See here for tickets!

Nicaragua is a beautiful country with fertile soils, remarkable genetic diversity, and a reputation for pioneering highly technical fermentation methods. Yet for UK craft chocolate taster and consumer, access to Nicaraguan cacao remains surprisingly limited.

Browsing bars available from UK makers and specialist retailers, we typically encounter bars made with Ingemann Fine Cocoa varietals such as Nicaliso®, O’Payo, and Chuno. Occasionally, we may come across cacao from cooperatives including El Castillero, Cacaonica RL, or Cacao Bisieto.

This tasting offers a rare opportunity to explore both the Nicaragua we think we know and the broader diversity of flavour being explored and expressed by Nicaragua-based maker Argencove.

For this event, I’m delighted to welcome tree-to-bar maker Sally McFadyen, joining us live from Nicaragua. There will also be a guest appearance from micro-batch maker Duffy Sheardown a more local champion of Nicaraguan cacao.

Sally will discuss the factors that led Argencove to Nicaragua, including the country’s remarkable cacao diversity, growing environments, and potential for distinctive flavour expression.

What to Expect

During this two-hour live online tasting, we will explore the landscape of Nicaraguan cacao through a guided comparative tasting.

We’ll begin with bars made from comparable genetics: Ingemann’s Nicaliso® Heirloom Cacao, crafted by Friis-Holm and Duffy Sheardown in his award-winning Amarillo bar. From there, we’ll travel from northern Nicaragua to the south, exploring the El Castillero cacao from farmers in the Río San Juan department presented by Spanish maker El Puchero. This opening section will provide a useful sensory foundation for understanding familiar flavour profiles associated with Nicaraguan cacao.

We’ll then travel virtually to Finca Río Grande, where Sally will guide us through a tasting of seven Argencove dark and flavoured bars crafted from cacao grown on their own farm, nestled between Lake Nicaragua (Lago Cocibolca) and the imposing Mombacho Volcano.

The tasting will highlight not only flavour diversity, but also the ecological environments, genetics, fermentation approaches, and maker decisions that shape each bar’s final expression.

You Will Receive

A tasting kit for one person featuring samples of at least 10 dark and flavoured bars: Friis-Holm Nicaliso 70%, Duffy’s Amarillo 70% , Puchero El Castillero 70%, Argencove Apoyo 70%, Argencove Cocibolca 70%, Argencove Masaya 70%, Argencove Mombacho 70%, Argencove Nicaragua 92%, Argencove Cardamom & Orange 70%, Argencove Banana, Cinnamon & Clove 70%

Why This Tasting is Special

We are incredibly fortunate to both Sally tasting with us live from Nicaragua. Hearing directly from people involved in growing, sourcing, and making chocolate adds a dimension simply impossible to achieve through tasting alone.

This is also a rare opportunity to experience chocolates with very limited availability in the UK.

If you have any questions about availability or booking, please email me before you book cocoaencounters@gmail.com

See here for tickets!

Missed out on this event or can’t quite make it? Check out our collection of Craft Chocolate Events here!