Fijian Summer in Holland!
A chocolate-order-break during summer time? No way! I have to taste new chocolate and will take the risk of melting problems. A few weeks ago I heard for the first time of Adi Chocolate Fiji. Chocolate from Fijian beans and made on one of these beautiful Islands.
Wow, this sounds great! I have to taste it! So I sent an e-mail to Adi. Very quickly I got a response from Tom, the owner. He was very enthusiastic about the first trip of his chocolate to The Netherlands. They even organized a farewell party for their baby.
Unfortunately the tracking code didnt work. After a few days I became obsessive about delivery vans driving in our neighbourhood. After 10 days waiting I saw our van again and I asked the driver if he maybe had a package for me. Yes, he did! Temperature was about 20 degrees (Celsius) outside so I was lucky!The chocolate arrived in perfect condition! Tasting could begin!
But there were some instructions on the wrapping about which time you may eat it and that there has to be some nice ocean breeze. So first I went for a walk on the beach, took a deep breathe and hurried back home.
This chocolate tastes very good! Nice fruity and flowery flavours. Lightly roasted, no vanilla or soy lecithin so you get a good picture of the beans. There are four different kinds of beans: an Amenolado and three Trinitarios: a yellow large pod, a red hybrid and a very nice Cundeamor. A bar called ToTo-A 80%, made ofCundeamor beans is my favourite.
And as mentioned on the wrapping, you can taste the added laughter and love!
Thank you very much, Tom!
nice Vera, I'm leaving Belgium to see how Fiji Tom make his Choco's only joking Vera, first OB...
Geert
Thanks for posting this, I haven't had the pleasure of eating Tomo's chocolate but I got some beans from him a while back and made my own chocolate. His post harvest processing is exceptional, hadn't seen beans that beautiful before or since. And the fact he harvests wild and separates the pods based on variety then ferments differently accordingly shows he is an artist. The chocolate that I made from the beans was sensational. Very typical of the region in terms of flavour notes, quite similar to Samoan cacao also.