Chocolate Tree – Arhuaco Colombia 70% (kopie)

Description

Earlier, Chocolate Tree already made a chocolate with Chuao cacao. This time we are even more excited, because the cacao this time comes from northern Colombia, from the Arhuaco people of the Sierra Nevada. With a rich flavor—described by the makers as wild dark forest fruits—but there is definitely more to taste: cream, honey, and coffee are additions we would gladly include in the description.

It is wonderful to see and taste in real life—the makers (Ali & Frederike) visited the area in 2019. We greatly appreciate these Scottish makers—we know them from their visits to the Chocoa festival, and of course from their work as chocolate makers. And it is beautiful that they became so enthusiastic after their visit to the Arhuaco. This is an Indigenous people in northern Colombia; they live in the mountains and high plateaus and have a rich spiritual tradition, in which they place great importance on harmony with nature.

It is painful, standing in a city full of concrete and tiles, to hear the Arhuaco speak about this harmony, and it is not difficult to realize that in the Netherlands (and in many other places—actually almost the entire world) we have lost this awareness. But it is also inspiring, because the interconnectedness of nature is still so visible here, even if it is something as simple as the orange-tip butterfly returning year after year to the cuckoo flower, or if you have a mint plant in your garden, there is a good chance that the beautifully shimmering blue mint leaf beetle will find it.

If you do not know it, you do not see it—but once you take even a small interest in the world of plants and animals, you begin to see many dependencies and connections. And you also realize that keeping the world we live in livable (including for humans) is about much more than just a single concept like “CO2.”

Anyway, look up some videos on YouTube (Arhuaco or Arhuacos) for some background, and you will immediately see their, in our eyes, beautiful characteristic white traditional clothing.

The makers say about it:
“The Arhuaco area is an indigenous tribe from the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern Colombia. They cultivate native cacao to supplement their community’s income. We visited the Arhuaco in 2019 and are very excited to offer you this 70% dark chocolate bar with notes of wild dark forest fruits.”

The taste: described by the makers as notes of wild dark forest fruits. But in our view, that actually undersells this chocolate. We also taste, alongside indeed various fruit notes (blackberry, raspberry), cream, sweet honey, and towards the finish some darker tones leaning toward coffee. A beautiful flavor progression as you let the bar melt—first the creaminess, perhaps also slightly nutty (possibly macadamia), then the fruit and intense sweetness, followed by somewhat roasted coffee flavors.

Ingredients: organic cocoa beans, organic sugar, organic cocoa butter.

70% cocoa. Net weight 70 grams.

Allergy note from the maker: may contain traces of milk and nuts.