silent partner Jackson, a five-year-old rescue lab, and an array of high-end chocolates.

“Our No. 1 selling bar is our 70% Bolivian,” Watson says. “It comes from a very small cacao bean, but they’re a wonderful heirloom variety that has a little higher cocoa butter content in them. It makes for a richer, earthier taste.”

Watson refers to the flavors in his chocolate in terms typically reserved for wines, often citing characteristics such as balance, flavor profiles and complexity. Chocolate, it turns out, can benefit from terroir just like it’s barrel-aged counterpart.

“It is very similar to coffee and wine,” he says. “You get different flavor profiles from different regions. That’s why we offer single-origin bars. We’re very proud of that.”

Loon Chocolate, on Hanover Street, is a bean-to-bar chocolate shop led by Owner Scott Watson that specializes in handmade sweets crafted from ethically sourced ingredients.

Watson works with a co-op importer from Berkeley, California, to ensure farmers in western Africa — where the vast majority of chocolate comes from — are treated ethically. Sacks of cacao beans arrive from around the world and end up on Hanover Street as part of Loon Chocolate’s ongoing efforts. Despite the global reach, Watson opted to base his operation right here in Manchester.

“When we saw an opportunity to move, it was always going to be Manchester,” he says. “I really like the community development I’ve seen in the last 4-5 years. There’s a little bit of an artistic vibe coming out, the continuing restoration of the historical buildings has been great.

“I was born and raised in New Hampshire, and I have no intention of leaving. I felt strongly about our product, and I know there are three other chocolate makers on Elm Street, but I feel we all have something special that sets us apart. For me personally, I feel really good about the values of our company. The more people get to know and understand diversity, people are willing to try that diversity — and that’s where Loon Chocolate comes in.”

Dancing Lion Chocolate, 917 Elm Street.

Chocolate can be complex — sweet, of course, but also savory, with subtle differences in styles. It can also be art. One of the most respected experts on these nuances is Richard Tango-Lowy, owner of Dancing Lion Chocolate on Elm Street.

Those in-the-know swear by Tango- Lowy’s skills with sweet indulgences. He graduated with honors from Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver, and earned Master Chocolatier designations from Ecole Du Grand Chocolat Valrhona in Tain L’Hermitage, France and Ecole Chocolat’s Master Chocolatier course in Tuscany.

It’s no surprise, then, to discover completely unexpected and fascinating treats — for the eye and the palate — inside Tango-Lowy’s shop. Stop by on a Friday, and visitors will be right on time for the maple with milk chocolate bread, made with Granite State maple and housemade

chocolate; or, sample a fig, honey and ginger creation — cool textured fig contrasted with smooth dark chocolate and layered with honey and ginger; or the Blues Bar, with dried Maine blueberries and toasted pecans in smooth Liona 70% Dominican Republic dark chocolate. As if it wasn’t indulgent enough, it’s packaged in an elegant Lokta paper box, handmade in Nepal.

Dancing Lion Chocolate is also wellknown for its coffee, rare teas and drinking chocolate, made with just chocolate, water and spices, served frothy in a bowl — it’s unlike any other chocolate drink, and makes for a memorable visit.

Richard Tango-Lowy’s decadent handiwork is as much art as it is a treat.

Granite State Candy Shoppe, 382 Elm Street.

Founded by Peter Bart, a Greek immigrant who came to America in the early part of the last century, Granite State Candy Shoppe first opened its doors in Massachusetts in 1927. Not long after came a move to Concord, and then, nine years ago, a second location — this time in the Queen City. The Bart family has been delighting customers with chocolate, candy, maple, fudge and roasted nuts for generations.

“It’s an intimate shop,” says Owner Jeff Bart. “We have a wonderful selection of homemade chocolates and ice cream, but what I like is that it’s a smaller venue, so we’re able to address our customers in a more intimate and friendly manner. The setting lends itself to that extra touch.”

The Elm Street shop offers chocolate bars — dark, milk, filled with caramel, crisps and peanut butter among them — and outrageous chocolate-covered novelties such as chocolate covered pretzel twists and rods, an eye-popping chocolate flower pot and even a Twinkie dipped in Granite State Candy Shoppe’s own creamy dark chocolate.

Customers can indulge in some of the same treats Peter Bart (Jeff’s grandfather) first crafted, creating a tangible, tasty connection to the past.

“We use his recipes, and not only the recipes, but we still have some of his equipment,” Jeff Bart says. “There are copper kettles and candy tables. We still have those things he used.

“We have a core of products we’ve made and sold for 90 years — fudge, vanilla butter creams, toffee, peanut brittle, roasted nuts of all kinds. Then there’s all the new stuff. My grandfather made ice cream, but he had to stop when we entered WWII because he couldn’t get enough butter, cream and sugar. There was a gap, but we got back to making our own ice cream in 2004.”

Regulars return for seasonal treats year-round: In the fall, try a gourmet caramel apple — covered in Oreo bits, M&Ms or toffee, among other sweet options; the holidays bring out sugar plums, candy canes and a wide range of chocolates; the Easter season will see an array of jelly beans and chocolatecovered peeps; and the shop will save your Valentine’s Day with countless chocolates, heart-shaped box assortments, jelly hearts and malt balls.

And when it’s time for a sweet snack, what does Jeff Bart reach for?

“There are certain things I’ll always choose, and I have what I’d consider a very American taste in chocolates,” he says. “I gravitate towards peanut butter cups, peppermint patties and turtles. Those are the three items I eat the most of. And I love our roasted nuts, our cashews. I eat those quite a bit, too.”

Van Otis Chocolates, 341 Elm St.

A Manchester institution, Van Otis Chocolates is as close as you can get to Willy Wonka’s factory. Tours (no gold ticket required) allow visitors to see the Elm Street operation in action — producing sweet treats city residents have been craving since the shop opened its doors in 1935.

Fans of the longtime city staple can try the shop’s dipped fruit: apples, cherries, banana chips and even glazed pineapple slices are available dipped in Van Otis’ renowned velvety smooth chocolate. If it’s about making something at home, Van Otis has a line of dessert sauces, including apple butter, pumpkin butter, seedless strawberry jam, and caramel and hot fudge sauce.

A number of unique items are also available, including Evangeline’s Popcorn (kettle corn, maple caramel and caramel flavored) and even confections crafted for man’s best friend — heart-shaped dog cookies and the “Barkin’ Biscuit Yogurt Bone.”

Ask a Van Otis insider, and they’ll point you to the decadent truffles. These bitesized treats, available in classic dark and milk chocolate and in an almost impossible variety of flavors, have a perfect outer shell with creamy fillings. But it’s the Van Otis Swiss Fudge that catches the attention (and the sweet tooth) of fans. First created in 1959, it’s painstakingly crafted on-site, and comes in milk and dark chocolate, in gift boxes, bar packs and in the form of Van Mice — a four-pack of Swiss fudge treats enrobed in that renowned Van Otis chocolate.