When inside a mall as swanky as this, one becomes afraid. Afraid to go in the shops for the fear of squandering all of his life savings in one go. One practices the humble sport of window-shopping. He peeks in the display window and shies away as soon as he spies a sales staff making her way towards him.
And so, inside this upscale Roppongi mall, we peek in, we shy away, we peek in, we shy away.
We peek in…
…we desire, we linger, we drool a little, we forget to shy away
“Please come in, we have many more inside.”
And that is how The NoKA Lady found us.
As if under a spell, we follow The NoKA Lady into the shop and she begins reciting the voodoo chant that is meant to hypnotize us into blowing our tiny little life savings on these even tinier and littler chocolate morsels.
The NoKA Lady: “Our chocolate is made from pure cacao beans harvested from a single estate. Unlike most dark chocolates, we do not combine cacao beans from different estates. Take for example this piece, we use only the best Venezuela cacao beans to make it, it is 75% dark chocolate and does not contain vanilla, preservatives and artificial ingredients, giving you the real and unadulterated taste of pure Venezuelan chocolate. And this one here is from... And that one there is from…”
She continues working her spell on us as we listen half-heartedly, more interested in visual pleasure than knowledge of the chocolates.
“…and this is the most expensive chocolate in the world.”
We stop and look at her incredulously. “The WHAT???”
The NoKA Lady: “This. is. THE. MOST. EXPENSIVE. chocolate. in. the. world.”
The Most Expensive Chocolate (TMEC) comes in a small, sleek, black matte box with NoKA embossed in silver. Inside is an equally sleek black card with short but sweet biographies of each chocolate. Polished. Tasteful. Elegant. Expensive.
TMEC also comes with an eating manual, probably meant for people like me who totally forget what finesse means when in presence of food. I follow the instructions carefully and religiously to make sure I am handling such valuable possessions befittingly.
Aacckk!!! The whole process of reading first, then admiring, then hearing, and then breathing BEFORE tasting takes just too long, it’s pure torture! This Optimal Tasting Guide does not make it very optimal for me.
Profiles of TMEC:
VIVIENTÉ (Venezuela) – Bright. Lively. Invigorating. The bright citrus notes, light body, and acidity invigorate the palate.
CARMEÑAGO (Ecuador) – Dark. Provocative. Tenacious. The rich cacao flavor is kissed with hints of dark berries up front and a mild earthiness that develops through the finish.
BAMBARRA (Côte d'Ivoire) – Aromatic. Captivating. Vibrant. The delicately sweet aroma of toasted coconut is truly captivating as you experience discreet notes of burnt caramel.
TAMBORINA (Trinidad) – Intense. Complex. Exhilarating. This intensely flavorful cacao has the sweet-tartness of ripe cherries followed by mild tobacco notes and a delightfully long, dry finish.
Each TMEC tastes like how it is described, although I must admit without the cheat sheet, I will probably not be able to tell one from the other. All tastes bitter and rich and dry, the way I like my chocolate to be.
Whether or not NoKA truly is The Most Expensive Chocolate, at ¥3,000 (US$32) for a box of four, or ¥750 (US$8) for a sim card-sized piece, it is definitely not the cheapest in the world.
Is it worth the price? Well, all I can say is, three hours after the last piece of TMEC melts in my mouth, I still smell and taste the bitter cocoa in my breath. US$8. 180 minutes of pleasure. You do the math.
As for me, I feel like a millionaire already.
NoKA Chocolate: 1/F Midtown Galleria, Tokyo Midtown, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo. 東京ミッドタウンガレリア1F. +813-54130072
