Picked by hand in late spring from the prickly hedgerows that line the rugged Cornish coastal path, these small yellow flowers are a right pain in the fingers to harvest!
However, once steeped in cocoa butter pressed from Chocolarder's own beans, the flowers impart their heady warm coconut scent to our milk chocolate for a unique flavour that makes it all worthwhile.
Gorse bushes can be seen in abundance across the Cornish landscape from moorland to coastal paths, through towns and invading gardens. These large spiny bushes provide shelter and food for many insects and birds, such as Stonechats, Dartford Warblers, and Yellowhammers. The flowers on these prickly bushes are a vibrant yellow and bloom in the years early sunshine, these are the treasures Chocolarder seeks for their chocolate.
During their bloom, clouds of warm coconut scent drift on the breeze from the gorse bushes and are integral to our nostalgia for the long unmitigated summers of British rural childhood that everyone seems to remember but no one can quantify.
Traditionally, Gorse has had many roles aside from its burst of coconut fragrance as Chocolarder treks the coastal paths. The dry branches can be gathered for an effective fuel, used in bread ovens and stoves, and when bound together could form an efficient chimney brush. The flowers have also been widely used in making wine and cordial but most surprisingly being turned into colourings to decorate Easter eggs.
Features
Warming toasted coconut with hints of fudge and roast nut, ending in light red fruit.
Bean varietal - Criollo/Trinitario.
Bean origin - Oko Caribe, Dominican Republic.
Cocoa - 50%
Conch time - 32 hours
Free from: Palm oil, E-mulsifiers, Vegetable fats, Preservatives, Colourings, Refined sugars And most importantly 100% Slavery free.
Ingredients
Cocoa beans, unrefined raw sugar, milk powder and gorse flowers.
Weight - 70 g.
Maker Description
Chocolarder has a mission to make high-quality bean to bar chocolate without compromising on ethics. The company ethically sources cocoa beans from around the world, and uses renovated antique machinery to turn them into award-winning chocolate in its' Falmouth factory. Chocoalder chocolate can be enjoyed safe in the knowledge that you are not inadvertently supporting child slavery or deforestation, farmers are being paid fair wages, and all of our packagings is completely plastic-free.
