Q&A With Rebel Chocolate
Rebel Chocolate is the brand behind the delicious Liquid Chocolate, otherwise known as the mocha’s best friend! If you haven’t tried Liquid Chocolate in your coffee yet, you’re in for a real treat. The high-quality single-origin chocolate pairs perfectly with specialty coffee beans, creating an unforgettable chocolate bomb in a cup.
We caught up with Rebel’s Founder, Rich to learn more about Rebel’s origin story, the parallels between chocolate and coffee, and why Liquid Chocolate makes such a mean mocha.
What's your chocolate origin story? How did you get into specialty chocolate?
I fell in love with craft, bean-2-bar chocolate at first bite. Craft chocolate makers use the highest quality and most ethically-sourced cocoa beans to make the best chocolate in the world. I created Rebel Chocolates to distribute craft-made chocolate bars, mostly to third-wave coffee shops. But when I started getting numerous requests for a high-quality chocolate sauce, I realized that there was nothing on the market that was similar to the chocolate bars I was selling. That’s how I came up with the idea of Liquid Cocoa.
Why is Rebel chocolate the best chocolate to use for a mocha?
Liquid Cocoa is not only crafted right here in Canada but it’s made with only 4 ingredients: Organic cocoa powder, organic cane sugar, water and dark chocolate.
Furthermore, our cocoa powder is sourced from Kokoa Kamili, a Tanzanian organization that produces some of the most sought-after cocoa beans in the world. Not only are their beans exceptional in flavour, but highly ethical as well since they pay the farmers from whom they purchase those beans up to 30% higher than the market price.
Finally, Liquid Cocoa contains 25% less sugar than the commercial stuff. This means it will produce a perfectly balanced mocha that will let the coffee shine through without being overly sweet.
What parallels are there between specialty chocolate and specialty coffee?
Commercial chocolate and coffee industries are built off the backs of hundreds of thousands of poor coffee and cocoa bean farmers, the vast majority of whom live well below the poverty line. Not to mention the rampant problem of child labour. They also produce commodity-grade beans which cost really cheap and taste terrible.
Craft roasters and chocolate makers want to change all that. Not only do they source the highest quality beans that produce exceptional end products, but they make sure the farmer gets paid well and no child labour was used in the process.
Why is it important to source single-origin chocolate?
What’s more important to us is sourcing cocoa beans from ethical sources. This means that we are 100% certain that there isn’t any child labour anywhere in the supply chain and that the farmers earn enough to live in dignity.
Single-origin is more of a quality standard; it ensures that the chocolate isn’t made by blending cocoa beans from various origins to keep costs as low as possible. Single-origin beans typically come from exceptional regions that produce exceptional chocolate products.
