Friis Holm Tasting Set - Rugoso 70%

Mikkel Friis-Holm is a bit of an artisan chocolate maker, he likes to experiment with his chocolate, using different methods during the manufacturing process to show how different chocolate can be even when using the one bean.

Rugoso beans are another variety of bean peculiar to Nicaragua.

One of three paired bars showcasing how differing handling processes affect the final flavour, the Rugoso 70% bars focus on the fermentation process.

• The "standard" Rugoso bar uses cocoa beans that were subject to the typical fermentation process most chocolate undergoes. This bar has the standard bitter dark chocolate taste; almost brutal at first, leading to a beautiful plum notes and pleasant tannins.
• The Rugoso Bad Fermentation bar on the other hand uses Rugoso beans that underwent a much faster fermentation process, only 25% of the time chocolate would usually be fermented. Bad fermentation is something of a misnomer, an in joke in the chocolate sphere, as previously such beans would've been considered tarnished or not worth using, they were "bad" beans. Mikkel Friis-Holm wasn't deterred by that, though! The bad fermentation bar is flavourful and tannic, with notes of unripe plum and green banana.

Rugoso bars age well, their taste matures over time like a fine wine, reaching their peak around 18 months after manufacture.

As these bars are a pair, we've chosen to keep them together in a gift set so everyone can try them both and see how chocolate can really be. We hope you'll join us on the adventure!