Amedei Porcelana is a dark chocolate bar made by the Amedei luxury chocolatier of Tuscany, Italy. It is often known as the world's most expensive chocolate.[1][2][3][4][5] It has won various awards from the "Academy of Chocolate", including "Best Bean to Bar", "Best Dark Chocolate Bar",[6][7] and the "Golden Bean Award."[8]
Manufacture
The cocoa in Amedei Porcelana is from translucent white[2] cocoa beans of the variety "Porcelana", named for their porcelain-like color. This cocoa bean, a genetically pure strain of the highly-prized Criollo, is native to Venezuela and may have been grown there in the pre-Columbian era.[9][10]
Porcelana cocoa was called "Maracaibo" in colonial times, since it was primarily exported from that Venezuelan port community. Along with a few other Mexican and Colombian cocoa beans, Maracaibo cocoa was classified as one of the world's highest quality cocoas until the 1920s.[9]
Today, many of these Mexican and Colombian cocoas have disappeared and have been replaced by more disease-resistant hybrids.[9]
Packaging
Amedei Porcelana is sold in individually-numbered packages[4] that have been called "the reference standard for the industry on how to package a chocolate bar."
Price
A 1.75 oz Amedei Porcelana bar sells in the United States for $21.[11] The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound.[1][3][4] Amedei Porcelana has often been described as the world's most expensive chocolate, and has been recognized as such by the Guinness Book of World Records. [1][2][3][5]
Golden Opulence Sundae and Golden Phoenix Cupcake
Porcelana is included in the Golden Opulence Sundae, a $1,000 dessert sold at the Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City and mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records.[5] Porcelana is also used in making the most expensive cupcake, the Golden Phoenix, which is made by Bloomsbury's, a boutique cafe in Dubai.[12]