Chocolate With a Kick: The ‘Whiskey Bar’ Is Here

Just in time for summer, the Sagaponack Farm Distillery has teamed up with North Fork Chocolate Company chef Steven Amaral to produce two exceptional chocolate bars — the “Whiskey Bar,” which is flavored with Sagaponack Farm Distillery Single Spud potato spirit, and the “Rhubarb Bar” featuring Sagaponack Farm Distillery Rhubarb Liqueur.

“When my farm manager Suzannah Wainhouse presented me with prototypes of the bars and announced we were going to sell them, it was pretty much the best thing that happened all spring,” said Marilee Foster, manager of the distillery, which is owned by her brother, Dean Foster. “They’re so good. Maybe we’ll do more flavors someday.”

“As a full-service caterer, I do the food for a lot of pairing events at East End wineries,” Amaral said. “With these new bars, the ideal pairing is ‘baked in’ — the naturally sweet, ever-so-slightly earthy potato spirit melds with the milk chocolate; while the rhubarb liqueur contrasts with the creaminess of milk chocolate.”

[caption id="attachment_105579" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The makers' hands with the key ingredients for the new chocolate bars. Courtesy North Fork Chocolate Company.[/caption]

The bars are now being sold exclusively at the distillery, located at 369 Sagg Road in Sagaponack, while supplies last. In addition to the chocolate bars, snacks are available in the tasting room and food trucks will be set up outside throughout the summer season. The tasting room and patio seating are now open and reservations for larger groups can be made by calling 631-537-7300.

The Sagaponack Farm Distillery was founded by Dean Foster in 2013. Everything processed in the facility — including corn, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, rhubarb, rye and wheat — is grown onsite or on the nearby Foster Farm, founded in 1870. Other products available by the bottle — and served in original cocktails in the tasting room — include aquavit, potato vodka and wheat vodka. Other libations are maturing in barrels in the distillery works itself, which is visible from the tasting room.

[caption id="attachment_105580" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Ingredients for the Sagaponack Farm Distillery and North Fork Chocolate Company's new chocolate bars — the “Whiskey Bar” and the “Rhubarb Bar.” Courtesy North Fork Chocolate Company.[/caption]

The chocolate Amaral uses in his “Chocotorium” — located behind his retail store at 740 Main Road in Aquebogue — is organic and fair trade, from Ecuador. All of his bars are raw, single-source chocolate and he offers over 50 flavors of handmade chocolate bonbons, including “Honey,” which is sourced from Breezy Acres in Calverton and contained in a golden fleur-de-lis, and “North Fork Blackberry Merlot,” using Pellegrini Vineyards Merlot. All are available at his store and online at northforkchocolate.com.