Our Story
 

At Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolates we are inspired by traditional chocolate making techniques, and we endeavor to make artisanal confections that are truly hand-crafted. We first source raw, unroasted cocoa beans from single origin estates, growing co-ops, and plantations, and then hand sort to remove any beans that are flawed or otherwise do not meet our strict standards of quality. We then develop roast profiles to accentuate the subtle, and often delicate, flavor characteristics inherent in beans from each origin. Our ingredients are then refined in a traditional stone melangeur, tempered, and molded by hand. We make every effort to use the highest quality ingredients available, and our chocolate, made in Santa Barbara, California, is always prepared in small batches with no emulsifiers or additives.

Mike Orlando, Founder

As a young child, I was always interested in science and nature, and in general trying to figure out how things worked or how things were made. As I got older I realized I enjoyed the creative aspects of art as much as I enjoyed the analytical aspects of science. My career history led me from being a marine biologist SCUBA diving to collect data for researchers, to an analytical chemist analyzing unknowns, while my hobbies had me reading philosophy and playing percussion in a band.

After over 10 years of being a career scientist, I was lacking in creative outlets, so I started taking on new hobbies in my spare time--coffee roasting, restoring antique espresso machines, making cheese, baking, and eventually, during the process of building my own coffee roaster, I found chocolate making. I was hooked. The more I got into the chocolate making hobby, the more distant my interest in unknown samples became. About a year later quit my job and with the little money in my savings became one of the only bean to bar chocolate makers in the country.

What started in my kitchen with a pound of cocoa beans, a juicer, and a toaster oven, has now turned into a small-scale artisan chocolate company, complete with a factory stocked with obscure, and in most cases, home-built or modified equipment, serving over 400 retail customers nationwide.

 

Explore the origins of our cocoa beans

 
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Madagascar

The Madagascar bar features certified organic beans from Akesson´s plantation in the Ambanja region in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar.

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Tanzania

The bar Kokoa Kamili have its cocoa beans from Tanzania´s Kilombero Valley, from Kokoa Kamili.

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Dominican Republic

The certified organic cocoa beans for the chocolate bar Öko Caribe got is name from a cocoa farming cooperative in the Duarte province of the Dominican Republic. The bar Elivisa have also it origins from Dominican Republic.

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Bolivia

The Palos Blancos bar has certified organic beans from Palos Blancos in the Alto Beni region of Bolivia.

Madagascar

Madagascar

The Madagascar bar features certified organic beans from Akesson´s plantation in the Ambanja region in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar.

This bar is packed with fruity flavors of berries and citrus that dominate the flavor profile, with an underlying base of chocolate milk to hold everything together.

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Story

The owner Bertil Åkersson describes, “The cacao plant was first given its botanical name by Swedish natural scientist Carl von Linné (*1707-†1778), who called it “Theobroma cacao” (“cocoa, food of the gods”). This was the first contribution of Sweden to the world of chocolate.

Just like pepper or coffee, this beautiful name, cocoa, is associated for many people with exotic adventures in remote countries. As a child, traveling the world was irresistibly attracting me and this is indeed how these wonderful products first got my attention. My chance was given to me by my father, through whom I discovered early the world of plantations in Africa.

As a Swedish diplomat, my father first worked for the Embassy in Paris in 1945. Years later his journey took him further south to Cameroon, where he ran a trading company, until, eventually, he settled in Madagascar in the 1970’s after he had taken over mining companies and sisal plantations.

So it is in Madagascar, at our family estates, that my journey through the fascinating world of cocoa, spices and other delicious natural wonders really started. There I have learned over the years the secrets and subtleties of managing and developing plantations. Ultimately, I focused on and specialized in fine cocoa and spices, whilst my consistent aim was to achieve the highest quality in a sustainable way.

Today, my plantations in Madagascar, in Brazil and Indonesia supply world famous chocolatiers and chefs. In close collaboration with these passionate artists, I experienced the fascinating artwork to conjure cocoa into chocolate or how pepper enhances recipes and, ultimately, I launched a small and exclusive line of chocolate and fine exotic foods.”




Öko Caribe & Elvesia

Dominican Republic

The certified organic cocoa beans for the chocolate bar Öko Caribe got is name from a cocoa farming cooperative in the Duarte province of the Dominican Republic. This bar is characterized by mouth-watering ripe red fruit up front, a hint of dried fruit, and notes of cinnamon and spice in the finish.

Story of Öko Caribe

“Nestled in the heart of the cacao rich Duarte province in the Dominican Republic, Öko-Caribe (or “eco-Caribe,” in German) is a gem amongst cacao suppliers. With more than 50 years of combined experience in cacao, owners Adriano de Jesus Rodriguez and Gualberto Acebey Torrejon have fine-tuned their systems to ensure consistent, superior quality in their 500+ tons of annual production. Öko Caribe maintains close relationships with its 165 farmers through technical training, in agronomic practices and organic certification. In addition, owners Adriano and Gualberto have personal relationships with all farmers, offering microfinance loans for cacao-related expenses, as well as personal loans for family emergencies or other community needs. The loyalty between Öko Caribe and the farmers they work with is not only evidenced in daily interactions between staff, management and farmers, but also in their best-in-class, award winning final product.”


Elvisa

Elvisa

Öko Caribe

Öko Caribe

Story of Elvesia

Our Elvesia bar also has its origins in the Dominican Republic. Around 200 years ago, Swiss emigrants settled on the peninsula Samana, founded the plantation “Hacienda Elvesia,” and began cultivating Criollo and Trinitario cocoa. The plantation is based on the principle of sustainable agriculture in harmony with nature. The hacienda is administered by Ramon Lopez (cultivation) and Marco Lee (fermentation and quality control).

A family business since 1905

“The Rizek’s are cocoa growers, processors and exporters. Rizek Cacao S.A.S. processes and exports organically grown cocoa (both NOP and EU) which is also certified according to the UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and USA Fair Trade standards.”


Palos Blancos

Bolivia

The Palos Blancos bar uses certified-organic beans from Palos Blancos in the Alto Beni region of Bolivia. The flavor of this bar is earthy and creamy, and about midway through, tastes just like a brownie. There are some very subtle fruit flavors as well. Despite having a robust chocolate flavor, there is virtually no bitterness, and only a slight amount of astringency in the finish.

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Story

“The Alto Beni Cacao Company is committed to revolutionizing the Bolivian cacao industry. We do this by sustainably increasing production levels of high-quality varietals of Bolivian cacao, introducing industry-leading quality control and management techniques to Bolivia for the first time, and by directly connecting cacao producing communities in the Alto Beni region to chocolate makers and other global buyers of specialty cacao.

Alto Beni Cacao Company is a partnership between Industrias Valverde S.A. (Invalsa) a Bolivian exporter of specialty coffee and other commodities, and Taza Chocolate, a leading craft chocolatemaker based in Somerville, MA.

Our partnership began in 2010 when Taza Chocolate Founder and Managing Director Alex Whitmore first visited Invalsa Executive Vice President Jorge Valverde in Bolivia to investigate the promising, though un-developed, industry in what is still regarded as an 'exotic' origin for cacao. With Invalsa acting as the Bolivian exporter, the first purchase of 2.6 tons of cacao from the Centro Integral Agroecological de Alto Beni (CIAAB), a cooperative of ~500 smallholder growers of cacao in the Palos Blancos region, was shipped in September 2010.”


Kokoa Kamili

Tanzania

Our Kokoa Kamili bar uses cocoa beans from Tanzania´s Kilombero Valley, from Kokoa Kamilifarming co-op. They buy wet beans directly from local farmers, paying well above market price, and processes them centrally, which ensures much more consistent quality from harvest to harvest.

The result of their hard work and attention to detail reveals itself in our bar, which is packed with bright fruit flavors, and a finish of toasted rice, coffee, and cream.

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Story

“Kokoa Kamili works in Tanzania - famous for our national parks, big game, and of course Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania has a long history with cocoa since the crop was first introduced in the 1880s. 

At Kokoa Kamili, we work in the Kilombero Valley area of Morogoro Region. Approximately a ten hour drive from the country's main city of Dar es Salaam, our operations are based in the village of Mbingu (Kiswahili for Heaven) bordering the beautiful Udzungwa Mountain National Park. Mbingu is fairly rural with no access to electricity or tarred roads for about sixty kilometers. 

At Kokoa Kamili we work with about 2000 registered smallholder farmers. Most of our farmers own between 0.5 to two acres of land - focusing on food crops. For many of our farmers, cocoa is one of their major sources of income. 

We also work with the Mbingu Sisters, a convent in the village that operates a 30 acre cocoa farm. The income the Sisters earn from their farm goes to support much of the charitable work that they conduct - including operating a hospital, school, and orphanage in the area. “

“We began Kokoa Kamili for three reasons:

1. We believe that farmers should be rewarded fairly for their hard work

2. We believe that Tanzanian cocoa has the potential to be some of the best in the world

3. We believe in the power of cocoa to bring real economic development to rural Tanzanian farmers”

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. new golden mocha Ale made with our Öko Caribe cocoa beans!

Golden Mocha Ale is more than just adding medium-roast coffee beans and cacao nibs into our American Blonde recipe. It’s a seasonal celebration of our Santa Barbara roots, and one of the most exciting projects made possible with locally grown ingredients.

Beer and chocolate tasting with Captain Fatty´s

Beer and chocolate tasting with Captain Fatty´s