I wrote about Black Dinah Chocolatiers a few months ago, describing some of their luscious chocolates. Now Kate & Steve have a new collection out, their 2008 Farm Market Collection. As they say at Black Dinah, "This is what Maine tastes like... with chocolate. Each truffle in this collection features an ingredient grown on a local Hancock or Knox County farm, right here in Maine." And I wholeheartedly agree, some of the best farms in the area are providing the ingredients for these elegant and delicious chocolates. Each box comes with eight of ten, rotating, seasonal varieties; so you can be surprised with new flavors all year long.

Just to mention one farm providing ingredients for the chocolates are Eliot Coleman, author and organic farming expert; and his wife, Barbara Damrosch, TV show host, author, and horticultural consultant; who own Four Seasons Farm. This is known as being one of the best experimental organic farms in the country. I have a friend, Lydia, an award winning mixologist; who is currently taking some time off from the professional mixology and competition circuit. She is living and working on the Four Seasons Farm right now, fulfilling a different dream. For all I know she may have picked the herb, Chocolate Mint, that is the star of one of the best chocolates in this collection.

More on Black Dinah Chocolatiers after the jump...

Every now and then I come across a product that is so exceptional that it makes me gasp in wonder. That was the reaction awhile ago when I tried Black Dinah Chocolatiers amazing chocolates. Back in April I was on a radio show about food entrepreneurs and met Steve & Kate and had a great time hearing their story and tasting their chocolates. They sent me a sample of their line a week or two later, and I have been meaning to write about them, but lost my tasting notes and photos. Well, I realized the other day that all the info was on my computer in the distillery, not the one in my home office.

Black Dinah Chocolatiers are located on the island of Isle au Haut off the coast of Down East, Maine. With only fifty year round residents, Isle au Haut is a small community that increases in size every summer when day-trippers and summer folks visit the island. Kate uses local fresh cream; as well as local, organic, spices and herbs, fruits, honey, flowers, etc. These are combined with the highest quality, artisanal, single-origin, Venezuelan couverture chocolate. If you would like to hear an interview with Kate and Steve follow this link and listen to the April 20th show, segment one. (Of course if you listen to segment two as well, you can hear me talk about spirits and cocktails.)

After making my way through the box I realized that these were the best chocolates I have ever had. I'm not always a chocolate lover. It takes A LOT to impress me. I've tried tons of artisanal chocolates, and even consulted to a chocolatier, helping design new liquor and wine fillings. So when I say these are the best, I mean the BEST!