Theobroma Chocolatier

I can’t believe I haven’t been here! Their chocolates are decadent and very pretty. Personally, I like truffles more. I bought them out of the display since fancy packaging wasn’t required (they didn’t make it home!). I liked the crème brûlée best. Go there, you will thank yourself for it.

Excellent chocolates, beautiful gifts and one of my must stops for holiday gifts — birthdays, Valentine’s, Christmas etc. Been going here for many years, but this will be the last. I had made all my holiday selections and the owner rang them up. I presented my ABQ Journal Press Pass for discount and he flipped out! Said that even though he advertises on press pass, he hasn’t given that discount in a very long time. He said if he gave discounts to everyone who had a press pass, he might as well stick a sign in the window saying «everything 20% off». He is generally a jolly old guy, but this holiday season he lost my business as we as any in the future. The 2 stars are for the chocolates, 0 stars for owner/​management.

Theobroma, «food of the Gods» in Latin, is such a fitting title for the quality of chocolate this place cooks up. It is something of a decadence meth lab, the kind of squeaky-​clean, germless operation Walter White would approve, and the product is about 97% (well, I’m sure it’s 100%) pure. It’s the kind of chocolate that will occasionally make you wonder if it honestly compares to sex. Their website says «Sometimes you just gotta have some» and I’ll second that emotion. These bites are really seductive.
They specialize in gifting the morsels into baskets, truffle boxes, choco blocks, that sort of thing. For the holidays I can’t think of another shop that offers ready-​to-​buy, professional packages that will make your lover fall to his or her knees which, you know, is why you’re buying them in the first place. The branding is so sharp and tailored that you’ll think it’s a franchise. Ask ‘em how they make those detailed designs. They’ll show you how they transfer cocoa butter onto imaging onto product. It’s crazy cool.
My final note concerns the operation itself. The employees aren’t family, yet they are in a non-​traditional modern American way. Every bee buzzing in the back, crafting these treats, is devoted to company and the art. The owner connects with his customers. The biz has been humming along for well over a decade, for good reason.

Best. Chocolate. Ever.
Seriously.
I don’t even particularly LIKE chocolate. But when a classmate of mine brought some samples to campus one day, I fell in love.
And when I bought a box for my grandma’s 99^th birthday, she said it was the best chocolate she’s ever had. That’s 99 loooooong chocolate-​eating years, people. And she said Theobroma’s is the best she’s ever had. And she wasn’t just saying that to be nice — trust me on this one.
Same feedback from my uncle, who couldn’t help but sneak into the aforementioned box of chocolate and steal some pieces away before Grandma noticed. He, too, said it’s the best he’s ever had, and this is coming from a man who knows his chocolate.
The taste is more than enough reason to go with Theobroma’s, but I also have to mention how dang beautiful they are. The chocolates are like little pieces of art, and the gold box (some of) the assortments come in is tres art nouveau. Makes for a beautiful gift for a loved one — or for your own beloved self.
Enjoy!

I love Theobroma! Every time I go there I am greeted warmly and free samples are always available. They have the best selection of chocolates anywhere and they are absolutely fabulous.
So many gift options are available too from special interests, to things kids would like to mixed boxes of chocolates that you put together yourself.
I hope to make this place a monthly (weekly?) ritual.
I highly recommend Theobroma for all your chocolate!

I always look up local chocolatiers when I visit different cities and found Theobroma on my recent trip to Albuquerque. The owner Chuck was running the store when I came in. When I told him I was visiting and one day wanted to have my own chocolaterie, he opened up with his experience and gave me a great tour of his shop and operation. We talked for almost an hour, sampling his creations and I left with several of his items to take home. HIs handmade truffles and the salted caramels were great. Prices were incredibly reasonable, especially to Seattle standards.
Thanks Chuck for the great chat and wish you all the best!

The best! A great place for great ice cream!

I found this candy store in a search for Taos Cow Ice cream (which outside of Arroyo Seco) is difficult to locate. This store has a selection of 8 or so flavors of this gourmet ice cream including some of their best and most creative flavors.
Once inside the store, it was clearly identifiable as a true chocolate candy kitchen. It was remarkably clean and well organized with carefully presented chocolates and a sample of a couple of their signature items was available.
The chocolates that I selected (in addition to several containers of ice cream) were very good, comparable with Godiva for example but could not rate 5 stars due to the limited selection and lack of creative choices. The best items that I had were the chocolate covered, cararmel pretzel rods.
Another criticism of this place would be the high prices. The chocolates clearly are good enough to warrant a high price but a shop like this in an out of the way location that is attempting to establish itself probably should price their items at least 25% lower, or alternatively sell some of their items as «seconds» without the fancy packaging to encourage visitors to eat the chocolate. As it is, their items appear to be set up to give as gifts.