Hasta La Ideas

by Julie Wolfson

With creative flavor combos like smoked salt, blackberry sage, and spicy Mexican hot chocolate, Compartes makes their hand-dipped truffles with organic chocolate and other premium ingredients. Topping each piece with colorful graphic designs like elephants (with curry ganache), skulls (raspberry rose), and chandeliers (hazelnut gianduja). For a company that has been around for almost sixty years, Compartes approach to chocolate is definitely not old fashioned. We talked to chocolatier Jonathan Grahm to find out more about what makes Compartes chocolate so distinctive.

How do you keep Compartes relevant and up to date for your customers?

What I did with Compartes was pretty much restart it from the ground up. I kept the name and some of the recipes that I really loved, but basically reinvented and reimagined the whole company. A couple of years ago, I also became very fascinated with organic ingredients and changed my whole lifestyle, then I decided to do the same with all of the ingredients I use in the chocolate. We get seasonal produce and herbs from the farmers market that we infuse into the chocolates. I find ethnic markets, I google exotic ingredients and I’m always going and trying new types of food and dishes to experience new spices and flavors that I haven’t tried before.

What is your favorite Compartes truffle flavor?

Continue reading and see more images after the jump.