CHOCOLATE ORIGIN STORY
Wild Gorse Flower 50% – Milk Chocolate
Right on the rugged Cornish coastline where Chocolarder make their chocolate, wild gorse bushes burst into coconut-scented yellow flowers each spring, dotting the cliffs and moors with their tough, evergreen presence. The team hand-gathers these local blossoms at their peak, infusing the creamy milk chocolate base with that distinctive, sunny flavour that feels so tied to the landscape. It's a simple nod to the wildflowers growing just outside the workshop door, turning a fleeting coastal walk into something you can savour in every square.
Tasting Guide
Wild Gorse Flower 50% Milk Chocolate Tasting Guide
Before You Taste
Notice the smooth, creamy appearance of this 50% milk chocolate bar. The gorse flowers are infused into the chocolate rather than visible pieces, giving the bar a uniform look.
The Aroma
Break off a square and breathe in deeply. The most striking feature is the warm, heady coconut scent that drifts from the chocolate, reminiscent of walking Cornwall's coastal paths on a sunny spring day when the gorse is in full bloom.
The Snap
The break should be clean and satisfying, though this milk chocolate will have a slightly softer snap than dark chocolate due to its milk content.
First Impressions
Place a piece on your tongue. The chocolate has an almost fudge like texture and melts quickly, releasing its unique flavour profile immediately.
The Flavour Journey
As the chocolate melts, experience the layers of flavour:
- Opening notes: Warming toasted coconut, the signature flavour imparted by the wild gorse flowers steeped in cocoa butter
- Mid palate: Hints of fudge and roast nut, with touches of caramel and malt
- Finish: Light red fruit notes that provide a gentle, fruity ending
The gorse flowers create delicate, heathery floral undertones throughout, adding complexity without overpowering the chocolate.
The Story in Every Bite
These vibrant yellow gorse flowers are hand picked in late spring from the prickly hedgerows lining Cornwall's rugged coastal paths. The harvest is famously painful on the fingers due to the spiky bushes, but once the flowers are steeped in cocoa butter pressed from Chocolarder's own beans, they impart their distinctive coconut scent and flavour, making every scratch worthwhile.
Pairing Suggestions
The Wild Gorse Flower 50% Milk Chocolate pairs beautifully with our Torville and Bean House Blend. Its pecan, toffee, and chocolatey notes echo the bar's creamy coconut whispers and toasty warmth, creating a cosy harmony where the coffee's subtle sweetness lifts the floral lift without overpowering it. You'll find the pairing feels like a gentle Cornish stroll, with each sip drawing out more of the gorse's sunny character alongside the milk chocolate's comfort. Other suggestions include:
- Earl Grey or jasmine tea
- Light lagers or wheat beers
- Fresh berries
- Honey based desserts
- White or rosé wines
Tips for Best Experience
- This is a particularly seasonal chocolate, evoking memories of spring and summer
- Let it come to room temperature to fully appreciate the coconut aroma
- Try closing your eyes while tasting to focus on the unique floral notes
- The coconut character is natural from the flowers, not added coconut flavouring
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.