Food & Drink

Love Cocoa // Chocolate Through the Letterbox (& Giveaway)

October 21, 2016
Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

Self-confessed chocoholic, I love trying out new flavours of chocolate. Dark, milk or white chocolate, I love it, especially when it comes in pretty packaging. For this post we worked together with Love Cocoa to try out their new chocolate through the letterbox service. Be sure to check out the giveaway at the bottom of the page.

Love Cocoa is a dream gift; chocolate through the letterbox.

Love Cocoa was founded by James Cadbury the great grandson of John Cadbury, the creator of the famous chocolate brand. With a love of chocolate flowing through James’ blood, he wanted to produce a new range of artisan chocolate bars using the best, high quality ingredients available. Love Cocoa chocolate uses organic, fairly traded, aromatic cacao, alongside ingredients sourced from independent British producers.

Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

I got a chance to ask James, the founder, a couple of questions about Love Cocoa:

Firstly, what inspired you to create a new, artisan chocolate brand (aside from your family roots)?

Aside from the family roots, it was to create a handmade bar in the UK using the best inclusion sourced from independent British producers. We work with some amazing companies such as Summerdown Farm in Hampshire who grow and distill Mint which taste unlike any other Mint i’ve tried. It really adds to the bar and its great to support British businesses, similar to what my ancestors did nearly 200 years ago. I also wanted to create something that could be posted through the letterbox, so it could be a nice surprise present.

Secondly, how did you decide which flavours to work with? Were they your own favourites, or did you try out lots of different combinations to find the perfect matches?

I wanted to create an initial collection which was British where we could source ingredients from the UK. I came up with lots of different flavours and went with my favourites. We are going to be introducing 2 new bars, a Gin & Tonic flavour and also a Coffee flavour using Pact Coffee freshly roasted espresso beans.

Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

At the moment Love Cocoa produces 6 different delightful flavours that you can try, 3 milk chocolate and 3 dark chocolate. Here are more details and some of my thoughts on each:

Dark Chocolate

Ecuador 70
I LOVE plain, dark chocolate and this single-origin organic fair-trade dark chocolate from Ecuador did not disappoint! Rich, aromatic, full of depth and body with floral flavours, blackcurrant and a hint of spice… delicious (It sounds like I’m describing a wine!)

English Mint
I really enjoyed the mint with dark chocolate. Using, Summerdown single estate English mint oil subtly blended with organic, fair-trade 70% cacao dark chocolate from Nacional in Ecuador, this surely beats any traditional after-dinner mints! I can imagine eating a square to finish off a meal. There’s something of a freshness produced by the mint flavour that perfectly accompanies the rich chocolate flavours.

Maldon Sea Salt
Saving the best until last, the Maldon Sea Salt Dark Chocolate is my hands down favourite! I love the crunch of the sea salt flakes (from Maldon Sea in Essex!) and find the salty flavours are the perfect juxtaposition to the sweet and bitter flavours of the chocolate, providing a surge of flavour that I find works so well!

Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

Milk Chocolate

Milk Chocolate Dominican Republic 37
The Dominican Republic (37%) chocolate is a silky-smooth chocolate classic. It is created using fine single-origin, fair-trade, organic cocoa beans and is really flavoursome without being sickly or too sweet. I found it to be a really simple but effective milk chocolate, that tastes that extra bit special due to the high quality of the beans which produce a gorgeous flavour.

Honey & Honeycomb
The Honey & Honeycomb bar includes fragments of sticky honeycomb which is infused with London’s award-winning Barnes & Webb honey all combined with single origin, organic, fair-trade milk chocolate from The Dominican Republic. Sweet and with a nice light crunch, this bar tasted amazing! I love the combination of honeycomb with chocolate. I have to admit that I was skeptical about being able to taste the ‘hints of elderflower and champagne’, but was pleasantly surprised at the deliciously light floral notes that come through from the honey.

Earl Grey
Described as ‘quintessentially British’, this tea-flavoured bar is fragrant and floral with Bergamot flavours alongside The Dominican Republic beans. I found the subtlety of the tea added extra delicacy and flavour to the chocolate. There’s also something special about the inclusion of a familiar favourite to make it taste like a home comfort.

Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

Love Cocoa packaging is so unique and effective, giving the feel of a luxury, premium product. I really enjoyed tasting the different chocolates, each one bringing out different flavours of the cocoa beans. My favourites (although I enjoyed all of them) were definitely the sea salt and mint bars!

Love Cocoa makes the perfect gift for a loved one (or yourself), fitting perfectly through your letterbox. You can currently buy individual bars, the milk chocolate collection trio, the dark chocolate collection trio, or the whole set of 6 British icons. There’s also a monthly subscription available that I’m definitely tempted by – regular chocolate on tap, what could be better?

GIVEAWAY *competition now closed*

Exciting news! The Project Lifestyle have two boxes (1 milk, 1 dark) of Love Cocoa chocolate to give away to two lucky readers!

To Enter:
Follow my Twitter account and re-tweet the pinned post on Twitter OR leave a comment on the blog (below) stating which chocolate flavour you’d love to try!
Competition closes 4th November, after which 2 winners, (one on the twitter and one on the blog) will be contacted via Direct Message to obtain address where you would like the chocolate to be sent. Open to entries from the UK only.

Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle Love Cocoa Chocolate - The Project Lifestyle

Samples of the milk chocolate collection and dark chocolate collection were kindly provided by Love Cocoa. As ever, all views and opinions are my own!

30 Comments

  • Reply Meg October 21, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    English Mint and Maldon Sea Salt sound amazing! Being from Essex they would definitely be my pick! Loving this chocolate blog 🙂

  • Reply Nicci Mellor October 21, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    Oh my goodness, they look beyond gorgeous!
    Loving the blog Rachel, you capture beauty so well,
    Love, your fellow chocoholic – Nicci <3

  • Reply Timothy Cornah October 21, 2016 at 4:57 pm

    I think either the honeycomb or early grey. They all sound delicious though!

  • Reply Jamie Harris October 21, 2016 at 5:19 pm

    Defo honey and honeycomb!! ??I’m obsessed with honeycomb ? Although earl grey does sound like a treat too..

    Not really a fan of dark but may sway towards the English mint. Sea salt sounds a bit intense!!

  • Reply Grace Reid October 21, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Rachel this blog is great! Thank you so much for writing it and sharing. I love this concept and bringing artisan chocolate together with local produce make my heart sing!
    I would love to try the Equador 70 or the Maldon Sea Salt.

  • Reply thiscleevelife October 21, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    English mint looks divine xx

  • Reply Amanda October 21, 2016 at 7:20 pm

    The organic milk sounds amazing! Love how these support local businesses and steward the earth, what a beautiful company and blog ???

  • Reply Kira Dyer October 21, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    Such a pretty blog ?
    I love all kinds of milk chocolate! Though I’m intrigued by the sea salt

  • Reply Harley Connell-Davies October 22, 2016 at 2:36 am

    Oh how do we choose between the two?! They all look so yummy! The Maldon Sea Salt & the Honey and Honeycomb definitely made my mouth water reading about them! Also love that they use local produce, supporting local businesses! Thanks for sharing your love of chocolate 🙂

  • Reply Gnei Usama October 24, 2016 at 2:04 am

    Mouth watering when I read the descriptions, love dark ones?

  • Reply jade October 24, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    english mint and honey and honeycomb they sould delicious and by the way i live in dorset so not far away

  • Reply Marcus October 24, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    Although I’m not currently in the UK, I’m entering on behalf of someone who I think would love the honey and honeycomb or maldon sea salt. Enjoyed the read 🙂 miss you guys

  • Reply Harry is a boss frame October 25, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    Well done for making this blog it is good can I have sum milk chocolate??????

  • Reply Alex October 25, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    Mmmm yummy love the honeycomb? Pretty blog! ❤️?

  • Reply Margaret Ryan November 3, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    Great blog. Lovely photos – mouth watering chocolate. Sea salt and chocolate what a combination

  • Reply Sophie White November 4, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    The dark chocolate and the Earl gray sound delicious! 😀

  • Reply Rachel Gillgan November 4, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    I’m an absolute chocolate fiend – dark, milk or white!
    But the earl grey flavour sounds incredible. Sign me up! Xx

    • Reply Rachel Heslop November 7, 2016 at 6:59 pm

      Hi Rachel, Thanks for your comment and entry into the competition! I’m pleased to announce that you are the winner of the milk chocolate box! I’ll contact you via direct message to arrange the sending of your prize! Enjoy! X

  • Reply Anna Worthington November 4, 2016 at 4:33 pm

    Sea salt dark chocolate, though the honeycomb one looks gorgeous too.

  • Reply Stephanie Wells November 4, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    Omnomnomnom…. I love milk chocolate!!!! 😀

  • Reply Anisa November 4, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    Sea salt or English mint

  • Reply Anisa November 4, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    Any dark or milk I love all of them

  • Reply Hannah November 4, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    They sound lovely, I’m a chocoholic too. The English mint and the honey and honeycomb sound heavenly. Thank you for sharing.

  • Reply Andrea Rayner November 4, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    Sounds and looks delicious! Honey and Honeycomb for me please!

  • Reply Hannah W November 4, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    Such amazing photos! I would definitely go for sea salt or mint 🙂

  • Reply Stephen Ryan November 4, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    Had a taste of these and they are very nice my choice is the sea salt

  • Reply Emma P November 4, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    They look and sound beautiful. I’m normally sugar-free (apart from on special occasions), so I would love to treat myself for Christmas with this! ?

  • Reply Stephen White November 4, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    Milk chocolate Dominican Republic – this product is?

  • Reply Rachel Heslop November 7, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    Thanks to everyone who entered! I’m glad to hear to many of you enjoyed the post. The competition is now closed and the two winners have been contacted 🙂
    Keep your eyes peeled for future posts and Giveaways on The Project Lifestyle!

  • Reply Articles on Love Cocoa (updated) – Made with Love in Great Britain March 18, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    […] Love Cocoa // Chocolate Through the Letterbox (& Giveaway) | The … […]

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