Felchlin the perfect partner

As our couvertures should be as natural as possible and express the place of origin of the cocoa, we refrain from using vanilla or soya lecithin. Apart from Nacional fine flavoured cocoa from the Chakra Gardens of the Kichwa in Ecuador and cocoa butter from the Dominican Republic, we only use Swiss granulated sugar and, in the case of the milk couverture, local milk powder. In addition to the cocoa content and the ingredients that a couverture contains, the roasting of the beans and the conching process have a decisive effect on the character of the end-product. The experts at Felchlin roast the cocoa beans intended for our couvertures slowly and gently in small batches. After cooling, the beans are broken up in the crusher and the shells are removed. The cocoa nibs obtained in this way now go into the triple and ball mills until the particles finally have a fineness of less than 20 micrometres. The now liquid cocoa mass, liquid cocoa butter and granulated sugar – in the case of the milk couverture, milk powder is also added – form a mass that is processed by five counter-rotating rollers to a fineness of around 16 micrometres. The tiny grains are no longer perceptible to the tongue. The next step is conching. This is done in the traditional longitudinal conching machine, which brings out the aromas in the couverture through hours of agitation and aeration. Unwanted aromas which develop during fermentation then dissipate through the slow heating process, and the positive properties gradually emerge. But beware: too long a conching time takes away some of the couverture’s character. After an intensive test phase, several tastings, and lively discussions with the experts at Felchlin, we decided on 36 hours of conching time for the Grand Cru Chakra Lait and 66 hours for the Grand Cru Chakra Noir. The smoothness and melting of the couverture are also due to this conching process. The Grand Cru Chakra Lait couverture with a cocoa content of 40 per cent already has an intense cocoa aroma. It also has clearly perceptible caramel notes, which help it to have a harmoniously integrated and not too sharp sweetness. This is partly because the caramel flavour is not based on refined sugar but on the chosen milk powder. The caramel notes dominate at the beginning, while the cocoa notes come to the fore in the finish, paired with pleasant roasted aromas. “It was very important to us that you can taste the essence of the bean in the milk couverture. That’s why it contains less sugar than the couverture we’ve worked with so far. Milk chocolate is not usually conched for such a long time,” explains Ivo Jud, head chocolatier at Confiserie Honold AG. “This couverture is exactly what we had in mind. For all its personality, it is very balanced and harmonious, and we are convinced that its taste will appeal to a wide audience,” adds Cristina de Perregaux, owner of Confiserie Honold AG and initiator of the Chakra project. The Grand Cru Chakra Noir Couverture contains 70 per cent cocoa and is correspondingly strong. Strong cocoa notes are joined by intense roasted aromas, light acidity and refreshing fruitiness reminiscent of blackcurrant or blackberries. “The absence of vanilla, which usually provides a certain sweetness in dark couvertures, also allows the cocoa notes to come more to the fore here,” explains Ivo Jud. Without the highly developed network of Felchlin in South America, the development of sustainable couvertures with a continuously traceable value chain would not have been possible. Felchlin was Kallari’s first international customer in 2005 and brought the cooperative to our attention a year and a half ago when we were planning our own couvertures. As the first Swiss company to start producing couvertures from Grand Cru cocoa, Felchlin has an enormous wealth of experience in both purchasing and production.

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