Argencove

This artisan, bean-to-bar start-up has spent the last few years sourcing cacao from all over the country and experimenting with fermentation, drying and flavours. And they've kept it local, for their employees to bars named after Nicaragua's natural wounders, including Masaya Volcano and Laguna de Apoyo, and packaging inspired by Granada's Spanish colonial floor tiles, as well as supporting several community projects. On a by-appointment tour of their small Granada factory led by the Australian chocolate maker, you'll learn about the entire process, starting with plucking the pod off the tree. Taste it in all its form, from cacao fruit to beans to sublime chocolate, discovering flavours shaped by origin, cacao percentage and additions such as cashew, saffron and passion fruit.

How Science is Leading the Way for Argencove: Award-Winning Chocolate from Nicaragua There’s a popular saying in the chocolate industry: making chocolate is easy, making good chocolate is hard. Crafting delicious chocolate indeed requires a mastery of every step of the process, starting with cacao sourcing and ending with a perfectly tempered bar. A solid background in science and finding the right experts has proven keys to the success of Argencove.