Our 70% bar starts with one bean: Anamalai Estate, from India.
Anamalai is a farm near Pollachi, in Tamil Nadu, at the foothills of the Western Ghats. Harish Manoj and Karthi Palaniswamy run it. They grow their cocoa trees in among coconut palms and nutmeg trees, ferment in wooden boxes, and sun dry on raised beds.
I tried this bean because I'd never had it before. The flavor profile looked interesting, and I wanted to see what it would do as a bar.
I have seen listings of guava, peanut and caramel flavors noted for this bean. What I get from my formulation is a little different. First there's an acidic bump, almost like pineapple or some kind of tropical fruit. Then it turns very fudgy. As it goes on it gets more complex, with floral notes, and it finishes with peanut.
Every bar is made bean-to-bar here in Ballston Spa, NY. We roast the beans ourselves, then grind, conche, and mold them in our own space.
It's one of our single-origin bars. If you want the longer story of how I got into this, it's on our Our Story page.