This 2024-harvest single-origin comes from Semuliki Forest near Bundibugyo in western Uganda, where cocoa is grown by around 1,000 organically certified farmers, 52% of them women. Beans are fermented in local eucalyptus boxes over five to six days by Latitude Trade Company in Kasese — working with more than 4,500 smallholder growers — then sun-dried on portable raised decks for six to seven days before being blended into consistent export lots.
It is going out of stock soon, but the new batch should be as good.
The bar opens with a fairly understated aroma before the plum jam character gradually comes forward, joined by a gentle maple sweetness that never tips into cloying. Bread-like warmth develops alongside it, giving the whole profile a comforting, homely quality rather than anything sharp or overly fruity. There’s a toasted quality to the finish that felt like a natural echo of that bread note — genuinely comforting rather than heavy.
At a medium roast level and a high natural sweetness, this reads as a more generous, rounded bar than many single-origins at 70%, leaning into sweetness and warmth rather than intensity or acidity. Roaster Akari’s aim, balancing sweetness and acidity from this particular harvest, comes through clearly in the final result. This light touch is a wonderful choice to bring out real distinctive flavour notes to this chocolate. This is chocolate made with real skill.
This is Batch 1 from the 2024 harvest — grown at 3,400ft elevation, in beans dried across a mix of raised wooden beds, cement patios, and greenhouse space, reflecting the careful, varied processing Latitude Trade Company applies before export
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10