Amedei Porcelana, a dark chocolate made by the Amedei chocolatier of Tuscany, Italy, was called the world's most expensive chocolate.[1][2][3][4][5] It has won various awards from the "Academy of Chocolate", including "Best bean to bar", "Best Dark Chocolate Bar",[6][7] and the "Golden Bean award."[8]
Amedei Porcelana is made from translucent, white[2] cocoa beans of a variety now called "Porcelana" due to its porcelain-like color. This cocoa bean, a genetically pure strain of the highly-prized Criollo, is native to Venezuela and may have been grown there in the pre-Columbian era.[9][10]
Porcelana cocoa was called "Maracaibo" in colonial times, since it was primarily exported from that Venezuelan port community. Along with a few other Mexican and Colombian cocoas beans, Maracaibo cocoa was classified as one of the world's highest quality cocoas until the 1920s.[9]
Today, many of these Mexican and Colombian cocoas have disappeared and have been replaced by more disease-resistant hybrids.[9] Maracaibo, or Porcelana cocoa is grown on small plantations in Venezuela. Amedei produces about 20,000 bars a year from this cocoa bean.[10]
Amedei Porcelana is sold in individually-numbered packages[4] that have been called "the reference standard for the industry on how to package a chocolate bar."
A 1.8 oz bar sells in the United States for $19-$22.[11] The often-quoted price of this chocolate is $90 a pound.[1][3][4] Amedei Porcelana has often been called the world's most expensive chocolate [1][2][3][5]
Porcelana is included in the Golden Opulence Sundae, a $1,000 dessert sold at the Serendipity 3 restaurant in New York City and mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records.[5] Porcelana is also used in making the most expensive cupcake, the Golden Phoenix, which is made by Bloomsbury's, a boutique cafe in Dubai.[12]