The recent controversy surrounding artisanal Brooklyn chocolate company Mast Brothers continues.
Could it be true that founding brothers Rick and Michael Mast were not actually creating original “bean-to-bar” chocolate, thus invalidating their claims of authenticity and pure ingredients? That’s what blogger Scott Craig wrote on his site, Dallasfood.org, earlier this month.
While the brothers wrote, in an email to Grub Street, that “we were then and are now a bean to bar chocolate maker,” Rick Mast told the New York Times, in an article posted Sunday, that they had, in fact, used pre-made chocolate early on.
The Times wrote: “Rick Mast, who with his brother began making chocolate in a Brooklyn apartment in 2006, said the allegations were untrue — for the most part. But on the claim that the Masts were ‘remelters’ at the start, Mr. Mast confirmed the brothers did use industrial chocolate, what is known as couverture, in some of their early creations, before settling on the bean-to-bar process for which they are now known.”
Mast Brothers chocolate bars, which come in flavors including sea salt, smoke, mint and almond butter, are made in Williamsburg. The brothers founded their company in 2007, and Mast bars are now sold in specialty shops around the world.
Do you still trust the chocolate makers? Do you care?
