Thursday, March 22, 2012

Bar of the Week: Akesson Madagascar


Among our newest bar offerings are single-origin and inclusion chocolates from Akesson's, a company specializing in high-end ethnic and exotic foods.  Owner Bertil Akesson is the son of a globe-trotting Swedish diplomat who eventually settled his family in Madagascar; Bertil grew up among cacao plantations and later learned the ins and outs of chocolate production.  
 
Akesson's owns cacao plantations in both Brazil and Madagasar, and our bar of the week is a 75% dark chocolate made from criollo cacao grown on a single Madagascan site.  The Ambolikapiky plantation was founded in 1920 in northwest Madagascar's Sambirano Valley, a region long famed for its aromatic cocoa.  In addition to a larger quantity of trinitario cacao, Ambolikapiky produces a very limited amount of criollo beans, which give this bar a subtle and nuanced spectrum of red fruit and citrus notes. 
Come by on Saturday, March 24, to get acquainted Akesson's Madagascar bar.

1 comment:

Barbie Van Horn said...

Wish I could stop by on Saturday! I will have to send someone in my place to do a surrogate tasting!