What do you get when you combine a German conservation entrepreneur, a Dutch fair trade pioneer, and an American organic food marketer?  It sounds like the set-up for a bad joke, but it was actually the start of a great chocolate company.  Founded in 2006, Original Beans produces environmentally-friendly chocolate focused on conserving types of cacao that grow wild in the company's partner communities.  For every bar of  chocolate sold, Original Beans plants in a tree in those communities; a number on the package allows you to look up the tree associated with any of their bars.

Our bar of the week is Original Beans' Esmeraldas with Salt, a 42% Ecuadorian milk chocolate made from indigenous Arriba cacao rather than the more prevalent industrial hybrid.  Mixed with just a hint of fleur de sel, this bar is velvety-smooth and every bit as a rich as a butter caramel.

We'll be offering samples of Original Beans' Esmeraldas salt salt on Saturday, November 26th.