Amedei Porcelana, a dark chocolate made by the Amedei chocolatier of Tuscany, Italy, is often called the world's most expensive chocolate. It has won various awards, including "Best bean to bar", "Best Dark Chocolate Bar", and the "Golden Bean award." Amedei is and was, at the time of these awards, a sponsor of the awarding body's parent organization.
Contents
Manufacture
Amedei Porcelana is made from translucent, white cocoa beans of a variety now called "Porcelana" due to its porcelain-like color. This cocoa bean, a genetically pure strain of the highly prized Criollo, is native to Venezuela and may have been grown there in the Pre-Columbian era.
Porcelana cocoa was called "Maracaibo" in colonial times, since it was primarily exported from that Venezuelan port community. Along with a few other Mexican and Colombian cocoas beans, Maracaibo cocoa was classified as one of the world's highest quality cocoas until the 1920s.
Today, many of these Mexican and Colombian cocoas have disappeared and have been replaced by more disease resistant hybrids. Maracaibo, or Porcelana cocoa is grown on small plantations in Venezuela. Amedei produces about 20,000 bars a year from this cocoa bean.
Packaging
Amedei Porcelana is sold in individually numbered packages that have been called "the reference standard for the industry on how to package a chocolate bar."
Price
A 1.8 oz bar sells in the United States for between US$12.95 and $18.99. The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound. While Amedei Porcelana has often been called the world's most expensive chocolate, sources such as a 2006 article by Forbes magazine give examples of chocolates that sell for as much or more, although these examples refer more to chocolate in praline form or with the addition of pure gold to the packaging, while the assertion about Amedei Porcelana should be interpreted more as the cost of a pure chocolate bar or that of original cocoa beans, without taking into consideration any special packaging or manufacturing extra cost.
Golden Opulence Sundae and Golden Phoenix Cupcake
Porcelana is included in the Golden Opulence Sundae, a $1,000 dessert sold at the Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City and mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records. Porcelana is also used in making the most expensive cupcake, the Golden Phoenix, which is made by Bloomsbury's, a boutique cafe in Dubai.