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Photos: Hand-crafted chocolate focuses on purity and quality

Ryan Berk opened Parliament Chocolate in Redlands a year ago. His style of chocolate is known in the business as bean-to-bar, and its focus on pure but bold flavors is drawing fans the same way craft beer and artisanal coffee already have.

Ryan Berk opened Parliament Chocolate in Redlands a year ago. His style of chocolate is known in the business as bean-to-bar, and its focus on pure but bold flavors is drawing fans the same way craft beer and artisanal coffee already have.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By trading directly with farmers, artisan chocolatiers believe they can ensure fair prices and preserve a source of unique flavors that largely don’t exist in a business dominated by Wall Street traders and a handful of multinational candy giants.

Pure, bold flavor

Ryan Berk of Parliament Chocolate sifts cocoa beans from Guatemala. He flies to Central America four times a year, hiking over Maya ruins to remote jungle villages and meeting face-to-face with the farmers who supply his beans.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Not a Hershey bar

Chocolate maker Hiram Hauchbaum meticulously hand-wraps Parliament Chocolate bars. He and two co-workers wrap nearly 1,000 bars per week.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Checking the chocolate

Hiram Hauchbaum prepares bars for wrapping. The number of chocolate makers in the U.S. who identify with the bean-to-bar movement -- by either sourcing cocoa directly from farmers or buying it from specialty importers -- has grown tenfold in the last decade.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Inspecting a mold

Chocolatier Rebecca Hsu inspects a bar mold to see if it’s ready for packaging at Parliament Chocolate in Redlands.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Into the mix

Crushed cocoa beans are processed with sugar and other ingredients in a melanger for hours, binding them to detailed specifications.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Luscious landscape

A 9-pound brick of chocolate resembles a lunar landscape after a few days in the cooler. It will be melted again and poured into bar molds at Parliament Chocolate.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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