CHOCOLATE ORIGIN STORY
Browned Butter 60% Milk Chocolate – Chocolarder
This bar starts with the simple idea of browned butter, where unsalted butter is gently heated until it turns golden and nutty, releasing flavours of toasted hazelnut and caramelised cream that feel proper and comforting. Chocolarder make it in their Cornish workshop using just a handful of ingredients: their single-origin cocoa, milk powder, sugar and that carefully browned butter, all refined together over several days to blend without losing the distinct butter character.
The process is quiet and deliberate. They brown the butter low and slow to build those toasty, biscuit-like notes, then fold it into milk chocolate at 60% cocoa so it feels rich but not heavy, more like a thoughtful treat than something overly sweet.
You’ll taste a smooth, creamy melt that opens with warm browned butter and toasted nut, giving way to caramel whispers and a gentle cocoa balance that lingers softly. There’s a bit of that fresh-baked shortbread quality about it, comforting in the way good butter always is.
Tasting Guide
Tasting Guide: Browned Butter 60% Milk Chocolate – Chocolarder
Let the bar sit out until it reaches room temperature. This softens the snap and lets the butter flavours breathe properly, rather than tasting chilled and flat. Break off a small square, about the size of a thumbnail, and place it on the centre of your tongue. Let it rest there for ten seconds before you move it around or chew.
You’ll first notice a creamy, golden melt with warm browned butter at the front, carrying toasted hazelnut that feels rich but light. As it coats your mouth, caramel cream emerges gently, blending with the 60% cocoa’s subtle roundness for a comforting, almost shortbread-like middle. The finish lingers softly with nutty warmth, inviting you back without any cloying aftertaste.
Pause between squares. On the second taste, the hazelnut often stands out more clearly, and the caramel seems to deepen. It’s a bar that unfolds patiently, rewarding a slow pace over hurried bites.
Our Torville and Bean House Blend pairs beautifully with the Browned Butter bar. Its pecan, toffee and chocolate notes harmonise with the bar’s browned butter and hazelnut, creating a seamless warmth where the coffee’s body supports the caramel without overwhelming the gentle milk chocolate creaminess.
Packaging
Plastic Free Packaging | Recyclable | Biodegradable
Chocolarder Origin Story
About Chocolarder
Chocolarder is one of the UK's few bean to bar chocolate makers and the only one operating in Cornwall. The company produces chocolate in the seaside town of Falmouth using high quality ingredients, with a focus on local sourcing where possible.
Their Story
Chocolarder was founded in 2012 by Mike Longman, a former pastry chef who spent years running pastry kitchens in restaurants across the UK, including Michelin starred establishments earning up to 5 AA Rosettes. While working in Cornwall, Longman noticed something missing: there was no locally made chocolate in the region. This realisation sparked an idea. Drawing on his professional kitchen experience, where sourcing the finest ethical ingredients was paramount, he decided to apply the same principles to chocolate making. His philosophy was simple: if you're investing significant time and effort into creating something, whether pastries or chocolate, you should only work with the best quality, ethically sourced ingredients.
Their Production Process
The bean to bar process at Chocolarder is meticulous and hands on. Once cocoa beans arrive from farms, they are carefully sorted by hand before being slowly roasted. Each batch of beans requires a different roasting time because they come from slightly different growing environments. The beans are quickly cooled to stop the roasting at precisely the right moment.
Next, the beans are cracked and the shells removed, separating out the nibs in a process called winnowing. The heavier nibs fall while air lifts away the lighter shells. These nibs are then stone ground into fine granules, becoming smoother and smoother until they transform into cocoa liquor using a stone melanger, essentially a giant stone wheel rotating on a stone slab. Sugar is added at this stage (unless making 100% chocolate), and the mixture goes through a three roll refiner that breaks down the particle size to 30 microns, creating that perfect melt on the tongue.
The chocolate is then conched, a process that truly brings the chocolate to life. During conching, the chocolate is aerated and kneaded, particles are rounded and evenly distributed, acids dissipate, and flavour compounds develop and react. When ready, the chocolate is poured out to mature in large blocks for around 40 days, allowing the flavours to deepen and develop further.
After ageing, the chocolate is tempered and poured into individual moulds, then wrapped in plastic free packaging, ready to be enjoyed.
Their Equipment
Working in the small bean to bar chocolate industry has given Chocolarder the opportunity to get creative with production equipment. Over the years, Mike Longman has developed something of a passion for restoring antique production machines, experimenting and tinkering to find better ways to make chocolate. As production has expanded, the machinery has evolved too, with Longman taking on the unusual task of renovating old equipment to suit their specific needs.
The factory is home to several remarkable machines, each with its own story. There's Kye, an antique roaster discovered in the middle of France via the internet. In its former life, it roasted hazelnuts, but by the time it arrived in Cornwall, it needed serious restoration. The machine was stripped down, cleaned, blasted to remove old paint and primers, then rebuilt into the striking piece of equipment it is today. The name Kye comes from Mike's grandfather, who remembered it as the name of a chocolate drink soldiers had during World War II. The restoration was funded through a crowdfunding campaign in 2018.
Then there's Mr McKracken, another French discovery. This antique marzipan roller has been part of the Chocolarder process since 2016. Now it serves a completely different purpose, breaking down roasted beans and shattering them into separate components, making it easier to sort shells from nibs before winnowing.
There's also Terry, who came from the closed Terry's of York factory. Yes, he once helped make chocolate oranges. Before arriving at Chocolarder, Terry had a stint at a honey farm where he was unsuccessfully used to crush honey into sugar crystals. Now he breaks down nibs after winnowing, preparing them for the melanger.
These machines, along with many others, can be seen up close during factory tours at the Falmouth facility.