The chocolate in this box featured the fermentation protocols of expert Dan O’Doherty, December 2024
The theme of our inaugural member subscription box is Flavor. Specifically, how fermentation impacts the flavor of cacao and chocolate. The selection of bars in this box highlights the work of cacao fermentation expert, Dan O’Doherty.
When done well, fermentation can add amazing layers of complexity and deliciousness to chocolate. When done poorly, it can add notes of ham, cheese, dirty socks and rotted fruit. While many factors contribute to flavor, I would argue that fermentation is the most important factor to developing flavor. Even the best genetic varietals of cacao won’t taste good unless they are well fermented.
So how do these bars demonstrate good fermentation? All of them were made with cacao that was fermented using the protocols of Dan O’Doherty, a well-known fermentation expert. Four of the bars are single-origin bars with no inclusions added, yet they’re bursting with flavor. While genetics certainly plays a role in flavor development, none of these bars would be this flavorful without quality fermentation practices.
I’ve provided notes from my own tasting of the bars from this month’s box. Taste is a personal experience, so your tasting notes may be different than mine and that’s okay! I recommend tasting the plain, single-origin bars first, from highest-percent cacao to lowest percent-cacao in the order provided below. Save the inclusion bars for last.
We are the first to taste this new bar by Sirene Chocolate of Vancouver, B.C.! Chocolate maker Taylor Kennedy took the first batch out of the refiner and sent it over the Canada border just in time for our box. The cacao for this chocolate comes from Dan O’Doherty’s latest fermentation project in Pinalum, Vanuatu. I recommend beginning your tasting with this bar because it offers more neutral flavors and serves as a good baseline for tasting the more complex chocolates. I taste notes of honey with hints of earth and citrus in the middle, followed by a honey finish.
Dan worked with the cacao farmers in San Pablo de Borbur in the Boyacá region of Colombia to implement best practices that led to the balanced flavors of this cacao. I taste notes of honey, walnuts and bananas.
This bar from Manoa Chocolate represents a partnership between Dan’s company, Cacao Services, and Mānoa Chocolate. Kamananui cacao grows in an agroforest with other tropical fruit and hardwoods. The orchard was carefully designed to help the trees thrive on the North Shore of O’ahu. Kamananui hosts a rich diversity of cacao genetics, while also acting as a principal hub for cacao breeding in Hawai’i. This bar is only available at Manoa’s factory in Hawaii, so we’re fortunate to have it. This chocolate really amps up the flavor. It begins with strong notes of raspberries and evolves into a symphony of tropical fruits with hints of floral and banana notes.
In addition to owning Cacao Services, Dan is also the VP of Operations at Maui Ku’ia Chocolate in Lahaina. The cacao used to craft this bar was 100% grown on the Maui Ku’ia Estate Cacao Farm. Their farm in Lahaina produces a very limited supply of cacao each year, and the flavor slightly varies with each harvest. This bar packs a flavorful punch! It announces itself with a burst of tropical fruit, including notes of mango, papaya and guava. There’s so much flavor it tastes like an inclusion bar, even though no flavoring has been added.
The base chocolate for Maui Ku’ia’s inclusion bars comes from Costa Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Why not use Maui cacao for this chocolate? The Maui-origin cacao is very expensive and extremely limited in supply so using it for infusion and inclusion bars is not viable. Maui Ku’ia supplements the cacao it grows on its own with this cacao from Ecuador to craft all of its inclusion bars. This bar is bursting with the flavor of sweet, juicy Mapulehu mangoes, a locally-grown mango from Lahaina.
A classic combination of orange and chocolate, this infused bar marries the notes of Costa Esmeraldas cacao with the not-too-sweet citrus notes of blood orange.
