Nathan Miller Chocolate Tasting

A few months ago, my fiancé and I visited Chambersburg because he wanted to experience Roy PItz Brewing Co. As we were leaving, I noticed Nathan Miller Chocolates next door. I went in, liked the atmosphere and decided to buy a bar to support local business.

Little did I know, this chocolate bar would be a life-changing experience.

The first bar I got was the first one they made: the Everything Bar. 55% Buttermilk chocolate, with almonds, candied ginger, and toffee.

So, I went onto their website, and emailed them about a chance to feature them on this space. They offered me a complimentary ticket to a tasting, and I am so happy that I went.

The tasting lasted about 45-60 minutes, and included seven samples of their premium chocolate. The tastings also included explanations from Nathan Miller himself, along with Q&As throughout. Hearing the history of the company while sampling the chocolate was amazing. Below, I'll explain the chocolate we tried and some fun facts I learned from the session. There are more kinds of chocolate than what we tried, if you're interested, please, please, please check out their website if you're not local, and visit if you are! The three images immediately below are from their website :)

1. Boxcar Coffee Bar - This 70% dark chocolate and espresso bar was the second bar NMC produced. They use coffee beans from Boxcar Coffee Roasters in Boulder, CO where Nathan Miller started this chocolate journey. The chocolate itself uses Oko Caribe Cacao from the Dominican Republic, fairly traded through a group of businesses dedicated to maintaining the well-being of the producers and also aiming to be responsible consumers. The chocolate itself, of course, starts off with that classic dark chocolate profile, with the strength of the espresso coming through. There is a slight grain to the chocolate because all of the beans are ground by hand in a stone grinder. In the tasting, we were given the liquified version of this as they were preparing to make more bars from it. This is certainly a chocolate bar for the coffee lovers in your life.

2. 45% Buttermilk Chocolate made with Himalayan salt - Also made with Oko Caribe Cacao, this has a more distinct milk chocolate taste, although not to the same extent of a Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar. And that's fine because that's not what we was going for. If you're of a traditional milk chocolate lover, this is probably one of the closest you'll find. It still has a slightly bitter aftertaste, but has a creamy, salty consistency while you're eating it.

3. Gingerbread Bar - Winner of the 2016 Good Food Award, this buttermilk chocolate bar has gingerbread folded into the mix. Again, using that Oko Caribe Cacao, Nathan explained that this type of cacao is excellent for blending with other things. This bar is reminiscent of the holidays. Nathan seems like a truly humble person. As he explained that it was "kind of cool" to get the 2016 Good Food Award for this bar, I couldn't help but remark, "Yeah, kind of." This made the people around me chuckle, and he acknowledged that, yes, it was actually really cool.

4. Everything Bar - This is the one I was explaining in the beginning. Apparently, when he first made this bar, he also included coffee in the mixture. However, after deciding to make an espresso bar, he took the coffee out of the Everything Bar, and kept everything else. This one is actually probably one of my favorites. This 55% buttermilk chocolate bar pays homage to the time Nathan spent in New York City as a chef. It's his take on a chocolate version of the Everything Bagel. And, it works. The candied ginger is strong, but the sweetness of the toffee, and the crunch of the almonds makes for a delicious combination.

5. Ghana 70% Dark - This bar was the winner of the 2015 Good Food Award, and for good reason. With the typical notes of a dark chocolate, it also adds some unique notes, particularly those of caramel, coconut, and date. Nathan describes this as an "anytime" chocolate - you can enjoy it with coffee at breakfast, after a meal for lunch or dinner, or just anytime in between. Playing off the idea of pairing food with beverage, he discussed that NMC is actually a BYOB-licensed establishment. You can bring in your wine or beer, and experiment pairing his chocolate and other foods with your drink of choice. I bought a bar of this to take home because I loved it, but also because I wanted to support more goods coming from Africa. The fact that these cacao beans were sourced from Ghana was pretty awesome.

6. 72% Peru - This dark chocolate bar was made with direct trade cacao, with notes of dried black fig, plum, and molasses. We not only were able to try a square of this, but were then served hot cocoa made from its shavings. Topped with a homemade Madagascar vanilla marshmallow that was to die for, the hot cocoa was so creamy and smooth. We were also served a homemade meringue that was delicious -- with brown sugar and vanilla notes, it paired perfectly with the chocolate. This was also written up in the New York Times this past Valentine's Day as a Top Five Chocolate choice for the holiday.

7. 70% Hispaniola - The last sample was probably the most unique. It was my least favorite, but had an interesting story. The notes are supposed to be balsamic, blackberry, and dried banana. However, everything tasted kind of like those smoked almonds you can get at the grocery store. Nathan explained that this comes from the way that the producers in the DR store and dry their beans. The beans are usually stored in where the growers do their cooking, so the smoky flavor gets into the beans as they dry. So, the bar presents that dark chocolate profile, but also has a very unique smoky flavor. If you're it, definitely try it out.

NMC also has some interesting projects in its future. These include mixing liquor with their chocolate, such as Rum Raisin and Bourbon and Strawberry milk chocolate bars. He also mentioned he has used Dogfish Head's Old School in his chocolate making previously. What I'm looking forward to is his goal of obtaining three different types of cacao beans from different regions of the Dominican Republic and making bars from those different types of beans so people can taste the uniqueness of each region in the chocolate.

Overall, Nathan Miller Chocolates had a much cooler story than I had originally thought. I definitely want to not only visit more often, but possibly do another tasting or food pairing tour. Being semi-local, and also believing in supporting local businesses, I think it's part of my duty to keep up with them and see what fun things the future holds for this company.