Awards, Articles & Reviews

Awards & Recognitions

Silver: Duarte, Dominican Republic 70% (USA National Competition)
Silver: Duarte, Dominican Republic 70% (Americas Competition)
Silver: Upala, Costa Rica 85% (Americas Competition)
Silver: 70% DARK + COCONUT (Americas Competition)
2017 International Chocolate Awards

Bronze: Duarte Dominican Republic 70%
2017 Academy of Chocolate, Bean To Bar (Under 80% Cocoa Solids)

Silver (USA National Awards), Upala 70%
Bronze (Overall Americas Semi-Finals), Upala 70%
2014 International Chocolate Awards

Finalist, Upala 70% with Salt
2014 Good Food Awards, Chocolate Inclusions Category

Silver, San Martín 70%
2013 Academy of Chocolate, Best Dark Chocolate Bean to Bar Category

Good Food Award, Upala 70% Nib & Salt
2013 Good Food Awards, Chocolate Inclusions Category

Silver, Upala 70%
2011 Academy of Chocolate, Bean to Bar Best Dark Bar Category

Finalist, Upala 70%
2011 Good Food Awards, Dark Chocolate Category

Articles & Reviews

2022

Mashed: The Best Bean-To-Bar Chocolate Brands You Can Buy
After being introduced to fine chocolate by his brother and sister-in-law, there was no going back for Potomac Chocolate’s Ben Rasmussen. As he shared on the company website, he no longer craved what he’d once considered to be his go-to candy, Three Musketeers. He also decided to get into fine chocolate in a big way, launching his chocolate company in the DC area in 2010.

The Spruce Eats: The 7 Best Drinking Chocolates in 2022
This award-winning artisan bean-to-bar craft drinking chocolate is rich and delicate with a slightly bracing mouthfeel. Made from single-origin beans from the Duarte region of the Dominican Republic and crafted in a small shop in Virginia, this process- and flavor-driven product is made with two single ingredients—organic cacao and sugar.

2021

Food & Wine: The Best Chocolate in America
50 of the finest chocolate makers and chocolate shops across the country. […] Back in 2010, Ben Rasmussen turned his Northern Virginia basement into a chocolate laboratory, transitioning relatively quickly from enthusiast to one of the best bean-to-bar makers in the DMV. Impeccably-sourced two-ingredient bars are the main offering from this diminutive operation, but Rasmussen has lately been tinkering with the notion of a better kind of milk chocolate, with considerable success.

2021

2019

Northern Virginia Magazine: Craving chocolate? Here are 4 great places in NoVA for sweet treats
If baking cookies and pouring a glass of grass-fed milk is too much work, Potomac Chocolate’s all-in-one milk-and-cookies chocolate bar should please St. Nick. Owner and chocolatier Ben Rasmussen—who moved the decades-old brand into its first retail shop in downtown Occoquan—first toasts the milk powder for the chocolate and then blends in his own speculoos cookies. Now that Rasmussen has a storefront, expect more than just chocolates, like his own jars of speculoos cookie butter.

2018

Review: Chocolate Uplift Toasted Milk
Even if you’re an “unabashed dark chocolate snob” like dear chocolate maker Ben says he was, this sophisticated milk chocolate bar has something for almost everyone. It gives complexity for dark chocolate aficionados, creaminess for milk chocolate lovers, and irresistible caramel notes for all, because in a virtuoso touch Ben toasts the milk powder before adding it to the chocolate, which brings out an incredible rich caramel taste!

Review: Beantobar.be Potomac – Upala Costa Rica 85% (****1/2)
We are clearly in high percentage country. This is cocoa as it is. Bold and flavorful, it doesn’t offer compromises or wants to be seen as a candy. It is an uplifting piece of chocolate. It revives the palate rather than fatiguing it. Some people might think it is a bit much, but any chocoholic will adore slowly discovering every flavor it has to offer.

Review: Dame Cacao *Potomac Upala 70% Dark with Nibs
This bar is now the top nibs bar out there, in my mind, and I feel bad for those of you who’ve not yet had the pleasure of tasting it. Superb.

Review: Laatu Suklaa Potomac Chocolate Duarte 70% – Dominikaanisen Tasavallan Kaakaota Ameriikan Kautta (in Finnish)

2017
Review: Uncommonly Chocolate Review of Upala, Costa Rica 85%, 70% DARK + TOASTED SOURDOUGH, and 70% DARK + SPICE bars
What’s really fun is the “after note” of the aleppo chili, which comes in on the last train as the chocolate is being swallowed. […] the heat just sits there and bides its time. Swallow, and the orchestra begins with just the perfect hint of heat. Not overpowering, it’s the goldilocks of flavors – it’s just right.

Review: Time to Eat Chocolate Review of 70% DARK + TOASTED SOURDOUGH and 70% DARK + SPICE bars
A touch of citrus developed toward the end of my bite and I was left with the aftertaste of sourdough bread. I really liked this bar because bread and chocolate are a great combination to begin with (think of those chocolate croissants) and the light texture of the crumbs is very pleasant.

Chocolate Class Potomac Chocolate: a Closer Look at the Ethics, Marketing, and Intentions of Craft Chocolate Makers

Review: Choco Check Potomac Costa Rica Upala 85% cacao

Voice of America One-man Chocolate Factory Flourishes

Northern Virginia Magazine “Taste is Only the Beginning” (p. 148 in print magazine)

2016
Review: Time to Eat Chocolate Potomac Chocolate Holiday Bar and Others

GRUMP! GRUMP Profile – Potomac Chocolate Co.

Northern Virginia Magazine “VA Made: 50+ Locally Made Gifts and the Stories Behind the Artisans Who Make Them” (p. 59 in print magazine)

Review: ChocoFiles Duarte, Dominican Republic 70%
Fascinating! Powerful. A great rendition of great cacao from the DR. I want more! A First Class bar deserving to be hunted for!

Edible Philly Thirty-Seven Chocolates; My foray into the world of American craft chocolate (mention)

Review: ChocoFiles Cuyagua, Venezuela 70%
Awesome sauce! Super! An excellent bar that I would highly recommend!

Review: ChocoFiles San Martín, Peru 70%
Potomac does a fantastic job of bringing out the nuances of this origin. After offering this bar for several years they know it well, so the bars are extremely enjoyable! Well done! I would highly recommend this bar, and it is a great standard for San Martin Peru cacao.

Time to Eat Chocolate Potomac Chocolate Tasting

Time to Eat Chocolate Staying (Kind of) Local Part 7

ABC News Garage Geniuses: The Basement Chocolate Factory MacGyver Would Be Proud of

Review: Commodities Connoisseur Potomac Chocolate Cuyagua 70%

Review: empassionado Week 14. Potomac Cuyagua, Venezuela 2013 Harvest

2015

Review: 37 Chocolates Potomac Cuyagua (Venezuela) 70% Dark Chocolate

Paddock Post 15 Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Makers

Paddock Post Potomac Chocolate

Washington Post Washington’s craft chocolate industry continues to grow

Washington Post How to taste chocolate, starting with locally made bars

Washington Post Chocotenango, Undone Chocolate and Potomac Chocolate get crafty with their methods

2014
Cocoa Pilgrim Craft Chocolate Maker, Ben Rasmussen of Potomac

Review: Purple Chocolate Eaters San Martín 70%

The Chocolate Tourist Potomac Chocolate in Virginia

Cococlectic Ben Rasmussen, Potomac Chocolate – April Chocolate Maker

Washington Post At Potomac Chocolate, local chocolate-maker turns beans into bars

2013
Medium Chocolate Makers that Rock; Our 1:1 with an American Craftsman: Potomac

Lonny Magazine November Issue, ‘Scout’ section (20 products, places, people and trends we’re captivated by this month)

Good Chocolate Magazine “(Really) Hand Crafted Chocolate” (page 21)

Review: Choco Check Potomac Costa Rica Upala 82% cacao

MyKugelhopf Chocolate Roundup #12: American Bean-to-Bar

Review: Chocablog Potomac Chocolate Upala Nib & Salt

Virginia Living, Best of Virginia 2013 Special Issue “Pure Chocolate” p.73 (print only)

Review: Little Brown Squares Potomac Chocolate, Woodbridge VA (Source: Various)

Honest Blue It’s All About the Chocolate

Reddit AMA

Review: ChocoFiles San Martín 70%

Prince William Living Magazine, Taking Care of Business Section Ben Rasmussen: Potomac Chocolate — Flavor to Savor & Never Forget

Review: C-Spot San Martín 70%

Table Matters Worth Its Salt

Review: Wayfaring Chocolate Chocolatepalooza: The Washington DC Haiku Edition, starring Fresco, El Ceibo, and Potomac

2012
City Eats (DC) The Ten: Best Chocolatiers

Review: My Chocolate Peaces Pass the Salt Please… Potomac Chocolate Review

NPR’s Food Blog, The Salt Chocolate Maker Brings Joy Out of the Basement (audio interview with photo slideshow)

Review: Chocolate Reviews Potomac Chocolate Upala 70% Dark Bar

NPR’s Food Blog, The Salt DIY Willy Wonka Turns Home Into Chocolate Factory

Southern Living Magazine “Artisanal Chocolate Makers: These cocoa connoisseurs are raising the bar with from-scratch chocolate roasted south of the Mason-Dixon line” (page 12)

Review: Georg Bernardini at SeventyPercent.com Potomac – Upala 70%

2011
Selective Echo Caputo’s chocolate collection celebrates the artisan maker’s capacity for disruptive innovation

Review: The Ultimate Chocolate Blog Po-TO-mac…PO-to-mac…Poto-MAC…Pot-to-mac…Ahhhh…it’s PUH-TOH-MUHK! No matter how you say it, it is good chocolate.

Review: Chocolate Ratings Potomac Chocolate 70% & 82% Single Origin

Review: The Secret Chocolatier Potomac Chocolate Costa Rican Upala 82% Review

Interview: DC Metro Chocolate Tours An Interview with the Owner of Potomac Chocolate

Review: ChocoFiles Upala 70%

Review: Stuart Robson at SeventyPercent.com Potomac – Upala 70%

Review: Drexelius Chocolates Potomac Chocolate – Review

Interview: My Munchable Musings Chocolate Cross the Potomac

Details Magazine An Insider’s Guide to the American Chocolate Renaissance

Review: The District Chocoholic Potomac Chocolate: Upala 70% Cocoa Nib Bar