Claudio Corallo Chocolate teaches Ballard the finer points of the dark delicacy

This is the way I usually "educate" myself about the chocolate I'm about to consume: "Looks like chocolate. Smells like chocolate. Mmm, tastes like chocolate." So a recent trip to Ballard's new Claudio Corallo Chocolate proved to be an enlightening experience.

A sandwich board outside the shop invites passersby to "Come in and learn about chocolate," and the shop's warm-but-spartan decor, knowledgeable staff and delectable chocolate samples spread on the glass counter all encourage interaction between the customer and the purveyors.

The shop's namesake, Claudio Corallo, lives on the African island of Principe, where he oversees the creation of chocolate from bean to bar on his cacao plantation. Described by Mort Rosenblum in "Chocolate: A Bittersweet Sage of Dark and Light" as "Crocodile Dundee, Gandhi-style," Corallo is incredibly meticulous with production -- even removing the tiny pencil-point-sized stem from each cacao bean, since leaving it in can slightly affect the chocolate's taste.

At the Ballard shop, you can learn exactly how the bars go from cacao bean to the delicious form in front of you, sample all the varieties, and nibble on the sweet, nutty crushed pieces of the cacao-bean kernels known as nibs, which are used in Corallo's 73.5 percent with nibs bar.

The bars come in 70 to 100 percent cocoa content -- with some variations, like the Laranja with an orange essence and Gingebre with ginger. All bars are sold in packs of three for $12 to $13. The shop also sells chocolate-covered coffee beans ($14 per box) -- farmed by Corallo, of course -- and chocolate truffles ($2 each).

All of Corallo's chocolate is sustainably grown, so Seattleites can satisfy their sweet tooth and put their conscience to rest at the same time.

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