Mike & Becky – Öko Caribe, Dominican Republic, Dark 70%

About the bar

Öko Caribe’s beans are dried next to open fires, which explains the subtle smoky notes of this rich 70% dark chocolate bar. The bar has strong cocoa aromas, with hints of ripe red fruits. We also picked up earthy hints, with some vegetal and alcoholic notes. This unusual and surprising bar uses Hispaniola Trinitario beans from La Gina in the Dominican Republic, but ground for only 12 hours, instead of three days. The result is a slightly grainy chocolate, which is less processed and more intense.

Mike & Becky only use beetroot sugar in their bars – historically, one of England’s Halloween customs, called ‘Mischief Night’, involved carving faces onto beetroots known as ‘punkies’. Perfect for the Halloween season.

About the maker

Based in Belgium, Julia ‘Mike’ Mikerova and Björn ‘Becky’ Becker are the owners of Brussels’ first organic Bean-to-Bar chocolate workshop, and pride themselves on real, honest chocolate. Importing fine cacao beans directly from 5 plantations around the world, sustainability is not just a word to them. In addition to paying a fair price which is far about the market price and avoiding plantations which use child labour, Mike & Becky also only use organic beetroot sugar, which is incorporated into their bars at their 100% green powered production facility.

The beans

The beans for this bar are sourced from Öko Caribe, a prominent cocoa supplier in the Dominican Republic and one of the most popular in the world. The two owners, Adriano de Jesus Rodriguez and Gualberto Acebey Torrejon, maintain close relationships with their farmers, often giving out loans for family emergencies and community needs. They also educate their farmers about sustainable land management and environmental responsibility, and pay consistent premiums for the farmers’ award-winning cocoa.

Nutritional info coming soon.

Allergens*

No allergens listed by maker.

Ingredients

Organic cacao beans, organic beet sugar, organic cacao butter

*Allergen advice: We directly import, and purchase, all products from independent makers and have these shipped by our partner warehouse (which is not certified allergen-free), and so we cannot guarantee that any product will be allergen-free. Even where an allergen is not listed, products may have been produced, shipped, or stored in facilities which handle allergens.

If you would like further information about a specific product, please contact us on [email protected] or contact the maker directly.