Chocolarder - Cornish Honeycomb

Handmade in Cornwall

Chocolarder, new kid on the block when it comes to bean-to-bar UK chocolate makers. One of a handful of chocolate specialists including the likes of Duffy of Red Star Chocolate Ltd, based in Lincolnshire and Pump Street Bakery based in picturesque Orford, Suffolk.

Chocolarder is an artisan bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Penryn, Cornwall. One of Cornwall's most ancient towns and an important harbour in years gone by. Now the centre of artisan chocolate production on the Lizard Peninsula. 

Michael Longman, a former pastry chef, started Chocolarder in 2012 after deciding he'd had enough of mass produced chocolate. A small chocolate bar maker with a strong sense of social responsibility demonstrated by sourcing only organic and sustainably grown cocoa beans from family run plantations. 

The packaging is very functional with a wallet like feel which allows you to keep your chocolate treasure in safekeeping for later nibbling.

Single Origin Milk Chocolate with Honeycomb....this 70g bar of milk chocolate, 40% cocoa solids, is made using single origin chocolate, Trinitario beans from Java with honeycomb pieces. The label also tells us about 'grind length' a statement that could be misconstrued but, essentially this tells us this is a bar of quality chocolate. A longer conche effectively translates into a dream bar of the brown, sweat stuff.....well that's the theory. 

A beautiful shiny exterior glistening like polished mahogany even under these gloomy grey Essex skies. A good snap and a creamy smooth rich fudgy loveliness intermingled with honeycomb crunch. The accompanying tasting notes suggest strong earthy and floral tones from locally sourced honey which has been cold-pressed. Allegedly this process ensures all the good stuff including vitamins and nutrients remain intact and are not destroyed by heat.

I've diligently placed what's left of my chocolate bar back in the wallet to be enjoyed later. But, it keeps calling me back which means it will be devoured sooner rather than later. Good job I ordered two! So, just on this premise alone this is a good bar of chocolate and competes well with the likes of Duffy and Pump Street. Priced at £3.95 for 70g.  

Well done my lovelies!

Day Trip to London

The journey from hell lay ahead but this did not deter us as we knew what the prize was at the other end.  Chocolate!  Network Rail or whatever they're called kindly and thoughtfully laid on several obstacles for our journey to Vinopolis earlier today.  But the epic journey to London was well worth the aggravation and extreme hardship that we had to endure.  Ok, so we had to get on a train, on a coach, on a tube and then we had to walk!  I almost died! 


London was looking it's best under glorious sunshine and blue sky.  The big surprise was not the chocolate show but Borough Market.  On previous visits we'd missed this spectacle and what a feast of autumnal colours and delicacies were set before us.

Borough Market it was packed to the rafters with masses of people just moving about admiring, tasting and photographing everything.  In fact I almost could not believe that I was in an English market. Brilliant!

Rabot Estate Broken Slabs

A brief saunter around the Rabot Estate shop was too much for my wallet and I had to make my escape to Chocolate Unwrapped.  The bags (on the left) in the picture were £9.00 a go!  So, I settled for a chocolate mousse shot at £2.00 which I shared of course.  A tasty snack but lacked finish which was a bit disappointing.


Onwards to Chocolate Unwrapped at Vinopolis!  There seemed to be more vendors there this year including several new ones which was good to see.  These were just some of the companies that we saw and sampled: Paul A Young; Duffy; Akesson's from Sweden; Paul Wayne Gregory; Pacari; Ecuador ChocoFest; Chococo; Chocolate and Love; The Chocolate Lover's Wine; chocoMe from Hungary; Rococo and so many more!  After two hours we'd had our full of chocolate and these are just some of the bars we purchased.

If you have time tomorrow this is well worth a visit and great experience for novices as you can taste as much chocolate as you like! There is also a program of talks and demonstrations throughout the day.