70% Large Chips

Semuliki Forest

Uganda

2022 HARVEST · BATCH no. 1 · By Nate
Size
free shipping
tasting notes: cacao-fruit nectar, banana, cream cheese

Within Uganda’s rainy, tropical Rwrenzururu subregion, a registered social enterprise called Latitude Trade Company, Ltd. sources wet cacao beans from over 4500 smallholder farmers. Latitude ferments each farmer’s harvest in boxes built of local eucalyptus, then blends the many farms’ beans together post-fermentation and drying, creating a consistently excellent product.

In this new 2022 batch of Uganda chips, we taste notes of cacao-fruit nectar, banana, and cream cheese.

Weighing in at a substantial 3.5 grams each, these single-origin chocolate chips are fashioned for bakers and home chocolatiers of all levels. They were modeled after the hand-piped chips our kitchen team used to make for the enormous cookies we serve in our cafés. Our large chips are fully tempered with a snappy, smooth, shiny finish — perfect for baking and making confections, from brownies and cookies to chocolate-dipped strawberries and homemade truffles.  

Each bag has enough chips to make two batches of our Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, with a handful left over for nibbling. Find this recipe and others in our book, Making Chocolate: from Bean to Bar to S’more.

INGREDIENTS & ALLERGENS

All of our single-origin chocolate is made with just cocoa beans and sugar; no added cocoa butter, lecithin, or vanilla. Our chocolate is free of soy, dairy, eggs, and gluten, and it is made in a factory that does not process nuts.

Packed in a factory that does not contain nuts.
WEIGHT
17.6 oz (500 g)
5.5 lb (2.5 kg)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Storage instructions:

  • Store chocolate, nibs, and chef's chocolate in a cool and dark place; back of pantry is ideal
  • Best results somewhere between 40°F-68°F
  • Keep away from heat and direct sunlight
  • Keep away from strong odors
  • Do not freeze
  • Two-ingredient chocolate will not go “bad” like milk chocolate or chocolate with additional ingredients (e.g. inclusions or nuts)
  • If your bar melts or blooms, the flavor notes will still be present though the bar will have lost its characteristic snap. Feel free to use bloomed chocolate for making hot chocolate or baking.

Shelf life:

2 years from factory production date

vegan

gluten free

nut free

soy free

Direct Sourced

Dandelion Chocolate Large Chips Semuliki Forest, Uganda 70% 2022 Large Chips 500 g
70% Large Chips
Semuliki Forest, Uganda
cacao-fruit nectar, banana, cream cheese

About Semuliki Forest, Uganda

Map of Semuliki Forest, Uganda

About Semuliki Forest, Uganda

Semuliki Forest cacao farm

We first met Jeff Steinberg in 2017 when he visited our factory on Valencia Street looking to understand more about specialty cocoa. Jeff founded Latitude Trade Company (LTC) in 2016, as a social enterprise and certified B corporation that works with Ugandan smallholder producers to bring local products to market.

Flash forward seven years, and now LTC works with over 4,500 smallholder farmers in Uganda providing training, microfinancing, and insurance, and pays a premium price for the farmers’ cocoa. These beans are used by a number of makers throughout the world, including some of our favorites, such as Soma Chocolate Makers in Toronto; Fjak out of Eidfjord, Norway; and Monsoon from Tucson. LTC also provides training to farming households on everything from organic agronomy to financial literacy. Additionally, LTC set up their own bean-to-bar chocolate factory and café, which not only provides additional income, but allows immediate feedback on the flavor and quality of their beans. If you’re in Kampala you should swing by!

Near the town of Bundibugyo in western Uganda, Semuliki Forest cocoa is grown by roughly 1,000 organically certified regional farmers, of whom 52 percent are women. LTC’s centralized fermentation facility is located in the village of Bumate, about 4.5 kilometers southeast of Bundibugyo, at the base of the hills leading up into the mountains. Fermentation varies from five to six days, and beans are sun-dried on portable raised decks for six to seven days, and then blended to create consistent lots of delicious beans before export.