Yesterday I went to a chocolate tasting. Now, I know the very last thing anybody in the world wants to hear is someone complaining about a chocolate tasting, so I will say only: if you’re thinking about getting into the chocolate business and think you can win by coming up with the most wacky original flavor of truffle, you’re wrong. Thanks.

On the other hand, if you’re a chocolate maverick working on the island of São Tomé, off the west coast of Africa, and your mission in life is to grow the world’s best cacao and make it into unique chocolate bars, you have my attention. That’s what Claudio Corallo is doing, and his products are available in the Seattle area.

The vast majority of chocolate (the main exception is Mexican chocolate) is conched, which mainly consists of bringing the chocolate to a high temperature to drive off particular volatile compounds and smooth the texture of the chocolate. Corallo is opposed to conching. As a result, the consistency of his bars is somewhere between a Valrhona bar and a crunchy roasted cacao nib. He also markets whole roasted cacao beans, which are crunchy and earthy. His 80 percent bar has crackly sugar crystals. Corallo chocolate is a textural experience.

This is the most exciting chocolate I’ve tasted in years. There doesn’t seem to be a list of retail outlets on their web site, but it’s available in Seattle at Chocolopolis on Queen Anne and at Delaurenti. If you live in the US, you can order online from the web site. My top pick is the 80 percent bar.

You can learn a lot more about Corallo in Mort Rosenblum’s book Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light.