MEET WILLY WONKA FOR THE '90S.

Byline: P. Lataille-Korpela Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Mr. Chocolate is as obsessively secretive as Willy Wonka, thanks to an evil Slugworth in his recent past. Yet his passion for chocolate rivals Mr. Wonka showing off his beloved chocolate factory.

``I can talk about chocolate until I foam at the mouth or your ears fall off,'' warns Timothy Moley, founder of Chocolove, which distributes a line of premium chocolate bars.

``There's a whole world of chocolate to explore - a world of creativity and experience analogous to music, art and wine. To make chocolate is an art by itself at the premium quality level,'' says Moley.

Chocolove is a modern ``virtual'' company with production facilities in Europe, packaging operations on the East Coast and offices in Boulder, Colo. Moley is a modern-day Willy Wonka minus the oompah loompah workers.

Bars of the fine chocolate can be found in natural food stores, gourmet and specialty shops and cafes throughout the United States.

Creating gourmet chocolate was a natural choice for Moley, 36, a former tea and spice taster. He worked in product development and quality control for Frontier Herbs, a spice company in Iowa, and then as a taster for Traditional Medicinal Teas in California.

``Some people love to listen to music, some look at art. I love to taste things. I'm just an oral kind of guy,'' says Moley. His affinity for the intense flavors included experience with cocoa beans and vanilla. Moley says he finds working with chocolate more fun than herbs or spices.

``Chocolate is a soulful mood food,'' explains Moley. ``It transports you to higher realms of consciousness and ecstasy.''

As a ``budding'' chocolatier, Moley may well be the only person in Boulder who consumes chocolate for a living.

He created Chocolove in 1995 to fill the market niche for premium quality chocolate bars in the United States. Chocolove occupies the upper rung of chocolate society, far removed from ``conventional'' American chocolates, including Hershey's and Nestle. Chocolove imports chocolate in bulk from Belgium, forms it into bars and packages it under its own label in the United States.

As with European chocolates, the cocoa content is declared on each Chocolove label. The higher the cocoa content, the better quality of the chocolate. Cocoa solids in the six varieties of Chocolove bars ranges from 33 percent in the Milk Chocolate bar to 70 percent in the Strong Dark Chocolate. The Milk Chocolate With Roasted Cocoa Bean Pieces has 40 percent cocoa solids, Dark Chocolate with 55 percent, Dark Chocolate Roasted Cocoa Bean Pieces with 60 percent. The distinctive roasted cocoa bean pieces add a distinct flavor and crunch.

Moley's home doubles as Chocolove's product development and marketing office. With editing help on promotional materials from his wife, Sue Fredericks, and tasting advice from their 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, the business thrives.

Moley distributes taste-testing kits with chocolate samples, sends out Chocolove newsletters and loads cases of chocolate onto delivery trucks all as part of a day's work.

Moley spent eight months ensuring that there was a market for high quality chocolate before putting Chocolove on the market. His background research included focus groups of taste testers. Individual chocolate consumption questionnaires were used as a guide for Moley in convening a 10-person expert panel.

``We locked them in a room, fed them chocolate and then interrogated them,'' says Moley, only half-kidding. The results were encouraging - the tasters could discern subtle differences in chocolate and would invariably select the best. Chocolove was born.

By working closely with chocolatiers in Belgium, a country known for high-quality chocolate, Moley developed what he considers a superior product. He carefully adjusts flavor profiles to ensure chocolate with a full-bodied cocoa flavor and a smooth texture that melts readily. The Belgian process roasts cocoa beans for aroma and flavor, then cracks, winnows and grinds the beans into a fine ``cocoa liqueur.'' Next the refinement process ensures small particle size while the conching or kneading achieves the balance between the cocoa flavor, sweetness, richness and smoothness that Belgian chocolate is renowned for.

``It provides a very smooth mouth feel and a full-bodied cocoa flavor,'' says Moley. While Chocolove bars are made of predominantly African cocoa beans, two of the darker chocolates have a rich blend of Caribbean beans as well.

Pure Dark Chocolate is one of the newer Chocolove flavors on the market. ``There's a slight bit of sweet - a little bit of cocoa taste with a hint of vanilla and aroma of cocoa. It melts readily in the mouth, with a buttery texture. Then it develops into a full-bodied cocoa flavor, buttery with a hint of peanut, and finishes with a pleasant cocoa aftertaste,'' describes Moley.

But to the chocolate-challenged, it may taste like unsweetened chocolate.

Mr. Chocolate takes his taste-testing seriously. His lightweight frame belies the extent of his chocolate consumption, ``I eat well over 50 pounds of different brands of chocolate yearly. A pound a week is all I ask,'' quips the slender Moley.

``Since pure cocoa butter makes up 55 percent of the weight of a cocoa bean, Chocolove's premium chocolate contains a higher fat content than most brands,'' explains Moley. ``But this type of fat, stearic acid, acts differently than other saturated fats. It doesn't raise cholesterol levels and the high cocoa content in dark chocolate may actually stimulate the metabolism. The body craves the fat and sugar in chocolate,'' says Moley, ``as well as the chemical compounds that create the mood-altering effects.''

The time-honored tradition of giving chocolate as a sign of love may be attributed to its rumored aphrodisiacal qualities. ``Women seem to have a genetic predisposition to liking chocolate,'' says Moley. He explains that the chemical compounds found in chocolate react with ``feel-good'' hormones such as seratonin and endorphins, while theobromine increases the heart rate. The brain uses the hormone phenylethylamine to communicate sensations that an individual is in love, the first step up the romance ladder.

A bar of high-quality chocolate may be the best way to satisfy chocolate cravings, since it's premium chocolate, less is more. ``There is less sugar and more taste,'' says Moley. ``The stronger the cocoa content, the more flavor. A few squares will satisfy, rather than an entire bar of lower-grade chocolate.''

Moley says he believes consumers will decide that the amount of satisfaction they derive from premium chocolate is worth it. ``The reason people eat chocolate isn't to increase their caloric intake. It's to satisfy a certain need to reward oneself.''

Premium quality comes at a premium price. Chocolove sells for $2.50 to $3 for a 3.2-ounce bar, comparable to similar quality Valrhona chocolate bar from France, and Italy's Perugina.

According to Moley, Chocolove fans include actress Annette Funicello and blues musician Taj Mahal. Moley says he encourages anyone who is interested in chocolate to taste Chocolove. ``It should help them explore new brands and expand their appreciation of chocolate.''

Jennifer Cook, a University of Colorado at Boulder graduate student, says she is thrilled to find a premium chocolate bar in the United States. ``I love Chocolove because it reminds me of European chocolate. After living in France for a year, I found that American chocolate tasted like it was full of wax.''

One of the biggest fans of Chocolove is Moley himself.

``I'm not only presenting the finest chocolate on the market, but I'm providing a vehicle to express love,'' he says with a smile. Moley's favorite times at work are when he sips a glass of brandy, letting squares of chocolate melt in his mouth while selecting, he says, ``the poems of passion that speak to the soul.'' The inspired verses appear on the inside of Chocolove labels to be read by ``hopeless romantics.''

Moley never tires of eating chocolate. ``Sometimes I have to take a break - because I'm overstimulated, but I'm always fascinated by the flavor.''

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Photo

Photo: (color) Timothy Moley, Mr. Chocolate, founder and owner of Chocolove, does some chocolate taste testing at his home in Boulder, Colo.

Crissy Pascual/Boulder Daily Camera