The Mast Brothers' bearded cocoon of craft chocolate appears to be melting in the face of intense criticism, most recently as the target of a damning four part series that purports to lift the curtain behind one of Williamsburg OG "artisanal" food makers. In Mast Brothers: What Lies Beneath the Beards, the exposé published on Dallasfood.org, the blogger "Scott"—who doesn't reveal his last name to protect his day job—painstakingly debunks and refutes years of claims by the hirsute brothers Michael and Rick Mast, most notably their claims of employing a “bean to bar" method since first selling their chocolate in 2007. According to Scott, it's all a crock of crummy cacao.

According to multiple on-the-record sources, the duo admit to using remelted chocolate from Valrhona, a no-no to craft purveyors who purport to using the bean to bar process. Phone calls, emails and in person conversations show the brothers admitting to their Valrhona use not only to "experiment with new recipes," but also in products sold to the public.

"This has been an open secret in the chocolate industry," chocolate exprt Clay Gordon divulged to Quartz. Chocolate professionals point to early bars as "overly refined," a "trademark of industrial chocolate" and note that, as the brothers presumably began truly making bean-to-bar chocolate, there was a noticeable dip in quality. "The change was remarkable and obvious," a Portland Cacao shop owner remembered of product tasted in 2010. "Most of the chocolate was simply inedible, by my standards."

These pics of the @MastBrothers show how quick the transformation from bros to beards was https://t.co/1nXXKjeKru pic.twitter.com/HJGaQNRANm — Nick Zukin (@extramsg) December 16, 2015

Scott's takedown also calls out the brothers' claims of ingenuity in the craft chocolate industry, refuting their self-proclaimed titles as the “Leaders of the Chocolate Revolution" by showing they employed chocolate-making techniques and machinery that was already developed for and in use by other craft chocolate companies. “We’ve had to come up with how everything is done every step of the way because there was no such thing as small-batch chocolate makers,” the duo claimed in interviews, conveniently omitting that they purchased equipment on a popular industry website and that other craft purveyors were already employing similar methods when Mast Brothers debuted.

This is the second time this year the Brothers Mast have been subjected to public scrutiny—and not just their shady assertions but also the quality of their product. Earlier this spring, chocolate writer Megan Giller ran a story revealing the brothers' relationship with the greater craft chocolate community, who essentially dismissed their product from the early days. According to Scott, the experts in the industry and Giller's assessments, the brothers' contribution to the chocolate scene can be summed up as purely aesthetic. "With their attractive packaging; youthful, hip fashion; and marketing genius, they are the face of the movement, educating the public about craft chocolate and bringing a higher-end product to specialty and grocery stores alike," Giller notes on Slate.

The brothers have continued their practice of doubling down when confronted with these accusations. "We are a dangerous company because we are outsiders to the chocolate industry, never leaning on industry norms," Rick Mast mused in March. "Sorry that you liked our chocolate more in 2007 than in later years," they condescended to GrubStreet. Finally, in an open letter on their website, the brothers refute all claims made by Scott's analysis. "Any insinuation that Mast Brothers was not, is not or will not be a bean to bar chocolate maker is incorrect and misinformed. We have been making chocolate from bean to bar since the beginning and will continue to do so."