BEHIND THE CRAFT
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10 Great Facts About Chocolate

1. Chocolate was first drunk by the Aztecs, Montezuma was a 50-cup a day fan.

2. 1000 cacao beans are needed to make a 1 kg of chocolate.

3. Never feed chocolate to your cats and dogs, it’s dangerous for them.

4. Chocolate is 3 times more complex than wine, because it has 3 times the flavour compounds.

5. Cocoa trees live up to 200 years & are members of the cotton family.

6. Chocolate was consumed as a drink long before it was eaten as a bar [invented by Fry’s in England in 1847].

7. Chocolate really does make us happy - it causes endorphins to be released in the brain.

8. Africa has taken over. Cocoa beans originated in South America, now 70% comes from Africa.

9. Chocolate melts at 34 deg. C. Body temperature is 37. That’s why it melts in your fingers.

10. Chocolate [dark] is good for you! Like tea, cocoa contains antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage.

FGCH20184

Glorious Selection of Luxury Chocolates 100g

Net Weight: 100g

Celebrate with our glorious selection of 9 sublime luxury chocolates in three exquisite varieties: intense Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles; divine Strawberry Cream Dome; deep Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cluster. The perfect gift box for dinner parties.

The East India Company - Lifestyle

Chocolate

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£18.00
A glorious gift selection of 9 sublime luxury chocolates in three exquisite varieties.

The lucky recipient will enjoy the intensity of the Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles; the devine indulgence of the Strawberry and Cream Dome, featuring real strawberries and cream wrapped in sumptuous white chocolate; and the Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cluster, packed full of flavour in each bite.

Enclosed in a beautiful white gift box features the gold foiled connection lines derived from an antique map of trading lines of The East India Company, evoking the spirit of passionate pioneers.

An ideal all year around gift to say a simple 'Thank You'.
Each box contains 3 each of the following chocolates, made by artisan chocolatiers in England.

- Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffle
- White Chocolate Strawberry & Cream Dome
- Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cluster
Our finest East India Company chocolates and truffles have a unique couverture perfected with careful consideration of cacao percentage to express the sweetness and intensity of the chocolate flavour and make the luscious ingredients even better.

Couvertures are single origin from the Cote d’Ivoire and the cacao is traceable to plantation and purchased directly from the farmers’ consortium.
Every product sold by the East India Company contains an element that is the very finest the world has to offer. We call it our "Critical Ingredient".

It may be an ingredient.
It may be a technique.
It may be the skill of the maker.
It may be a small constituent, but it is always the essential one.

It is our dedication to sourcing and selecting these critical ingredients that make our products unique, valuable, and extraordinary.

Our range of chocolates are built upon these critical ingredients – only the highest quality, natural ingredients combined with traditional recipes and innovative artisan skills to create unique tastes. This gives our chocolates their exquisite flavour and sets them apart.

Ingredients

Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Mass, Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin), White Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Natural Vanilla Flavouring), Sea Salt Caramel (Whipping Cream (Milk) Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid, Sea Salt, Preservative: Sorbic Acid), Hazelnut Paste, Whipping Cream (Milk) Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Icing Sugar (Sugar, Raising Agent: Tricalcium Phosphate), Glucose Syrup, Marc De Champagne 1%, Butter (Milk), Humectant: Sorbitol, Beetroot Red (Beetroot Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid), Preservative: Sorbic Acid. Dark chocolate cocoa solids minimum 73%. Milk chocolate cocoa solids minimum 38%. Milk solids minimum 24%.

Allergens

May contain traces of other tree nuts, wheat, and barley. Not Suitable for nut, wheat, and gluten allergy sufferers.

Contains soya, milk, hazelnut



Nutrition

Typical values 100g – Energy: 2243kj/538kcal | Fat: 38.0g, of which saturates: 15.6g | Carbohydrate: 40.5g, of which sugars: 34.8g | Protein: 7.3g | Salt 0.20g



Storage

Store in a cool dry place. Avoid direct sunlight. 15°C to 18°C. Once opened consume within 30 days.

Stories

The London Chocolate Houses

London arrived rather late to the chocolate party... Cocoa was used as a beverage over 2000 years ago by the Mayans, who, like the later Aztecs, used cocoa as a special occasion beverage, to reward brave warriors and as an aphrodisiac. Both empires also used cocoa beans as currency.

Columbus first brought cocoa back to Spain in 1502 to little acclaim but after Cortes conquered Montezuma and the Aztecs, he successfully introduced cocoa, transformed from bitterness with sugar or honey, to the Spanish court, saying “One of this precious drink allows a man to walk a whole day without taking nourishment.”

Chocolate soon arrived in Britain, being first sold in 1657 in The Coffee Mill & Tobacco Roll. It was all things to all people: to some, as with the Aztecs, it was the viagra of the day; to others including Samuel Pepys, a hangover cure.

London Chocolate Houses also became the fashionable meeting places for the elite of London society, as well as being dens of iniquity for the colourful characters of London. The surviving White’s Chocolate House was like all, an all-male establishment, charging a penny for entrance, whilst The Cocoa Tree in Pall Mall saw Tory strategy developed over cups of chocolate.

The East India Company did trade in cocoa, paying 2 shillings in tax per pound of cocoa imported by 1760, the equivalent to one day’s wages, for these beguiling cargoes of cocoa from far off lands, but in truth was more engaged in tea than chocolate. And industrialisation made chocolate a food for the masses around this time and Chocolate Houses soon fell out of fashion.

Our spirit delivers no ordinary products

  • FAQ

    There is a chocolate in the assortment that I don't want. Can I replace it with another?
    Yes - we know the perfect gift has to be perfect all through the box. Leave us a message at the checkout, and we will do our utmost to meet your needs and will contact you if there are any challenges.

  • Delivery & Returns

    UK Standard Delivery: £3.95
    UK Next Day Delivery (mainland UK only): £9.95 (Order before 12pm)
    International Delivery is available, please see our delivery page for details. For more information and Terms & Conditions, please see our Delivery page.

  • Reviews

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