Eat the ruby pink treat

Move over white chocolate, cocoa products have got a new coat to wear, and it's chic.

Ruby chocolate debuted five years ago, but you're probably not alone if you haven't seen or heard tell of it yet. This columnist was only recently gifted a bar, which did not survive the work week.

What you need to know about ruby chocolate is simple — largely because the production process is under armed guard (I mean, surely? We’re talking about top-secret chocolate fabrication here): Ruby chocolate is made from ruby-variety cacao beans, and cooks out to a dusty rose hue. The not-quite-ruby pink color is not a food dye cheat, nor influenced by any fruity additions; it's a natural byproduct of the specialty beans. Although the chocolate is marked by ever-so-slightly fruity notes.

How does that work? For a less cryptic answer, send a resume to chocolate-maker Barry Callebaut, headquartered in Switzerland, and hope the company shares the secret with employees. For the rest of us willing, paying schleps, the highly detailed explanation for the Pepto-choco phenomenon is:

"More than 10 years ago, one of our cocoa experts discovered that components of certain cocoa beans could produce a cacao taste experience with an exceptional flavor and color … Like grapes for fine wines, cocoa beans are influenced by the [terrain] in which they grow." — Barry-Callebaut.com

If fruity chocolate sans actual fruit sounds unbelievable, remember that cacao, like coffee beans, come from fruit. And when brewed, coffee beans are described with a host of adjectives, from nutty to fruity and light. The comparison may end there, however. Ruby beans are sourced from Ecuador, Brazil and the Ivory Coast — regions which tend to produce dark, full-bodied and even bitter coffee, a bit of a contrast to light-hearted ruby chocolate.

Ruby is officially — if there's a reliable authority on international desserts — the first major innovation in the chocolate-making world since 1930, when Nestle shared the controversial white chocolate (or fake chocolate, if you're one of those types) with the world. What's perhaps more shocking is that anyone bothers to innovate at all. Some form of chocolate (not always sweet, and sometimes spicy — don't knock it till you try it) has been consumed in the Americas since at least 450 BCE, and likely much earlier. Sweet cocoa treats have been popular across the seven seas since the 17th century or so. Why alter perfection?

But let's get down to what matters: the taste. Ruby chocolate is indeed fruity, and like many fruits there's a noticeable tang to the sweetness, not unlike the sweet-sour balance act in a good blackberry. It's less sweet than white chocolate, but you can taste sugar before you read it on the ingredients list. It's been billed by the Food Network as "not overly milky or bitter," but if you like dark chocolate, you'll find it's more creamy than not; it's comparable to milk chocolate in texture and mildness. Most, if not all, ruby chocolate treats contain milk.

The million dollar question: Does it taste like chocolate?

Sort of. It's not the chocolatiest chocolate, but it's also recognizable. And not in the way that frozen yogurt is a stand-in for ice cream (no shame, but let's admit they're different treats).

Verdict from a chocoholic: Try the Pepto weirdo. If only to marvel at the all-natural color. And to remind you how perfect dark chocolate (90% cacao) already is.