Talking Drum Chocolate

Talking Drum Chocolate offers 5 signature bars. In addition, new and exciting flavours are offered through the Tasters Club. Members/subscribers receive tasters box twice a year with new and surprising flavours. The first tasters club box is going out in mid November 2024 and will have 7 new flavours:

1. Mint and Coffee
2. Honey roasted almonds and Banana Chips
3. Toasted coconut and pineapple
4. Banana Chips, Salted Almonds and Chilli Pepper
5. Hot Chilli Pepper
6. Banana Chips and Coffee
7. Mango and Black Pepper (or pineapple and black pepper)

Notes from the Chocolate Maker

In making this inaugural tasters club box, I included ingredients from our signatures bars such as banana chips and coconut but introduced new flavours as well. Some flavours are inspired by bars I’ve tasted during my travels like Mango and Pepper made by Hachez Chocolate in Germany and Hot Chilli in Dark Milk Chocolate made by Republica del Cacao in Ecuador.

Mint and coffee is an innovative combination and probably the bar that excites me the most. This is because we are using locally grown mint from a farm just a few kilometres from the factory and pleasantly delighted with how well it goes with coffee. I dehydrated the mint and run it through the food processor. For coffee, I used instant coffee because I like the crunch that it leave in the bar.

Banana Chips and Coffee can also be called a breakfast bar. I find it to be a delightful midmorning or late afternoon snack. I’m curious to know what you think about this combination. The honey roasted and banana chips also fit in here as filling snack. It’s more like a crunchy snack bar in a smooth dark milk chocolate.

The toasted coconut and pineapple is very tropical. I was researching flavour combinations and decided to give this a try. If you like fruit or have a sweet tooth, you will enjoy this bar. For the pineapple, I used a candied pineapple from the supermarket. I liked the taste of it because it wasn’t too acidic.

Mango and Black Pepper would be familiar to chocoholics. It’s a delightful combination so I had to give it a try. Similar to the pineapple, I used a supermarket candied mango because I loved the taste and texture. Depending on the feedback, I will try a non-candied version – just simple dried mango, which I can do at home as I have a dehydrator. Unfortunately, I ran out of mango, so some people will receive a pineapple version.

The Hot Chilli Bar is HOT. Be warned. That chilli does kick in. I used red chilli flakes for this after passing it through the food processor to get it finely ground. If it’s your first time to try a peppery chocolate, please let me know what you think. This is a bar that you would love or hate. I don’t know if there is an in-between. But, the point of the tasters club is to be adventurous and try new things. Don’t expect to like everything in the box. But hopefully, you enjoy most of it.

Finally, the banana chips, almonds and chilli bar! It’s just one ingredient (ginger) shy from becoming a “kelewele bar”. Kelewele is a beloved street food/evening snack in Ghana. It is a spicy fried plantain eaten with peanuts. This is the inspiration of the bar.

Let me know what you think about these flavours. I should mention that all these flavours have the same base of dark milk chocolate.

I would appreciate feedback on this platform on what flavours you particularly liked, if any flavour is too strong or too mild and what what flavours you would like me to explore.

Popular flavours could also become part of the signature bar collection in the future.