Cacao/Cocoa Nibs

[ulterior epicure]

Any ideas where I could get cacao nibs locally in Chicago? I'm looking for a large® quantity - not wholesale, per se, but enough that it would probably be more economical for me to buy in bulk.

ulterior epicure.

[ducphat30]

Although pricey, whole foods has the scharffen berger cocoa nibs-very tasty. I believe they come in one pound bags and I don't remember the price.

[pounce]

The Spice House on N Wells has them. I'd imagine they could help you with a large quantity. I think a pound was around $18 last time I was there.

[Osnav]

The Spice House in Evanston has them. I was there last week and they had samples out. They also had ginger nibs for sampling, along side the cacao nibs.

[ulterior epicure]

Great, so Spice House - I know where the one on Wells is... just south of Lincoln Park... right? I'm not sure where the one in Evanston is...

Keep 'em comin'!

u.e.

[Tess]

The Evanston one is Central a couple blocks west of Green Bay. Conveniently located across the street from Foodstuffs.

[nr706]

The Spice House

1941 Central (just west of Green Bay Rd)

Evanston 60201

[pounce]

http://www.thespicehouse.com/info/home.php

[Wholemeal Crank]

Need to wake this topic up because Scharffenberger no longer is selling their cacao nibs.  I have built them into a number of recipes (e.g., Five by Five Chocolate Cookies) as an interesting alternative to tree nuts and to add more cacao flavor to a recipe. 

 

Now that they're no longer available from Scharffenberger, I'm mostly seeing versions from companies whose emphasis is on natural/organic/whole ingredients, and having been burned by too many awful muddy chocolates from similar producers, I'm wary of ordering random brands.  I want nibs that will actually taste good in my recipes, good enough for making into decent chocolate,and not stale, bland, badly roasted versions.  Where do you get nibs you can trust?

[Kerry Beal]

Cacao Barry has decent nibs - not cheap but reliable. 

[Wholemeal Crank]

thanks for the tip. 

[pastrygirl]

Valrhona has 1 kg bags.  They make Cacao Barry look cheap.

Edited December 3, 2023 by pastrygirl (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

I just discovered that they're available from Dandelion Chocolate as well, but as expected, not cheap.   I decided to go with them because I have really enjoyed the specific Kokoa Kamili bar made from those beans, so I'm going to hope I like the nibs as well as the chocolate.  I haven't had similar high percentage Valrhona's chocolate for a long time, but IIRC their roasts tend to be darker than my preference.  But I'm really glad this is something major makers are still putting out, because it does add such a fine touch in the right recipes.

[Wholemeal Crank]

And duh!, why didn't I think of this before:  Caputo's lists several nibs from top chocolate makers including Marou from Vietnam.  Not cheap, but I have liked so many of their chocolates that I might try some next time I'm ordering from them.