CHOCOLATE ORIGIN STORY
Cornish Sea Salt 50%
Made on the Cornish coast, this bar brings together creamy milk chocolate from Three Mountains Cocoa in Ghana with a touch of local sea salt hand-harvested from the Atlantic waves that crash along the shoreline nearby. The salt comes from those rugged cliffs where the water is slowly evaporated in traditional open pans, referencing century old techniques to create enriched brines. Cornish Sea Salt have perfected the formation of crystals that are moister and chunkier than regular salt flakes, delivering the unique mineral profile that makes such a distinctive flavour. The Cornish Sea Salt with it's pure, briny crunch balances the smooth milk chocolate without overpowering it.
Chocolarder keep the recipe simple, using just a few quality ingredients so the salt's subtle minerality lifts the whole bar into something properly satisfying and just a tad moreish.
Tasting Guide
Chocolarder Cornish Sea Salt 50% Milk Chocolate Tasting Guide
Chocolarder’s Cornish Sea Salt 50% Milk Chocolate bar offers rich fudge notes with pockets of zesty salt crystals and a creamy finish, crafted from deliciously fudgy Ghanaian cocoa beans and hand-harvested Cornish sea salt from the Lizard peninsula in England.
Overall character
Style: 50% milk chocolate using Ghanaian single origin cocoa and Cornish sea salt for irresistible sweet-salty balance.
Profile: Smooth, creamy texture packed with deep fudge richness punctuated by crisp salt bursts.
Aroma
Before tasting, look for: warm fudge, creamy vanilla, and subtle briny coastal salt hints.
Subtle notes: roasted nut and faint caramel from the premium Ghanaian beans.
First taste
Initial impression: velvety milk chocolate unfolding into luxurious fudge sweetness.
Salt activation: zesty Cornish crystals deliver gentle crunch and savoury pop.
Mid-palate
As it develops: salt intensifies fudge layers and subtle fruity undertones from Ghana cocoa.
Balance achieved: perfect harmony of creaminess, sweetness, and salinity.
Finish and pairing
The finish lingers with echoing fudge, soft salt zing, and enduring milky smoothness.
Pair with our Single Origin Colombian Supremo brewed cleanly as filter coffee. It's indulgent chocolatey and nutty profile evenly balances the bar's fudge-salt dynamic; sip coffee first to refresh the palate with its smooth body, then chocolate so that the salt draws out the coffee's inherent sweetness, alternate slowly to build creamy, nutty synergy.
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.