Method

How we make it

From a sack of unroasted beans to a boxed truffle is about three days. Here is where the time actually goes.

Roast, crack, winnow

Each origin gets its own roast profile, worked out by tasting rather than by formula. Madagascar goes light to protect its acidity; Peru takes more heat before it turns nutty. Then the beans are cracked and the husk blown off, leaving nibs.

Mill, conch, temper

Nibs are milled to a liquor and conched for about three days, which is what removes the raw edge. Tempering is the step everything else depends on: get the crystal structure wrong and the bar is dull, soft and streaked.

Fill, dip, pack

Ganache is cooked, piped and left overnight to set. The next morning it is hand-rolled or dipped, decorated while the couverture is still wet, and boxed that afternoon.

The parts that get skipped elsewhere

Step	The fast way	What we do
Conching	6–10 hours	About 72 hours
Ganache	Stabilised for shelf life	Cream and chocolate, eaten fresh
Caramel	Cooked to a timer	Cooked to colour, by eye
Tempering	Continuous machine	Hand-tempered in batches
Packing	Filled at a co-packer	Packed here, after you order

None of this makes us better people. It makes the chocolate taste of something, and it costs more, which is the whole trade.

Taste the difference between origins

The Tasting Flight sets six of them side by side, darkest to lightest, with notes.

Tasting Flight Box