Tea, Coffee & Confectionary

The indigenous Asháninka people maintain their independence by cultivating and harvesting Peruvian rainforest cacao, which they sell to support and protect their land and communities.

Partnering with rainforest preservation charity Cool Earth to source direct from the growers, we are excited to be able to show off this exquisitely fruity cacao whilst contributing to a sustainable future for the Asháninka.

Tasting Notes

Early notes of green and red fruit, with undertones of hazelnut. Middle tones of apple peel and raspberry slowly give way to a long ending of burnt sugar caramel.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans and unrefined raw sugar.

The Ashaninka People

The Ashaninka are one of the largest indigenous groups that populate the Amazon rainforest. Settled in small communities on their ancestral lands in Peru, their tribal way of life remains intact, relying on traditional methods of hunting, fishing and farming to subsist.

Illegal loggers pose a very real threat to the land upon which the Ashaninka have thrived for centuries, and therefore to their survival as a people.

Rainforest preservation charity Cool Earth has been working with the Ashaninka to educate them in how to cultivate, ferment and dry fine flavour cacao using traditional means that minimally impact their environment. The beans attract a much higher price than commodity cacao, enabling them to fend off the threat to their land and provide a long-term and secure future for their families.

Established in 1904, Millot Farm sprawls across 15 km² in the Sambirano Valley, northern  Madagascar. It produces spices, essential oils and this incredible aromatic cacao.

The farm is a big draw to the region for its lush landscape and stunning scenery – for us the fruity punch of this Javan originating hybrid strain of cacao is definitely the main attraction.

Tasting Notes

Bursting with tart cherry and sweet raisin flavours leading to light sandalwood and smokey notes giving an incredibly complex finish.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans and unrefined raw sugar.

The Millot Farm

Although Madagascan cacao only accounts for 0.5% of worldwide production, the small but incredibly lush and fertile island is recognised for growing almost exclusively ‘fine flavour’ cacao (as opposed to commodity) and so is looked to by the high end chocolate industry and discerning independent craft makers (hiya!) for quality, characterful beans.

Malagasy cacao is not native – Lucien Millot started cacao cultivation on the farm with Trinitario trees from Java, and over a century later the beans they produce are some of the very best on the market. The plantation now employs over 800 people – the majority women – and supports the local school attended by many of the employees’ children.

The fruity Peruvian rainforest cacao cultivated by the indigenous Ashaninka people is the perfect bean for showcasing in its purest form.

Nothing else is added, leaving only natural flavours and sweetness that are coaxed and developed through the careful crafting of the chocolate maker. The holy grail for chocolate purists.

Tasting Notes

A slow build to intense roasted brazil nuts, with accents of grapefruit and plantain. This bar is un-sweetened but still delivers a beautifully balanced flavour.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans

No where to hide

In our humble opinion, a 100% bar isn’t worth tasting unless it’s made from bean to bar by a skilled chocolate maker. The reason for this is that most chocolate ‘makers’ are buying in commodity chocolate which they make palatable by adding sugar and flavourings. Without these additions the chocolate would be far too bitter to want to consume, with the possible exception of some hardcore sugar avoiders.

A 100% bar from the right hands, however, is a labour of passion and patience. The discernible flavours and sweetness have to be carefully coaxed out of the bean and preserved at every stage of processing, through fermentation, drying, roasting, grinding, conching, ageing and tempering, a process that spans months and continents! There is nothing to hide behind. At first, the intensity of unadulterated cacao can be a shock, but approached with an attitude to savour rather than scoff, it may even prove a game-changer in your perception and appreciation of chocolate as a food.