Warm Your Winter with Cocoa Balls from the Tobago Cocoa Estate
This Cocoa Tea is the very best around! What makes it the best? Why, the cocoa used to make the tea, of course. It comes from the Tobago Cocoa Estate W.I. Ltd., a combination heritage park and working cocoa estate located in the lush rolling hills above the sleepy town of Roxborough on the island’s southern coast.
Here, the sweet science of chocolate production is being taken to new heights of excellence by a spirited few adherents to the island’s traditional cultivation techniques, with some modern-day sustainable farming methods mixed in to help preserve the area’s flora and fauna.
The main man behind this revolution in cocoa production is local Tobagonian Duane Dove, an evangelically affable guy with an uncompromising demand for excellence in every phase of his chocolate production so high it redefines persnickety.
Hershey’s, M&M’s, 3 Musketeers – all are bad words to Duane. To him, truly great chocolate comes from much finer stuff. Specifically, the Trinitario bean.
Of the three primary varieties of cocoa beans used to produce chocolate, Trinitario occupies the middle rung; a hybrid of the more rare and expensive Criollo bean and the all-too-common Forastero that’s used to make what most of us have come to know as “chocolate.”
As you may have guessed from the name, Trinitario cocoa beans originated in Trinidad & Tobago, so Duane’s chocolate is 100% Trini-to-de-bone – a nice plus in my book! It also carries a richness in flavor and sophistication that’s light years beyond those mass-market confectioneries. Seriously, if you think you love chocolate now, just wait til you get your lips around a Tobago Cocoa Estate chocolate bar. It’s on a whole ‘nother level, trust me.
So too are the Cocoa Balls pictured up top. You don’t eat these balls, though; you grate ’em to make Cocoa Tea! Here’s the simple recipe printed on the Cocoa Balls packaging…
Method:
Grate two tablespoons of cocoa to one cup of water. Boil for five minutes, strain and add milk and sugar to taste. That’s it!
The flavor explosion you’ll enjoy is absolutely incredible, with luxurious Trinitario chocolate combining with bay leaf, nutmeg, and spices to warm you to the core, as though you were in Tobago all now.
