70% DARK
This isn’t mango-flavored chocolate. It’s chocolate that grew up next to a mango and came out changed.
Starts bright and tangy — like sun-warmed mango skin — then mellows into a sweet, papaya-laced creaminess with whispers of forest honey and wood.
Roast Profile and recipe by
This batch explores the influence of controlled fruit-assisted fermentation using ripe mango pulp. Building on traditional Indian intercropping practices, we introduced mango not as a flavoring agent, but as a fermentation catalyst.
Fresh mango pulp was folded into the beans after 24 hours to stimulate early yeast activity and extend sugar availability. The result was a slower lactic-acetic transition, enhancing acidity complexity without over-fermenting. Careful monitoring of pH and temperature ensured that the mango sugars contributed to microbial activity without dominating it.
What emerged was not a mango-flavored chocolate, but a cacao profile shaped by mango’s microbiology—elevated tropical fruit notes, softened astringency, and a rounded finish.
This was a proof of concept: using indigenous fruits to deepen Indian cacao’s terroir expression, one batch at a time.
Nestled 50 kilometers from Mysore in the serene village of Hura, Chempotty Estate is a 22-acre Cacao plantation intercropped with coconut, arecanut, mango and various fruit trees.
Fermentation was conducted in a limited lot in boxes made of wild Jackfruit wood. The mango sugars spiked microbial activity early, encouraging a fast yeast-led start, followed by a slower bacterial phase. Ferment had to be closely monitored to avoid over-acidification.
Beans were turned gently on Day 2 and Day 4 to prevent mango sugars from overheating the center mass. Notable visual cue: Slight gold sheen on mucilage mid-ferment, with an intensely tropical aroma on Day 3.
This was our first mango-fermented batch — a challenge in control, but a reward in complexity. The mango pulp introduced a juicy sharpness early on, but we held it back just in time. One of the most expressive fermentations we’ve done yet.
