Cacao, processing and proof

Dutch processing (alkalisation) treats cocoa with a potassium carbonate solution to neutralise its natural acidity. The result is darker, milder and easier to blend into industrial recipes.

That convenience has a cost. Independent testing consistently shows heavily alkalised cocoa losing the majority of its flavanols — the compounds linked to blood flow, focus and cardiovascular support.

Our cacao is never alkalised and never roasted hard. Beans are fermented on-farm, dried in the sun, then stone-ground below 45°C so the cocoa butter and the polyphenols stay in the block.

Industrial cacao is pressed to separate butter from solids, then recombined with additives. Stone grinding skips all of that: the whole fermented bean goes in and comes out as one paste.

Because the natural cocoa butter is preserved, the cacao melts smoothly in hot water without emulsifiers, and the fat carries the aromatic compounds that give each harvest its character.

It also slows absorption, which is why a stone-ground cup feels steady rather than sharp.

Every batch is traced to the family farm that grew it. We pay above local market rates and share an annual bonus tied to quality scores rather than volume.

Fermentation happens within hours of harvest, in wooden boxes on the farm, which is where most of the flavour is made or lost.

Each lot is then tested by an independent lab for cadmium, lead, polyphenols and theobromine. The certificate is published and searchable by lot number.