A taste of Saint Lucia: Our new Saint Lucian chocolate collection

Your first look at our brand-new Saint Lucian chocolate collection. Single-origin by nature, hand-nurtured by the Saint Lucian Island Growers.

Since buying our Saint Lucian cacao farm in 2006, our mission has always been to support and grow a sustainable cacao industry.

After almost two decades of refining our processes and supporting the local communities as part of our Island Growers programme, our gentle farming initiative has never been more beneficial.

Our new chocolate collection: A Taste of Saint Lucia

We’re proud to reveal six new single-origin chocolate products in our Taste of Saint Lucia range, including something to nibble, something to savour, and something to share.

With two chocolate grades to choose from, these products are made exclusively using cacao grown by our farming partners in Saint Lucia. And trust us — you will taste the difference.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 50% Milk Chocolate Batons

Our chocolatiers have always been sure that the best way to experience all of our chocolate grades and their tasting notes is in baton form. Satisfyingly snappable, all 15 of these solid cacao batons have been cast from Saint Lucian 50% Milk Chocolate, delivering fruity and floral flavour notes with an oh-so-creamy texture. Perfect for nibbling, snapping, breaking, and sharing.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 70% Dark Chocolate Batons

Fancy venturing over to the dark side? Don’t be fooled — our dippable solid chocolate batons don’t lack in flavour. These Saint Lucian 70% Dark Chocolate Batons will take you on a flavour journey, from the opening notes of tangy red cherry to the final touch of warming almonds. Close your eyes, and you may well find yourself standing on the welcoming sands of Saint Lucia as you soak in the salty sea breeze.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 50% Milk Drinking Chocolate

If you prefer your cacao in sippable form, this Saint Lucian 50% Milk Drinking Chocolate means you can experience all the expertise that goes into our cacao in one satisfyingly balanced beverage. You’ll want to take your time with this one. Prepare your barista-grade hot chocolate with The Velvetiser™ before you find a quiet spot to start your experience. All that’s left to do is savour the malty mouthfeel and enjoy the outstandingly unique flavour profile of 50% chocolate nurtured by Saint Lucia’s volcanic soil.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 70% Dark Drinking Chocolate

Our gossamer-fine cacao flakes are just as smooth and sumptuous in our Saint Lucian 70% Dark Drinking Chocolate, filling your mug to the brim with earthy cherry notes and subtle almond aromas. Never too sweet and never too bitter, the result is a satisfying drinking experience that embraces all the hard work that’s gone into each sip.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 50% Milk Chocolate Slabs

Designed to be shared and snapped, our Saint Lucian 50% Milk Chocolate Slabs are as simple as they come — and for good reason. Our Slabs are one of the best ways to savour the unique flavour profile of our Saint Lucian cacao with their delicately floral taste and sweetness with a moreish mouthful.

Saint Lucian Island Growers 70% Dark Chocolate Slabs

Bold, daring, and unapologetically uncomplicated — this chocolate slab lets our dark cacao take the lead. Made with single-origin Saint Lucian beans, which have spent plenty of time soaking up the Caribbean sun, our 70% Dark Chocolate Slabs are the perfect gift or surprise for any dark chocolate connoisseur.

Our process

Over the last 20 years, we’ve been lucky enough to work closely with the island growers of Saint Lucia. We’ve spent that time listening, learning, and refining to create products that embody the very best of what the cacao bean has to offer. And all while getting stuck in and appreciating the growers who make this process possible in the first place.

From tree to bar, each product in our A Taste of Saint Lucia range goes through a meticulous process. Our technique has been shaped by a blend of modern, gentle farming practices and century-old cacao growing methods.

1. Rooting

Letting nature do what it does best, our single-origin chocolate begins its journey as a blossoming cacao pod on the Theobroma cacao tree. We give these trees plenty of space and time to embrace the warm volcanic soil at our Saint Lucian Island Growers’ cacao farms, adding to our chocolate’s fruity notes.

2. Planning

Every process needs careful planning. Our chocolatiers use their expertise to determine the ideal roast time for each individual batch, adding a strict timeline to our process so we can create the very best finished product.

3. Fermenting

After purchasing the harvested wet cacao beans at a premium price, it’s time for them to nestle snugly within banana leaves. We ensure they have enough time to unlock their full flavour range. This week-long process finishes with the beans drying beneath the blazing Saint Lucian sun. 

4. Roasting and conching

We begin our roasting and conching process in-house at our Cambridgeshire HQ, which aims to bring every subtle flavour to the foreground. This gives our high-cacao 70% products their fruity characteristics and our mellow 50% offerings their subtly sweet caramelised notes.

5. Tempering

The chocolate is then carefully cooled and reheated to stabilise the cacao butter crystals, providing our chocolate with its signature glossy sheen and moreish texture.

6. Moulding and cooling

From Batons and Slabs to truffles, the tempered chocolate is then poured into our crafted moulds and left to cool until they take shape and are satisfyingly snappable.

This tried-and-tested process has been a work in progress over the last 20 years, and we’re still finding new ways to improve it today. For a full run-down of each step in detail, take a look at our blog on how our chocolate is made — from roots to wrapper.

Our approach

It’s common to see rare and single-origin chocolate without a staggeringly high price point… But we’ve never been one to follow the rules. This is why you can enjoy our Saint Lucian chocolate at the same price as the rest of our collections.

Why? Because single-origin chocolate is a taste that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Its nuanced profile is one of a kind, and we want that experience to be accessible to every chocolate lover.

For flavours you won’t forget: A Taste of Saint Lucia

No matter if you’re a single-origin expert or a curious foodie looking to expand your cacao horizons, find what you’re craving within this new collection.

We’re incredibly proud of this range, because a Taste of Saint Lucia embodies all of the effort, time, knowledge, and learning that goes into every morsel of our Hotel Chocolat chocolate.

Once you’ve got your hands on our Saint Lucian chocolate, close your eyes and just take a moment, because you may well be able to taste it.

Give yourself A Taste of Saint Lucia today.