ZESTY VENEZUELA DARK 71%
Never a dull mouth moment
This Guasare cacao is grown by the Marquez family in the Perijá mountains, Venezuela. A rich palate with contrasting notes defines its zesty character.
To bring out the lively character of this cacao we applied 3 roasting profiles on this single plantation cacao. Each roast accentuates different flavour notes. During grinding the three batches are combined again and ground together for 82 hours. When finished, it is time let the batch rest for another two weeks to slowly develop a wide range of flavours.
Awarded Silver at the Academy of Chocolate • 2023
TASTING NOTES
A lively rich palate of: coffee, citrus, tangarine, orange, green herbs, laurel and liquorice.
Zesty Venezuela Dark 71%
2 bars in each box
ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
Heinde & Verre means “near and far”. The locally sourced Dutch beet sugar allows the Venezuelan cacao to be fully appreciated. Early Dutch chocolate brands in the 19th and 20th century already preferred working with cacao from Venezuela.
CACAO MARQUEZ FARMERS
Cacao for this bar is grown at the Los Laureles Estate run by the Marquez family in Venezuela. Close to the Colombian border in the rough mountains lies the Serrania Perijá valley full of everything nature has to offer. Multi cropping: cacao, coffee, beans and plantain goes hand in hand together in this region. This is an area where the oldest remains of cacao trees in Venezuela are found. Together with the university of Paris, the Marquez family has initiated research on the DNA of different the Guasare cacao varieties grown on separate plantations (estates) in that region. Some plantations showed strands of Criollo DNA in their genetics, while Los Laureles appeared to be an example of classsic Guasare DNA. A nursery is created to retrieve and keep this Guasare DNA by selecting pure genotypes and grafting seedlings for re-plantytion of this old cacao variety.
In recent decades the region has suffered deforestation from human activities. The Marquez family has also embarked on an initiative to preserve native cocoa varieties and agroforestry systems in the region. A program in which the farmers are incentivesed to plant cedar trees for shade and grow cacao without deforestation.
Guasare cacao Los Laureles
Cacao Marquez
Los Laureles Plantation
Marquez sustainability project
LOCAL DUTCH SUGAR
The locally grown sugar beet is an ideal sweetner for chocolate. Its neutral character allows cacao flavours to shine without adding flavours to the chocolate (other sweetners such as sugar cane adds for example a molasses flavour to chocolate) Because of the relative small scale of the sugar beet processing industry, organic and non-organic sugar beets are combined in the extraction proces. Research shows that the CO2 footprint of Dutch beet sugar is 4 times lower compared to the average sugar cane production. This is due to a higher yield, efficient farming, harvesting and processing and the fact that it does not need to be transported over long distances. Moreover, an additional benefit is that beet sugar has a lower water consumption than cane sugar.
Dutch Sugar Beet
Dutch granulated sugar
| Zesty Venezuela Dark 71% | |
|---|---|
| INGREDIENTS: • Cacao and cacao butter 71% • Sugar |
INFO: • Allergens: none • Single Estate Cacao • Organic Cacao • Vegan • Non GMO • Direct/ Transparent trade |
EXCEPTIONAL CRAFT
Our goal is natural flavour excitement in every bar. What makes Heinde & Verre chocolate special:
- All natural, no artificial flavours, colourings and preservatives
- No alkalizing agents or other chemicals used. Result is a higher level of anti-oxidants remaining in the chocolate compared to standard industry chocolate
- Made from whole beans, not from semi-finished products
- Our signature in-house developped Split-Roast technique: a single origin cacao is divided into multiple batches that each receive a unique roast profile to increase and balance flavour complexity
- Slow food techniques, the art of slow grinding and aging
H&V Roasting
H&V Traditional Stone Ground
ONE BAR FOR NOW, ONE BAR FOR LATER
Each Heinde & Verre box contains 2 bars, one bar for now, one for later. At Heinde & Verre we take chocolate and your enjoyment very serious. Quality chocolate needs to be protected so we have developed the perfect packaging to preserve all the natural flavours. A kraft pouch protects against light, humidity, dust and dirt. A double air tight seal protects against odours. We have extracted part of the air to reduce oxidisation and moisture.
