Foundry Chocolate India 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

70 g bar - New Zealand

We already love the bold, citrus-driven personality of Anamalai Estate cacao in Foundry's 100% India bar. But what happens when that same remarkable origin gets a little sweetness? Something rather magical. Foundry's India 70% transforms the intensity of this southern Indian cacao into a rounded, wonderfully creamy chocolate that still has plenty of surprises up its sleeve.

What we find so fascinating about this bar is its interplay of richness and brightness. There's a soothing, almost luxurious creaminess that provides the perfect backdrop for notes of syrupy blood orange, followed by an intriguing little twist of sweet balsamic. It's an unusual combination that somehow makes perfect sense on the palate. The citrus keeps things lively, the balsamic-like tang adds sophistication, and that lovely rounded chocolate character ties everything together.

And here's our favorite chocolate-geek detail: there's no cream, orange, or balsamic vinegar in this bar. Those flavors come naturally from the cacao, revealed through Foundry's careful roasting, refining, and chocolate-making process. With just two ingredients—cacao beans and organic cane sugar—there's nowhere for the beans to hide. And frankly, these beans have no reason to.

The cacao comes from Anamalai Estate in Tamil Nadu, southern India, nestled in the foothills of the Western Ghats near the town of Pollachi. This is coconut country, and beneath the towering palms, farmers Harish Manoj and Karthi Palaniswamy are helping establish an exciting new chapter in Indian cacao growing.

Their estate is made up of four interconnected plots where cacao grows alongside coconut, nutmeg, and pepper. Harish and Karthi use a thoughtful combination of diversified planting, drip irrigation, composting, and natural farming practices to care for the land. Once harvested, the cacao pods are opened on the farm, and the beans are fermented in a five-tier system of wooden boxes before being sun-dried on raised beds. These crucial steps help develop the remarkable flavors that eventually find their way into the finished chocolate.

For this 2025-vintage 70% bar, Foundry takes those beautifully prepared beans back to New Zealand and crafts a chocolate that balances their lively, fruit-forward character with an inviting richness. No added cacao butter, no vanilla, no lecithin. Just cacao and organic cane sugar, handled with extraordinary care.

Here's a tasting experiment we'd absolutely recommend: Try this 70% alongside Foundry's Anamalai Estate 100%. Look for the blood orange and balsamic notes running through both, then notice how dramatically the texture, sweetness, and perception of acidity change. It's a delicious little masterclass in what cacao percentage can do—and a reminder that chocolate tasting can be every bit as fascinating as exploring fine wine.

Tasting Notes: Syrupy blood orange, sweet balsamic, soothing creaminess, rounded chocolate richness, bright citrus finish.

Cacao Origin: Anamalai Estate, Tamil Nadu, India. 2025 vintage.

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic cane sugar. No added cacao butter, lecithin, or vanilla.

Dietary: Dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, and 100% plant-based.

About Foundry Chocolate

Just north of Auckland, New Zealand, husband-and-wife team David and Janelle Herrick create extraordinary micro-batch bean-to-bar chocolate with an almost obsessive devotion to cacao's natural flavors. Working with exceptional single-origin beans, Foundry uses just cacao and organic sugar in its dark chocolate—or pure cacao for its 100% bars. No added cacao butter, vanilla, or lecithin. Their meticulous approach has earned numerous international awards, including Best in Show at the 2024 Northwest Chocolate Festival. Every bar is a delicious exploration of what makes each cacao origin unique.

Explore the full Foundry Chocolate collection at ChefShop.