Kekao Monthly Craft Chocolate Club - October

Let's take a closer look at what chocolates you can expect to receive this month with the Kekao Box. 

RAAKA CHOCOLATE:

Raaka is devoted to making uncommonly delicious chocolate that captures the brighter, bolder, and fruitier side of cacao. They make every bar from scratch with unroasted cacao beans, sourced from growers they trust and admire. The unique flavour of their unroasted chocolate is part place, part process. They craft their bars in celebration of each cacao origin's unique character. Their chocolate making process values the community of growers, producers, and makers whose livelihoods depend on cacao and chocolate. All of their chocolate is made from scratch, bean-to-bar, in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Raaka Pink Sea Salt 71%

A fruity, complex salted dark chocolate to end all salted dark chocolates. Made with single-origin cacao from Zorzal Cacao, a farm and fermentary within a bird sanctuary in the Dominican Republic, and sprinkled with Peruvian pink salt sourced from Salt of The Earth Co. We think New York Magazine said it best: this bar has a “deep, dark, mysterious flavor with hints of cherry; and a finish as long as a David Foster Wallace footnote.”

Tasting notes: Earthy & Cherry

AMANO CHOCOLATE:

Amano Artisan Chocolate is a small-batch craft chocolate maker based in Orem, Utah. Amano is an award-winning maker, they make all their chocolate on vintage equipment. Their small batch process allows Amano to control and observe flavor development, making each batch of chocolate not only delicious but unique.

Amano Madagascar 70%

The quality of chocolate is influenced by time and place. Flavor changes with the seasons and is intricately tied to the soil and climate. At the turn of the century, criollo cacao trees were brought from Venezuela to the island of Madagascar. Amano crafted this chocolate from beans from the offspring of these trees. The mild chocolate character comes from the trees' Venezuelan heritage. The hints of citrus come from Madagascar's soil and climate and are unique to beans from Madagascar. The marriage results in a bar of extraordinary chocolate you will love.

Tasting notes: Citrus & Floral

OMNOM CHOCOLATE REYKJAVIK

OmNom is a small-batch, craft chocolate maker based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company started as an experiment to see if the two friends could master how to make chocolate. From the start, they received positive tasting feedback. After receiving positive feedback, they set up a small chocolate-making lab inside a converted gas station and launched. OmNom's mission is to make the best chocolate possible using the highest quality of ingredients.

OmNom Superchocoberrybarley Nibblynuttylicious 70%

Omnom's Superchocoberrybarleynibblynuttylicious is dark chocolate sprinkled with cranberries, salted almonds, puffed barley, and cacao nibs.

Tasting notes: Fruity & Nutty

ORIGINAL BEANS CHOCOLATE:

Since 2008, Original Beans has ventured into remote rainforests to source the world’s rarest cacao beans and transform the cultures of chocolate, food, and luxury. Original Beans founder, Philipp Kauffmann, represents the 7th generation in a family of recognized nature explorers and conservationists who coined the term “sustainability”. Philipp gave up his job at the United Nations in New York to grow Original Beans as a leading brand for a world in which we regenerate what we consume. For each bar purchased, Original Beans plants a tree with their initiative, One Bar One Tree.

Original Beans Cru Virunga 70%

From the ground-up Original Beans has developed this first-ever single-origin cacao from war-torn Eastern Congo. They establish nurseries, create quality training programs, and replant forests to help farmers rebuild their livelihoods and communities and protect Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest nature reserve and home of the last Mountain Gorillas on earth.

Tasting notes: Cherry & Earthy

To get started with craft chocolate, start with our Kekao Box. We search the world for the finest chocolate bars and bring them right to your doorstep monthly. From rich dark Peruvian chocolate bars to new start-up chocolate bars on the come-up, you never know what you'll get inside the box! Each month we will curate 4 to 5 premium specialty crafted chocolate bars. 

If you want to just try a couple of bars, check out our online chocolate store.

If you have any questions regarding this blog, our Kekao Box, or premium specialty crafted chocolate bars, feel free to contact us! Keep up with us by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on Twitter or Instagram.

Actual chocolate received in any given month may feature different chocolates than described in this blog post.