FAQ
We want every part of your St. Lucia getaway to feel effortless, and while our reservations team handles most details, you may have a few questions as your travel date approaches. To help you prepare with confidence, we’ve put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions — a quick resource for the information you may want before you even board the plane.
Chocolate Story
It follows the full journey from bean to bar on our working cocoa plantation. You learn the centuries old techniques, taste as you go, and take part in the chocolate making yourself.
Ripe cacao pods are harvested and cracked open, and the sweet beans inside, which we call jungle M&Ms, go into fermentery boxes covered with boards and banana leaves. They ferment for eight to ten days while the natural bacteria and yeast break the pulp down into cocoa vinegar.
The beans go onto drying trays in the sun for eight to ten weeks. If it rains they have to be wheeled back into the cocoa shelter straight away, because once fermented beans get wet they spoil.
After the first two to three weeks of drying, the beans are coated in a mixture scraped from a young cocoa pod, then an estate worker steps barefoot into the cauldron and dances on them for thirty minutes. It polishes the beans, removes blemishes and makes them easier to shell.
The dried beans are roasted for around forty minutes, cooled, then ground into a coarse mix of nibs and shell. A vacuum separates the shell out, the pure nibs are blended into a fine powder, and that powder is combined with cocoa butter and sugar and mixed for at least twenty four hours.
The chocolate comes out of the machine semi liquid, and is tempered on a large metal surface with two spatulas until it reaches the right consistency. It is then poured into moulds and refrigerated until solid. The finished product is 100% organic chocolate.
Yes. The cocoa powder is 100% cocoa and free from artificial chemicals. The estate itself is certified organic.
Plas Cacao, our chocolate shop on the estate, sells what is made here.
In addition to cacao, the estate is home to a variety of citrus trees and tropical fruits, including organically grown green bananas, known as the island’s “green gold”.
Tours are available daily between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
The tour lasts approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, and reservations are required.
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