When most chocolate companies boast about producing chocolate from ‘bean-to-bar', Regal Chocolates, the mother company of Soklet, goes a step further with ‘tree to bar’ chocolates which simply means that they’re not just sourcing the cacao beans and producing them into chocolate — they have their own plantation in the Anaimalai foothills with cacao trees that help with producing their chocolate bars.
Grown along with nutmeg, coconut, pepper, and banana, the flavour and scents add to the cacao which is then used for the chocolate, giving it the same flavours. The plantation is also pesticide-free and using principles of aquaculture (cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions) and permaculture, the trees get the right nutrition to produce the best cacao apparently. Soklet's chocolates are also free of vegetable oils. They have no artificial flavours, no chemicals, and preservatives and more importantly, because they're non-alkalised, the natural levels of anti-oxidants are retained, making it rich in flavonoids.
Used by home bakers, chefs, and chocolatiers around the country, you can find bars both in Dark and Milk chocolate in varying sizes. Soklet's Dark Chocolate is available in 57 per cent Dark Chocolate with natural vanilla (our favourite), 70 percent Dark Chocolate, which has the earthy notes of red fruit and 100 percent Dark Chocolate that's perfect for large productions of chocolate. Milk Chocolate is available in 55 percent Dark Milk Chocolate (has fruity notes) and 40 percent Milk Chocolate (the traditional milk chocolate as you know it). We tried their 32 percent Blonde Milk Chocolate and loved the balance of smoothness and small hints of cacao. Which one are you going to try?