Nibs de cacao Ashanti « crus »

For over a century, our farm partner's land has been cultivated across generations. On the banks of the Suhurum River, cocoa trees are nourished naturally throughout the seasons without the need for irrigation. No pumps, no systems, just a river that has always been there, and a family that has always known how to work with it.

Cocoa trees thrive here as part of a diverse agroforestry system, growing as an under-storey forest tree alongside mangoes, plantains, cassava, sugarcane, alligator pepper and beneath a canopy of coconut palms & indigenous hardwood species such as Odum and Ofram.

The earth here is nourished entirely naturally ~ poultry manure, composted cow dung, decomposed cacao & coconut husks and fallen leaf litter. Cacao husks are returned to the land after every harvest, left to break down slowly over the course of a year. Cow dung is composted for at least three months before it ever touches the soil.

Flavour is shaped long before the beans are roasted. Freshly harvested cacao beans are traditionally heap-fermented under banana or plantain leaves for several days before being slowly sun-dried. This patient process develops the cacao's rich complexity & depth. The dried beans are gently crushed into nibs, dehusked and sorted by hand.