- History & Single Origin -

Chocolate originates from Central America. It was revered as a commodity and sacred drink by the native population of these regions - the Olmecs, Maya and Aztecs (in rough chronological order).Chocolate is made from a fruit native to the Central American and Amazon rainforests called Theobroma cacao – ‘the food of the gods’. Perhaps three thousand years ago the indigenous population learnt to collect, store, dry, roast and grind the seeds of this fruit to form basic chocolate, using techniques commonly applied to other local spices and crops. From this rough cocoa mass, they made a range of
drinks, often mixed with maize and spices, including vanilla chilli and allspice. Most of these drinks were
not sweetened, or if so only with honey. Aztec and Spanish chocolate By the time of the Aztecs chocolate became highly regarded and was only usually drunk by members of the aristocracy. It was considered so precious, and so important in Aztec religious beliefs that it was too valuable for most to consume and the beans were in fact used as money. The Aztecs inhabited what is now Mexico where cacao does not grow, so had to import their cacao as tribute from their
conquests. They were very conscious of the quality and origin of these imports. After the conquest, the Spanish adopted many Aztec habits, and drinking chocolate was not the least of these. They brought chocolate back to Europe where it gradually gained in popularity both as a drink and as a flavoring ingredient in baking and patisserie, alongside sugar.

Single Origin Chocolate:
For the true chocolate connoisseur, a sensational tasting experience. The Enchanted Florist has chosen the perfect chocolatee bars, each crafted from cacao beans sourced from a single, unique region of the world. This is the cocoa equivalent of a single malt whisky or a grand cru wine. Single Origin Chocolate allows us the pleasure of taste and aroma specific to cocoa grown in different regions under different conditions of rainfall, heat and humidity. Take your taste buds for a journey through the cacao plantations of Java, Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela and Tanzania. Only the finest Trintario and Criollo cocoa beans are used, from the best cocoa producing plantations around the world, and so creating the finest tasting chocolate you will ever experience with real depth, increased flavors and unique characters. This is real chocolate in its purest and finest form.