Press & Bio: Read a Short Biography of Patric Chocolate and its Chocolate Maker Alan McClure, and Read about Patric Chocolate in the Press

Patric Chocolate is a micro, bean-to-bar, fine dark chocolate maker based in the Midwestern United States. Built upon chocolate maker Alan McClure’s passion for fine chocolate, Patric Chocolate has gone from little more than a dream to a respected artisan chocolate maker in only a few short years:

2004-2006: Return from a year in France, where the French chocolate tradition, including Valrhona and Bernachon, among others, made a substantial impact on Alan, leading to the beginning of serious study and experimentation with chocolate and chocolate making.

2006--March: Patric Chocolate formed.

2006--June-December: Cacao sourcing trips to Mexico, Belize and Venezuela take place as Alan works on custom chocolate-making machinery.

2006--October: Work begins on Patric Chocolate's custom chocolate-making facility.

2007--January: Patric Chocolate opens its doors.

2007--July: After months of careful development, including a flavor-enhancing aging process, the first bar in the Patric Chocolate product line, a micro-batch 70% Madagascar bar, made only with aromatic single-estate cacao and pure cane sugar is released.

2008--February: The Patric Chocolate 67% Madagascar bar is released, including cocoa butter pressed at the Patric Chocolate facility, a rarity in the industry.

2008--May: Gourmet Magazine takes note of Patric Chocolate.

2008--July: The LA Times finds Patric Chocolate bars to be "handcrafted standouts."

2008--August: Patric Chocolate is honored with an invitation to showcase our chocolate at the first annual Slow Food Nation festival in San Francisco, as one of only five chocolate makers invited to do so.

2008--August-September: Patric Chocolate becomes one of five founding members of the Craft Chocolate Makers of America (CCMA).

2008--November: The New Yorker Online notes the refinement of Patric Chocolate's flavorful and surprising bars.

2008--November: Several new additions to the Patric Chocolate line are released, including a 75% Madagascar bar, single-origin Madagascar hot chocolate disks, single-origin Madagascar baking chocolate, and roasted cacao nibs, as well as gift sets including all of the aforementioned products.

2009--February: Food and Wine Magazine notes that Patric Chocolate is "creating exceptional small-batch bars."

2009--June: Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate elected first chairperson of the Craft Chocolate Makers of America (CCMA) board.
· 2009--July: The first new bar since November 2008--the 70% w/NIBS Madagascar bar--is released. This is the first chocolate bar with "inclusions"--the cocoa nibs--that Patric Chocolate has ever released.

2009--October: Patric Chocolate's first non-Madagascar bar, the 70% Rio Caribe Superior, is released.

Articles and Interviews with Patric Chocolate/Chocolate Maker Alan McClure:

The New Taste of Chocolate Revised, 2009 Edition, by Maricel E. Presilla, p 131: "the handful of most important american micro-batch makers includes [...] Alan McClure of Patric in Columbia, Missouri"

The Riverfront Times: Bean-to-bar manufacturers Patric and Askinosie are putting Missouri on the chocolate map by Aimee Levitt

Grist: In a tasting of seven eco-cocoas, only one hits the mark by Lou Bendrick

Zingerman's News and Notes: Special interview with Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate

Best Chocolate 2009: The Riverfront Times knows what it likes

Imbibe Magazine, December 2009: "A must-have mix." You will "take your hot cocoa to a whole new level."

Dallas Observer: Chocolate Confidential by Lisa Petty

Dallas Classic Desserts: Recipes from Favorite Restaurants by Helen Thompson p 18: "[Rhonda Ruckman of Doughmonkey] has been one of the most devoted proponents of American manufacturers and uses artisanal American chocolates in most of her work (the chef's extra-brut cocoa powder chocolate cake with a poured ganache of Patric Chocolate is the rage among cultists)."

Kansas City Star: Owner of Patric Chocolate Follows His Passion by Anne Brockhoff (PDF Page 1 and Page 2)

Florida Times-Union: Picking the Right Chocolate for Your Sweetheart (quoted)

Vox Magazine: Visions of a Chocolatier

The Craft Chocolate Makers of America (CCMA) are saddened to hear of Hershey's plans to shutter Sharffen Berger's neighborhood facility in Berkeley, CA.

Food and Wine Magazine rates Patric Chocolate as 1 of 5 American bean-to-bar chocolate makers "creating exceptional small-batch bars."

The Columbia Tribune: Bean to Bar: Local Artisan Reviving the Art of Making Chocolate by Marcia Vanderlip

Patric Chocolate Helps Found the Craft Chocolate Makers of America (CCMA)

Chocablog review of Patric Chocolate's 67% and 70% bars

The New Yorker: Off the Menu by Rick Mast (wherein we learn how Patric Chocolate is like Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice)

Food Interviews: Virtual Tour at Patric Chocolate: Part 1 and Part 2

Checkout Line: Will Chocolate Replace Coffee as the Foodie's Bean of Obsession? by Lou Bendrick

Scrumptious Street: "Best In Show - Slow Food Nation '08" by Stephanie Beack

Chocolate in Context: "Rushing to Get Slow Chocolate" by Emily Stone

Gourmet Walks on Chocolate: "Artisan Chocolate Maker Roundtable"

Slow Food Nation: Artisanal Eating by Jennifer Russ

The Making of a Foodie blog by Jenny Vergara: "From Bean to Bar to Bon Bon"

Los Angeles Times:Chocolate Made in America (Including Patric Chocolate's two origin bars)

Los Angeles Times: Chocolate Makers Focus on the Technology of Making Chocolate Better (Including portions of an interview with Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate)

Trend Tracker Newsletter: Snacking Industry (Patric Chocolate Mention)--pdf file

Dallas Morning News: Doughmonkey Owners Shift Their Focus to Gourmet Chocolates by Bill Addison--(Patric Chocolate gets several mentions)

The Mavericks of American Chocolate by Stephanie Zonis

Wright Eats: "Chocolopolis" (With a note about Patric Chocolate)

Gourmet Magazine's May 29th E-Newsletter: "Chocolate lovers have become as snobbish and wordy as wine enthusiasts, which, in turn, has made us pretty skeptical about claims made by new chocolatiers. Still, Patric Chocolate has won us over; its micro-batch bars are more like food than candy, and when the label tells you that the chocolates have notes of "red wine and berries" or "citrus," you find that they actually do."

Sku's Recent Eats: "Show Me The Chocolate: Patric Chocolate"

The Nibble Online Magazine: "Beyond Artisan Chocolate: Microbatch Bars" (featuring Patric Chocolate)

Dark Chocolate Daily: "Patric vs. Patric"

David Lebovitz's "Living the Sweet Life in Paris" review of our 67% and 70% Madagascar bars

Chocolate Note: "It Takes Two--Patric Sambirano"

DallasFood.org: "Raising the Bar: Chocolate"

Sauce Magazine: "Craft Chocolate Made Close to Home"

St. Louis Post Dispatch: "For the Love of Chocolate--Patric Chocolate" and The St. Louis Post Dispatch review of the 70% Madagascar bar

Hardy Pardy Food Blog: A Patric Chocolate Review

The Cupcake Project: "Patric Chocolate: A Chocolate Tasting Experience"

Official Seventypercent.com reviews of the Patric Chocolate 70% Madagascar bar

Chocolate ZOOM's Patric Chocolate Article