This flavor journey is surprising, singular, satisfying & sublime! Goodnow Farms deep, rich, earthy El Carmen cacao and bright, lemony and spicy sun dried Zanzibar Black Peppercorns from Burlap and Barrel prove that opposites do, in fact, attract.
They work closely with our friends at Burlap & Barrel to find the perfect spices to mix with our fine flavor chocolate, and once we tasted the lemony spice of these peppercorns we had to try it with our chocolate. They found the perfect complement of flavors in their El Carmen cacao, and spent a lot of time figuring out just the right balance between the zesty flavors of the peppercorns and the earthy tones of our El Carmen.  The result is chocolate that combines the sweet, caramel notes of the El Carmen with the sharp, lemony flavors of the pepper slowly building and ending with a long, spicy finish.
About the Zanzibar Pepper
Burlap & Barrel sources these pepper from small farms on the island of Zanzibar (an insular semi-autonomous region which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania), where they’re hand-picked and sun-dried.  According to their website these peppercorns are unlike anything else on the planet, and we’re inclined to agree.  Try them for yourself on Burlap and Barrel’s website.
About our El Carmen Cacao
El Carmen was the very first fine flavor cacao they fell in love with on their sourcing trips, and the love affair continues.  The flavors are intense, deep and rich, and the farmers around Matagalpa consistently deliver high quality beans.  The post-harvest fermentation and drying is expertly done by farmer Giff Laube, and he uses a custom protocol exclusively for them. They love visiting and just returned from a sourcing trip there to see this year’s cacao harvest – check out their update from the field here.  And, for more information about our El Carmen cacao please visit their El Carmen page.
Tasting Notes:Â Lemon, pepper, caramel, cocoa.
