2025 Valentines Pump Street Madagascar 58% Milk Chocolate Bar

From the Maker:  Crafted from the same beans as our Madagascar 72% from the Sambirano Valley, this chocolate offers a creamy, indulgent experience with hints of caramel and treacle, complemented by the characteristic zesty finish of Madagascan beans. Perfect for sweet tooth enthusiasts and dark chocolate aficionados alike, it's a modern delight for all palates.
Bean to bar chocolate handmade in Suffolk, UK.

**The International Chocolate Awards 2024 - Bronze - Plain milk chocolate category

Ingredients:  Cocoa beans, cane sugar, milkpowder, cocoa butter. Minimum cocoa solids 58%. For allergens, see ingredients in bold. May contain cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, nuts and sesame seeds.

Cacao Sourcing:  

Farm: Akenssons Organic Estate, Ambanja, Sambirano Valley

Farmer: Bertil Akesson

Bean Type: Forestero and Trinitario (and a separate crop of Heirloom Cacao Preservation Accredited Criollo beans)

Accreditation: Certified Organic – Ecocert and NOP

This 2300 hectare family estate, close to Ambanja in the Sambirano Valley, has produced world-famous aromatic cocoa since 1920. Farmer Bertil Akesson is a pioneer in the bean-to-bar movement as he was one of the first people to start selling Madagascan cocoa beans to small makers around the world, helping to kickstart the craft chocolate movement.  Akessons estate also grows vanilla and spices including pepper, which provides shade for the cacao trees.

We buy from two different regions of this large estate – a combination of Forastero and Trinitario from the Bejofo area and as much as we can get of Bertils small crop of Criollo beans, awarded HCP status in 2017. Tasting these two beans side by side is a fascinating exploration of the role of varietal in flavour expression.

The two beans we buy from Bertil share some characteristics; both distinctly fruity, but whereas the Bejofo-originating Forastero/Trinitario beans have a vivacious lime and tropical fruit character, the Criollo beans are lighter in colour but reveal a sweeter, more red berry flavour.

The Pump Street Chocolate Story: