New York ( CNN ) -- True love may be priceless , but does that mean we should pay through the nose for fine chocolate on Valentine 's Day- or any day ? The answer is unequivocally yes in the opinion of Rick and Mike Mast whose organic hand-crafted chocolate bars garnering rave reviews retail for $ 9 . `` You get what you pay for , '' insisted Rick Mast , 34 . `` For me , chocolate should n't be something you can pick up at the gas station for a buck or two . '' The Mast Brothers are not gourmet chocolatiers -- the artisans who melt down large blocks of chocolate and refashion the mix into delectable treats of all shapes and flavors . Rather , Rick and his brother Mike , 31 , are true chocolate makers in the tradition of Willy Wonka 's oompa-loompas , though the towering , red-bearded Masts -- Rick is 6 ' 4 '' , Mike 6 ' 3 '' -- could hardly be confused with author Roald Dahl 's fictional Lilliputian chocolate workers . From a small store-front factory in the Brooklyn , New York neighborhood of Williamsburg , the Masts are producing an intensely complex tasting chocolate -- yes , just the way fine wine should deliver layers of flavor -- even though their ingredients are as simple as can be : cacao beans and sugar . `` We do n't dumb it down so it 's not as exotic or as sexy an experience , '' said Rick Mast explaining why he adds no milk fat , cocoa butter or emulsifiers . `` Chocolate should take you on a trip . '' The Masts began producing chocolate in their apartments . Three years ago after maxing out several credit cards and investing their modest savings they turned their passion into a business that tries to live by an environmentally-friendly ethos . They purchase organic cacao beans from Venezuela , Madagascar and the Dominican Republic . To reduce their carbon footprint this year they plan to have a friend who owns a large sailboat deliver some of their beans . The beans are roasted in two convection ovens for about 15-to-20-minutes . Then the chocolate-makers pour the beans into a custom-made whirling , buzzing contraption that separates the husk from the nibs -- the meat of the bean that becomes chocolate . The resulting nibs go into vats where granite wheels crush them . Sugar is added and the mix is stirred until smooth . Pans filled with the thick pudding-like concoction then sit on a shelf for a month , to allow the full flavor of the bean to emerge . Finally , the cacao-sugar mix is melted down , stirred again and poured into bars . What results is a dark chocolate that tastes like so much more than chocolate : imagine chocolate infused with spice , citrus , and tea , except none of those is an ingredient . `` We 're bringing out the different characteristics and the flavors people did n't think were imaginable from chocolate , '' said Mike Mast . For extra variety the Masts add coffee , hazelnuts , almonds , sea salt , peppers and black truffles to create additional flavors . A few of New York 's finer restaurants , including Per Se , now offer Mast Brothers Chocolate on their desert menus and leading gourmet shops carry the brand as well . The Masts are shipping 5,000 chocolate bars a week and say they have 1,000 potential accounts on their waiting list . With a high content of cacao -- 70 % to 81 % -- Mast Brothers Chocolate has as much of the chemicals behind chocolate 's mythical aphrodisiac qualities , the serotonin building-block tryptophan and stimulant phenylethylamine , as most any other bar . But , is it worth $ 9 for 2.5 ounces ? I ca n't say it 's the most delicious chocolate you will ever eat ; it has none of the sweetness that lures so many of us to chocolate . But it likely will be the most interesting chocolate you may ever taste . And , after all to keep priceless love aflame we need to keep things interesting .
Chocolate should n't be something you can pick up at the gas station for a buck or two , says Rick Mast . Ingredient list is simple : cacao beans and sugar . `` We 're bringing out the different characteristics and the flavors people did n't think were imaginable from chocolate , '' said Mike Mast .