Telegraph Obscura Cacao

Telegraph Brewing Company Obscura Cacao: Rarely does a beer made with cocoa beans not turn into a dessert-ready chocolate bomb, and the ingredient is almost always used to enhance thicker, opaque styles like stout or porter. But in this collaboration between Telegraph and Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolate — two of the earliest innovators in Santa Barbara’s burgeoning foodie explosion — the Dominican Republic-sourced cocoa gives the orange-hued ale a roasted aroma and a sublimely bittersweet chocolate undertones, otherwise allowing the super-smooth beer’s more tropical flavors to take centerstage. Like most of Telegraph’s experimental projects, expect this one to disappear fast. See TelegraphBrewing.com and 24BlackbirdsChocolate.com.