Idukki Hills 73%

This delicious cocoa has a creamy texture, fresh, almost fizzy, green apple flavours and spicy hints of sea salt, cardamom and black pepper. The finishing undertone of dried fruits, notably dark raisins, and tobacco, is brought out by the medium roast and higher cocoa content of this bar.
In the Southern Indian state of Kerala, the green hills of the Idukki region, famous for its fragrant spices, offer excellent conditions for growing cacao.
113 farmers benefit from premium prices for their cacao, weekly payments and training. The philosophy is to build committed relationships. Post-harvesting is a women-only managed process.
The beans are centrally-fermented for five days in cascading wooden boxes from Wild Jack timber and sun-dried on tables under open shelter.
- Bean variety: Trinitario and Forestero hybrids, Mankuva type promoted
- Medium roast, 12 hour grind, 36 hour conch
*Vegan, gluten free
This is a new origin for Cocoa Retreat for 2022.  It’s a challenging bean to roast to both preserve and balance its complex flavour profile, but the time and care at this stage is rewarded with a wonderfully distinctive chocolate.