01
Cocoa Beans
Sacks arrive smelling like earth and fruit. We sort, rest, and listen. Ghana and Ecuador keep separate shelves like guest rooms.
02
Roasting
Heat wakes the flavor. Too little: grassy. Too much: ash. The roast curve is a recipe as careful as caramel.
03
Grinding
Nibs become liquor — a word that here means thick, dark, unstoppable cocoa paste. Nib pieces sometimes escape into crunch bars on purpose.
04
Mixing
Sugar, milk, cocoa butter, mischief. Conching polishes the mass until it feels like fabric, not grit.
05
Tempering
Crystal architecture. 31.5°C for many of our darks. Shine, snap, no sad bloom. Lina does not accept dull bars.
06
Molding
Long, mini, square, chunky, heart, layered. Fillings are piped like secrets. Vibration tables knock out bubbles that don't belong.
07
Packaging
Foil, paper, ribbon, joke on the inside flap. Gift chests are packed by people who still get excited. Then the conveyor carries them toward you.