Encore’s Coffee Chocolate Bars

by David Nilsen

All photos by David Nilsen.

I met Mike King of Encore Coffee & Chocolate at the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana, last November. Mike started out as a coffee roaster, but expanded into making craft chocolate during Covid. It was partially a business decision—diversifying his offerings, better utilizing his roaster (which could be used for both)—but it turned into a second passion as he fell down the rabbit hole of curiosity. Let’s all be grateful he did.

Though Mike celebrates the single origin terroir of his cacao beans in his Origin Bar series, he brings both halves of his business (and passion) together with his Coffeeshop series. This line includes the Vanilla Latte (white chocolate with coffee and vanilla), Caramel Macchiato (caramelized white chocolate with coffee), and Café Mocha (milk chocolate with coffee) bars. All are made with Mike’s Symphony coffee blend, a medium roast blend of several Central and South American coffee origins.

These bars allow both the chocolate and the coffee to shine, and really nail their stated drink inspirations. The Café Mocha in particular is spot on, leading with caramel with a bold espresso note behind it. It’s palate-filling but not heavy, a jolt of intensity but with a comforting warmth.

“For these bars, I aim to highlight the coffee flavors by selecting cacao origins that either complement the profile or remain neutral,” Mike explains. “For the Café Mocha bar, I initially used Ghanaian cacao to achieve a balanced, fudgy flavor from the Forastero varietal. However, ethically-sourced and traceable Ghanaian cacao is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. As a result, we are transitioning to a Signature Blend featuring Ecuadorian and Dominican Republic cacao.”

While chocolate and coffee enjoy many complementary flavors, the crops themselves also have a lot in common. The subtle similarities and differences in roasting these two beans fascinated Mike. It all comes back to base ingredient.

“I see myself as being in the agriculture business, where my value lies in bringing out the best in the beans through careful roasting. If the farmers don’t do a great job, I can’t make great chocolate. The most exciting part of my work is refining the roast to shape the flavor profile. For me, coffee and chocolate are two expressions of the same passion, just using different raw ingredients.”