The What
In a nut shell (cacao shell): The Cocoa Forge is an artisan, micro-batch chocolate factory (now located in the beautiful Rogue River Valley) crafting rare heirloom and fine-flavor cacao varietals into pure and exquisite single origin chocolate bars; following the same steps and methods of the ancestors. The fun part is uncovering the unique qualities of the beans and learning the best way to awaken and bring forward their full and best potential. Interestingly, by paying attention and being willing to finesse each batch differently, I've found that the beans will usually guide me in the process to reveal their best selves. If I use the exact same method and recipe for each step, the chocolate just isn't as vibrant. Maybe it's like parenting. Every kid is different and responds better to customized parenting.
These varietals represent a tiny fraction of all the cacao grown in the world. They are picky and difficult to grow and they produce small numbers (if we're lucky) of pods (compared to the highly hybridized clones). Sourcing these wonderful beans and following the methods of the original chocolate makers we can come pretty close to what chocolate used to be like before it was so rudely interrupted by industrialization and greed. When you taste this chocolate, your first words will be something like "I had no idea! No wonder Linnaeus named it Theobroma Cacao (food of the gods)!" (Carl von Linne (Linnaeus) 18th century Swedish naturalist and father of our current binomial classification system). And no wonder it was considered precious and priceless and sacred and was sequestered away, reserved for royalty and elites (for the most part). Unless you were lucky enough to live far away from the madding crowd and out in the boondocks - then you could grow your own and not be pressured by the ancient cacao cartels that took your precious beans. Of course they would. Cacao was not just precious because of the ambrosian beverage it made but the beans were also used as money, tax and tribute - it was more important than gold. (Someday I will try to pay my taxes in cacao beans and see what the IRS says). Wars were fought over the best growing areas. Cacao was present for every life ceremony! Even the dew was collected from the tiny delicate flower petals and used in ceremonies.
So you can see the modern disconnect, right? I mean, nowadays chocolate can be so bland and even downright bad, so why and how could it have be so revered back in the day? This does not compute!
So we're going to fix this grievous state of affairs. We're going back in time. We're going to set things to rights.
Expect the unexpected. Each batch is a “limited edition”. Like grapes, each season produces different qualities. So even the same origin is different the next year! The fun of it all is exploring the different characteristics and nuances. Sourcing these special varietals is a never-ending quest to find and bring back the holy grail(s) of cacao; a seriously complex and continuously moving target. (Plus its fun to say “holy cacao”). I am unable to confine myself to making the same origins over and over, like a more practical and business-saavy chocolate maker would. Say, 6 different types of bars, the exact same profile, forevermore. The whole point is the exploration and diversity. What if there were only six different models of cars? And they all looked alike? (Oh wait, they already do). Or what if there were only six different breeds of dogs? Or cookie-cutter housing tracts? Life isn’t real in Stepford-Wife land. It’s a big chocolate world out there with lots to experience!