COLOCAL – The Cacao Artisans, Launches Flagship In The Capital
New Delhi: COLOCAL, an artisanal chocolate brand, launches its flagship in Delhi at Dhan Mill, Chhattarpur. COLOCAL is a bean-to-bar concept and features a chocolate factory along with casual café dining. Conceptualized by power-couple Sheetal Saxena and Nishant Kumar Sinha, COLOCAL is a result of their love and passion for chocolate and coffee. COLOCAL aims to redefine the chocolate indulgence experience in the capital.
The location, Dhan Mill at Chhatarpur, serves as the perfect backdrop with its charming, luxurious, and niche vibe, dotted with couture fashion houses, cafes, high-end brands, creative studios, and a lot more intriguing outlets to explore. Commenting on the launch, Sheetal Saxena, Co-Founder, COLOCAL, says, “The launch of COLOCAL is a dream come true for us. When we started working on this project, everyone said it requires a skill set and formal knowledge to be able to understand it. However, we broke this barrier and learned that all we need is sheer passion and dedication to succeed at anything. All our team members are from a village, adopted and trained by us, they were unschooled before about the nitty-gritty and details. They make the most amazing chocolate with all the love, care and precision. Brand COLOCAL is artisanal, sustainable, zero waste, passion-driven and approachable. Our objective is to educate people about chocolate and create a “bean to bar” market for them to explore the whole process and technique of making chocolates. Our ideal audience is inquisitive, experimental, chocolate lover, coffee lover and a foodie.”
The concept is based on strategically sourcing locally grown cacao and transforming it into the finest, skillfully blended chocolate available for all the chocoholics out there in every possible form. The idea behind the brand is to introduce people to the craft chocolate world, where they get to taste the real chocolate with their varied notes, made out of premium quality Indian beans.
The process of making craft chocolates is often seen as the most complex and layered product to work with. The whole process from bean-to-bar is an extensive and far-flung activity, involving a lot of steps before the final bar is produced. The brand sources the Cacao from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two regions where the best quality cacao is grown in India. Once the beans are plucked from the Cacao tree, they are then taken for fermentation at a high temperature to get the right profile. After fermentation, the beans are left for 3-4 days to dry completely before the process of roasting starts. Roasting is the most important yet
momentous part of the entire process. It brings out the desired notes, taste, color and texture of the cacao beans. Once the beans cool down, they are cracked open and separated. Then the Cacao nibs are crushed and sugar is added to make the final chocolate bars. After the Cacao nibs are crushed and made into chocolate liquor, they are further conched to remove the acidic acids from the bar for a better after-taste. Tempering is the final step and this is what decides the final finish look and taste of the chocolate. All chocolates are tempered at different temperatures and are packaged and distributed around the world. The entire process of making a bar out of roasted cacao beans takes up to 72 hours.
The menu at COLOCAL is handpicked and assorted with a mix of Italian and Continental fare such as Sourdough Pizzas, handmade Pastas, scrumptious burgers, and sandwiches, not to forget the most popular and celebrated Roastery Coffee House coffee beverage menu. It also incorporates delectable drinks and a food menu made using in-house chocolates like hot chocolate, cold chocolate, cacao cold brew, to name a few. COLOCAL also offers baked goods and bakery items overwhelmingly revolving around chocolates. The appetizing desserts include Chocolate Soufflé, Chocolate Tart, Cakes, Chocolate Babka, Sourdough, Croissant, Pain au chocolat, amongst many more intriguing treats.
The avant-garde COLOCAL is an extension of Sheetal and Nishant’s individual gifted personally. The vibe of the place is unadorned, casual, chic, and homely, where guests can feel completely at ease. The exquisite interiors are primarily in white and yellow, which create a warm and welcoming ambiance for the visitors. The brand identity of COCOCAL is very compelling, as it reflects a whole and a cross-section of a Cacao pod, showcasing chocolate in its rawest form. COLOCAL is all about a riveting experience that is smart, casual, warm, welcoming, approachable, and truly artisanal. Come and brace yourself for an enticing chocolate indulgence only at COLOCAL!
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