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Published, Dec 04, 2018

Why We're Pairing Chocolate with Coffee this Christmas

There are many similarities to draw between chocolate and coffee. They are both fruits which are grown close to the equator, and the end result of their respective processes leaves two products that compliment each other extraordinarily well. To showcase this we've created the Coffee and Chocolate Gift Set in partnership with Lucocoa in London.

We've been working with Lucocoa for a while now and are delighted to be showcasing their incredible chocolate in this new gift set for Christmas 2018. The quality of their product, along with the ethics in which it is sourced and produced, are a perfect accompaniment to our speciality coffee.

Lucocoa are London’s first bean to bar chocolate maker. They started making chocolate in 2014 as a result of a passion for health and fitness, and a determination to change the state in which chocolate is perceived. They decided to make their chocolate from scratch, from the cocoa bean itself. It was the only way they could be sure that their chocolate contained the finest ingredients and was made to the best possible standard.

They searched across the world looking for cocoa beans that ticked the right boxes - those that combined the best taste, finest quality, were organic and had the fairest practices in place. This was achieved by using only rare Criollo and Trinitario cocoa beans that make up less than 15% of the world's cocoa; these beans are from Haiti, Belize, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic.

Their chocolate is made carefully in small batches over a period of three days and they never use refined sugar, additives or preservatives. These bars are only sweetened with unrefined coconut sugar and lucuma, a fruit native to Peru. It's this last ingredient which inspired their name, Lucocoa.

 

‘We were contacted by Joshua Tarlo back in January [2017] after he was told by a friend about us. It was a great meeting Joshua and finding out more about Origin Coffee. It was awesome to discover a company that really cares about sourcing as well as the flavour profiles. We are a relatively new company but really look up to what you do at Origin as best practice for Lucocoa in the long term.’ 

- Amarachi Uzowuru, Founder

 

In our collaborative gift set we've featured two 50g bars of Lucocoa's award winning chocolate. First is a 60% dark chocolate from Haiti with tasting notes of figs, cherry, caramel and roasted nuts. The second, a 50% milk chocolate from Dominican Republic tastes like creamy caramel. To accompany these delicious chocolates we've included a 250g bag of our single origin coffee from Los Altos in El Salvador.

This coffee has become one of our most popular mainstays, and features complimentary tasting notes of milk chocolate, caramel and red berry. Los Altos is produced by our longstanding direct trade partners, the Mierisch family at the farm of the same namesake in Nicaragua.

Once the coffee is in the UK, we roast it at our roastery in Cornwall to showcase its unique terroir and imparting our own identity on the final cup. The finished cup is approachable, familiar and full of flavour. A perfect partner to Lucocoa's chocolate.

The Origin x Lucocoa Coffee & Chocolate Gift Set is available to purchase for £25 via our online store. Last orders before Christmas are at midnight on Thursday 20 December 2018.