COCO CARAVAN CHOCOLATE REVIEWS
Cut into squares and dusted with cocoa, these were wonderful. Absolutely stuffed with hazelnuts (it’s the second ingredient), they were unlike anything I’d really tasted, gianduja wise, before but so flavoursome.
Gianduja Review by: Annalisa Barbieri (the Guardian)
We’ve lovingly recreated this delicious Italian treat, using our bean to bar chocolate, organic hazelnuts, organic cold-pressed rapeseed oil, a pinch of Icelandic salt, and finishing them with a dusting of cacao powder. They’re deliciously soft and melt perfectly in your mouth, unlocking the wealth of flavour and texture inside.
Gianduja paste was originally created in Turin, Italy in the 1800s. With a trade blockade underway, access to cacao supplies were limited and the Italian artisans needed to make their chocolate go further without losing the intensity of the dark chocolate flavour. Ingeniously the Turinese chocolatier Michele Prochet combined chocolate with two simple ingredients that were readily available: hazelnuts and oil. That masterful discovery is revisited in our Gianduja by using the best single origin cacao and unrefined ingredients.
Chuncho Urusayhua
Preserving the ancient Chuncho Cacaos in the Urubamba Valley in Peru
Under the shadows of the Apu Urusayhua, Mother of stone, grow the old and sturdy Chuncho trees, some of which are 200 years old. They grow at an altitude of 1.200m, which is highly unusual for cacao. Peruvian Chuncho in its authentic and in its pure form it is hard to find and even harder to source.
Local mythology describes the it as a sacred mountain and Apu is also the local name given to the mountain spirits that guard the land and connect the people to the highest realm. Beneath the heights, the spume and the strong winds of the Apu Urusayhua, lies the lush Urubamba Valley, where local smallholders grow their ancient Chuncho.
The local families are exceptionally proud of their Chuncho heritage and many families carefully harvest beans from their oldest trees to make their own hot chocolate.
Cacao genetic scientists have recently found that the old Chunchos are some of the genetically and aromatically richest cacaos in the world. To preserve the genetic code we only source from selected farmers with old Chuncho trees.
Tasting notes
Dried flowers
cut grass
dried fruit
honey
The Chunco 75%
“Smells very cool, gingerbread and potatoes:) The taste is then at least as arty as the chocolate bar and the smell. This chocolate is far away from the mainstream chocolate. Instantly stands out a strong bleed perfume (roses, lavender, lychee ... really intense.
Then the coconut flavour but not the typical coconut sugar, but a very fruity, flowery version of it, and then spicy next-door flavours like gingerbread... I’m stunned to see how you can make a flavoursome chocolate like this from just three ingredients. The consistency is barely dry, only slightly crumbly and melts smoothly - very good quality”
Taste: 4.5/ 5
Consistency: 3.5/5
Composition: 4.5/ 5
Intensity: 5/5
After taste: 5/5
Review by Schokomanie
Ashaninka 74%
“Jacques is a chocolate maker with such passion and care for un roasted RAW chocolate. Of course, any chocolate maker needs passion, but Jacques pushes the boundaries of flavour combinations for his vegan chocolate bars; including the exceptional beans he is starting to source for his unique range.”
Taste: 4/5
Review by Chocriti
“Coco Caravan had easter eggs made from (actually good tasting!) raw chocolate filled with liquid caramel. Yum.
The chai caramel bar is lovely as well. The spices come through very well. Each component in this bar complements the next, and the final product is greater than the sum of the components! Well done!”
Review by Wiki
Wiki putting us in a list with some great vegan chocolate makers:
“If you've recently gone vegan, you might have a hard time finding versions of your favorite snacks and treats that fit into your new lifestyle. Fortunately, there are many chocolatiers across the world producing delicious dairy-free sweets. Here, in no particular order, are several suppliers of plant-based chocolate that every vegan ought to check out.
Up first, in the #1 spot, we have Coco Caravan. The combination of raw cacao and unrefined coconut blossom nectar gives this vegan chocolate a smooth melt and clean taste. Hand-crafted in Stroud, UK, this raw chocolate is also gluten-free, organic, and derived from certified fair trade sources.
Coco Caravan offers a range of minimally-processed, dairy-free treats, including caramel-fillings, dipped fruit, and a cashew-based alternative to white chocolate. The company's small batch bean to bar chocolates showcase old and rare varieties of cacao. Monthly bean to bar subscription boxes are available.”