72% BEJOFO ESTATE MADAGASCAR

Bars originating from Madagascar are what truly made me fall for craft chocolate years ago and venture over to the making side. They had flavors I’d never before tasted in chocolate: bright fruits like cherries, raspberries, and plums; intense in the best of ways.

Before when I heard chocolate described as fruity I didn’t want anything to do with it (what can I say, I don’t like fruit and chocolate), but now I understand that cacao can deliver some of the most amazing flavors brought out from the terroir, fermentation, and roasting and I truly love chocolate with fruity and citrus-y notes.

As a budding at-home chocolate maker I still was unable to acquire small amounts of these beans to experiment with until one day a small bean to bar chocolate maker in Santa Cruz gave me a couple of pounds to experiment with. I am still eternally grateful for that small act of kindness and it unleashed an excitement in me that I haven’t turned back from when it comes to making chocolate, especially single origin, where I work to highlight the local flavors.

In this bar I taste notes of cherry and sweet cream.

ingredients: cacao beans from Bejofo Estate in Madagascar*, cane sugar*, less than 1% cocoa butter*

*organic