True bean-to-bar craft white chocolate is currently a rarity, so we decided to produce a grown-up version treated with the same care as all of our chocolate.

We fashioned a press to laboriously extract the cocoa butter ourselves from the very beans that we so carefully source and roast, to produce white chocolate that carries the natural flavours of the bean with none of the usual masking vanilla. Making it pure, if not actually very white

Tasting Notes

Strawberry, Caramel, Pistachio

Ingredients

Cocoa butter, unrefined raw sugar and milk powder.

Pressed In-House

A whole cocoa bean contains around 50% cocoa butter, which has a melting point just below human body temperature and is the reason that chocolate deliciously melts in the mouth. Chocolate that is made from the whole bean, ie. bean-to-bar rather than a reconstitution of cocoa powder and cocoa butter, will always have this fat content as it is naturally present in the bean.

White chocolate is often denigrated as not ‘real’ chocolate due to the absence of cocoa solids. Given that cocoa butter makes up more than half of a cocoa bean, we say this is up for debate. White chocolate is usually a confection of cocoa butter used as a vehicle for sugar, milk powder and vanilla, which has little to recommend it. As with all chocolate, however, there is a world of difference between the commodity product and the bean-to-bar craft approach.

By pressing fine flavour cocoa beans ourselves, we extract virgin fine flavour cocoa butter which needs just as little interference as the rest of our chocolate to produce a craft white chocolate worthy of the name. The reason we call it pure is that we don’t mess around with it, evidenced by its unrefined, natural appearance.

Master beekeeper Matt Pitt cares for his colonies of Cornish black bees by using sustainable methods that are stress and chemical free for the good health of his fuzzy compatriots.

He supplies us with fresh tree honey from which to make our own honeycomb, which delivers deep, heavy honey flavours and a pleasing crunch alongside our creamy milk chocolate.

Tasting Notes

Bursting with deep honey and toffee sweetness with a background of toasted hazelnut.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans, unrefined raw sugar, milk powder, honey and bicarbonate of soda.

Cornish Honey

In the springtime the Cornish hedgerows hum with the sound of bees doing their good work, so we looked for a Cornish beekeeper who could supply us with some delicious local honey from which to make our honeycomb.

Meeting Matt Pitt was a revelation to us. Not only could he readily supply the goods, he also came with an abundance of bee expertise and knowledge that turned our foodie interest into bee-vangelical fervour.

Matt keeps Cornish Black Bees, and is working hard to support and encourage their colonies to repopulate Cornwall. This breed of honeybee is naturally resilient to our climate, but numbers have significantly declined, largely due to human interference.

It’s estimated that there are now half the number of bees in the UK that were here just 20 years ago. Threats include non-traditional beekeeping methods and hive transportation that stress the colonies, the importation of non-native bees along with pests and diseases, and the loss of most of our wildflower meadows.

An embodiment of winter comfort. The deep smoky aroma of an open fire and creamy chestnut is elevated by the subtle sweetness of our white chocolate.

A zero-carbon chocolate bar.

The cocoa is grown in true harmony with nature by the Arhuaco people in Colombia. Transported from Santa Marta to Falmouth on board De Gallant via sail power alone. Turned into chocolate using antique machinery and renewable power before being packaged completely plastic-free!

The Arhuaco People

The Arhuaco are indigenous people who live in Colombia. With over 50,000 people living in 52 settlements around the Sierra Nevada mountains, their land spans all the way from the snowy peaks to the sea.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta includes the highest mountain in Colombia at 5,775 meters above sea level. It also includes a biodiverse rainforest and is home to three indigenous communities, as well as countless species throughout all of the different terrains.

The Arhuaco believe it is their responsibility to look after the mountains they call their home and educate others to achieve a balanced relationship with the natural world.

There are so many farmers growing cocoa around the world, we’re always keen to support the ones who are going above and beyond for the planet. Being able to know the care that has been taken in growing, harvesting and the processing these beans makes it even more important to pop them on a sailing boat and bring them by water to less than a mile from our factory.

Tasting Notes

Comforting malt with flavours of strawberry and cream.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans, unrefined raw sugar and whole milk powder.

Frankincense and myrrh resins from Moroccan trees provide the potent but rounded aromatic flavours of orange and pine in this unique and seasonal chocolate.

For more than 50 years Adriano de Jesus Rodriguez and Gualberto Acebey Torrejon have generously shared their expertise to build a community dedicated cacao farmers in the Duarte province, Dominican Republic.

The care taken to nurture the quality of their cacao shines through in the stunning mellow tones that work beautifully left to stand alone and when combined with other ingredients. A lovely bean from lovely people.

Tasting Notes

A very nutty array of flavours from the cacao and browned butter base. A slow build to interesting flavours of vanilla ice cream and honey over light white fruit flavours.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans, unrefined raw sugar and browned milk powder. 

A zero-carbon chocolate bar.

The cocoa is grown in true harmony with nature by the Arhuaco people in Colombia. Transported from Santa Marta to Falmouth on board De Gallant via sail power alone. Turned into chocolate using antique machinery and renewable power before being packaged completely plastic-free!

The Arhuaco People

The Arhuaco are indigenous people who live in Colombia. With over 50,000 people living in 52 settlements around the Sierra Nevada mountains, their land spans all the way from the snowy peaks to the sea.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta includes the highest mountain in Colombia at 5,775 meters above sea level. It also includes a biodiverse rainforest and is home to three indigenous communities, as well as countless species throughout all of the different terrains.

The Arhuaco believe it is their responsibility to look after the mountains they call their home and educate others to achieve a balanced relationship with the natural world.

There are so many farmers growing cocoa around the world, we’re always keen to support the ones who are going above and beyond for the planet. Being able to know the care that has been taken in growing, harvesting and the processing these beans makes it even more important to pop them on a sailing boat and bring them by water to less than a mile from our factory.

Tasting Notes

Early sweet toasted bran turning to a mixed citrus burst

Ingredients

Cocoa beans and unrefined raw sugar.

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 Ottange farm in Madagascar is the smallest of eight that make up the Mava plantation, recently acquired from state ownership and revitalised after a period of neglect.

This tiny farm – just 12 hectares – on the Rowena river is doing all the work on site to grow, harvest and process this outstanding ‘terroir’ cacao, and it’s some of the best we’ve tasted so far.

Tasting Notes

Early bursting fruit notes quickly giving way to roasted nut flavours with a light sourness. A pleasant caramel end rises from the sharp fruit and nut flavours to give a long lingering cocoa end.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans and unrefined raw sugar.

The Ottange Farm

Winner of the Cocoa of Excellence in 2017, the cacao produced by this micro farm in Madagascar has risen above the rest by virtue of being a single farm variety. Although eight separate farms make up the Mava plantation, which in total spans 1726 hectares, beans from each of the farms are fermented and dried onsite and separately.

Cacao flavour profiles are uniquely constituted according to environmental factors such as climate and soil: a small farm of skilled growers can highly refine and nurture the flavour of the cacao throughout the growing, fermenting and drying processes. The methods used by the Ottange growers are entirely traditional, using wooden boxes for fermentation before sun-drying the beans.  

African chocolate has a dark history. That is why projects in the Virunga National Park, the oldest in Africa, are so important. In 2016 the Femmes de Virunga project was launched, the first ever female-led cacao cooperative in the world, and in one of the most dangerous places to be a woman. The project educates and supports these women, enabling them to provide for and support their families.
Since the project started in 2016 more than a quarter of a million cacao trees have been planted and there are over 1500 women farmers in the cooperative.

Tasting Notes

Deep chocolate and light brightness of dried red fruits with a peaty whisky end note.

Ingredients

Cocoa beans and unrefined raw sugar.

Femmes de Virunga

The Virunga National Park is the largest in Africa, and home to the last of the mountain gorillas. In recent years after two wars and millions of people being displaced from their homes, many have settled at the edge of the park in the search for safety. This has in turn led to deforestation. There are various projects supporting the local people to work in harmony with the rainforest, with one being growing cocoa beans.