| Founded: | 1992 |
| Headquarters: | Bergl, Austria |
| Style: | New School |
| Characteristics: | Covers the spectrum. Piled layers of ‘hand-scooped’ flavored-chocolates upset familiar notions of chocolate. The purer single-origin bars represent a more classical approach while still delivering a personalized style – often with a dash (literally) of salt. |
| Ferment: | assiduous per seed type |
| Roast: | a digitally-controlled complexity of continuously varying temperatures for each batch |
| Conche: | deceptively (& ridiculously) short (tightened up with speed & heat rather than length) preceded by a 5-fold rolling mill |
| Impact: | Among the finer chocolate expos on Peru & Central America. Historically important for a) helping put Peru back on the map with select-grade sourcing after it suffered a reputation for sour-dirt cacáo; b) training growers at his facility in Bergl Austria the art of chocolate-making; c) traceability / transparency – unafraid to publicize the precise location of his beans as well as technical considerations such as roasting temperatures & conche duration.As a chocolate researcher & flavorist (flavor/artist), Zotter understands at a deeply intuitive level how chocolate encompasses both aromas AND emotions.
Nothing standardized about the unbridled originality of his “hand-scooped” flavored-bars except inventive extravagance & romantic subjectivity which resounds – however differently – on every one of them, making him a turntablist of flavor. He conceptualizes the entire gamut, from exploring the aromatic origins thru painstaking if zany empirical research, all the way to the end-flavor that re-awaken the pleasure centers & challenge anew even the most jaded chocoscenti or trend scouts on an expedition to the empire of the senses. Even his language of chocolate re-writes the code (in the tradition of Domori from a decade earlier), envisioning the cacáo forests as a sort of fun cosmic playground. The driving motto: nothing is impossible. The watchword: freedom. Naturally organic rather than niche-organic (including Bio vom Berg milk from the mountainsides) & environmentally-friendly right down to using food coloring instead of ink for label printing, which, rises to the level of Choco-l’art by the graphic illustrator Andreas H. Gratze who had enough of publicity that constantly sub-challenges clients. PR for him means inspiring & inviting – not provocative & flat… to school & extend awareness. His visual artistry translates the taste of chocolate into design, exhibiting an analog to Zotter’s aim that chocolates can permanently increase perception. That’s the full Zotter invention. |
