“We’re reimagining what is feasible with craft chocolate by way of getting older, artwork, tradition, and accountable sourcing. We established the world’s first long-term chocolate getting older programme, our most revered editions have been cask-aged for as much as six years, and we take pleasure in our beautiful packing and design. Due to this, we now have extraordinarily restricted manufacturing runs,” the corporate stated.
Historic Nacional cacao
Ecuador’s legendary cacao selection, Historic Nacional, was believed to be extinct, however in 2013, To’ak found a valley the place a few of these timber nonetheless survived. DNA assessments have confirmed them to be 100% pure Nacional, which geneticists name Historic Nacional.
They’ve since been formally designated Heirloom by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund. To’ak stated it’s now main the motion to protect Historic Nacional cacao and convey it again from the brink of extinction and is completely producing single-origin, single-harvest artisan chocolate geared toward expressing the distinctive terroir wherein it’s grown – the valley of Piedra de Plata in Ecuador.
The model was based in 2013 by Jerry Toth, additionally the co-founder of the Third Millennium Alliance (TMA), a conservation nonprofit organisation, and Carl Schweizer, an Austrian colleague, together with Dennise Valencia, a local of Quito, to make To’ak, which comes from two Indigenous Ecuadorean languages which means earth and tree.
To’ak chocolate – ‘Conservation is on the coronary heart of each bar’
- To’ak chocolate is sourced completely from cacao pods that match the morphological and color profile of heirloom Nacional cacao referenced from DNA testing. Its cacao was awarded the Heirloom designation from the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund.
- As tree-to-bar chocolate makers, To’ak attracts closely from the methods and custom of winemakers and whiskey distilleries. As with wine, the flavour traits of darkish chocolate fluctuate in accordance with the soil and local weather wherein the cacao is grown. To’ak makes its chocolate to specific every particular 12 months’s land and climate idiosyncrasies.
- In the midst of every To’ak chocolate bar is a single-roasted cacao bean, which co-founders Carl and Jerry hand-select themselves. They acknowledge there’s a tendency to overlook that chocolate is finally derived from the fruit of a tree. We want to share with connoisseurs the chance to style the reliable supply of chocolate and its most basic aspect – the cacao bean itself.
- To’ak’s chocolate is responsibly crafted
- To’ak works hand-in-hand with a small group of cacao growers in Piedra de Plata and pays them the best worth per pound in Ecuador.
- All wooden utilized in To’ak’s packaging is instantly replenished by way of the planting of native hardwood timber by your entire To’ak workforce in partnership with the Ecuador-based rainforest conservation basis Third Millennium Alliance (TMA).
- To’ak additionally donates 1% of its gross sales to TMA as a part of the worldwide philanthropy motion, 1% for the Planet. To’ak stated it’s working with native farmers, conservationists, and a number of universities to guard the world’s oldest and rarest number of cacao and nurse it again from the brink of extinction. You may learn extra on To’ak’s social and environmental influence right here.
- To’ak is working with a coalition of native cacao growers, conservationists, and worldwide universities to save lots of Ecuador’s historic Historic Nacional cacao from the brink of extinction. Cuttings from DNA-verified 100% pure Nacional timber have been grafted onto seedlings and planted in a protected plot of land within the close by Jama-Coaque Ecological Reserve, managed by the rainforest conservation basis Third Millennium Alliance.
In accordance with an article on smithsonianmag.com, To’ak stated it pays at the very least 3 times the usual market fee for hybrid Nacional cacao, and TMA pays further bridge funds of round $1,821 per acre over 5 years to farmers who comply with develop historic Nacional and hybrid Nacional cacao, which produces inexpensive however still-exalted chocolate.
“In flip, To’ak has turn out to be well-known for producing a few of the most costly chocolate available on the market, in a single case $490 for a single 1.76-ounce bar. That big-ticket bar and different confections of Nacional can be found on-line at To’ak’s web site and thru specialty retailers like Harrods and Caputo’s.”
The model’s secret in producing great-tasting, premium chocolate comes from pioneering the artwork and science of getting older chocolate in cognac and whiskey casks. “We additionally age our artisan chocolate in sure forms of Ecuadorian wooden and different getting older containers which might be rigorously chosen for his or her extractable aroma compounds,” the corporate advised ConfectioneryNews.
To’ak luxurious chocolate is accessible in 4 collections, every carrying a number of editions, together with Aged and Harvest, and a mini-tasting information accompanies its Signature assortment.
Its Origin assortment options unique and award-winning packaging, with every bar introduced in a handcrafted picket field. It features a tasting utensil, an illustrated booklet telling the story behind the version, and a information to tasting and pairing luxurious darkish chocolate.
