Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate - Under The Radar Treats

Deliveries from the Dominican Republic, Belize and Madagascar. Late nights in an Arcata, California, warehouse. What, exactly, are Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor up to?

The duo is trafficking, yes, but in chocolate bars.

The cofounders of Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate met at Humboldt State University. Before becoming chocolate makers, they were both cabinetmakers who helped restore wooden boats. The bars' labels, designed by Taylor's brother, an illustrator at Pixar, bear the image of a wooden ship, a hint of the career that was.

Single-varietal dark chocolate bars ($7.50) are the backbone of the two-year-old business. Dick and Taylor source cacao from organic, fair-trade farms, then roast, winnow and grind the beans themselves. Obsessed with vintage machinery, the pair use a circa-1900 Royal Number Five coffee roaster that they salvaged from a fire, and print the wrappers on a vintage letterpress.

The line includes a maple-coconut bar, a bar studded with bits of dried black fig, and one laced with crunchy fleur de sel; plans for a drinking chocolate are also in the works.

Or opt for a four-pack ($27), an easy way to ensure the sweetest possible holiday.

Dick Taylor Chocolate bars are available at Chocolate Covered, 4069 24th St. (at Castro St.); 415-641-8123 or dicktaylorchocolate.com