The Mayan Cacao Bar was created by ki’ Xocolatl founder Mathieu Brees using ingredients from the Tikul plantation on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. This artisan chocolate bar was exclusively formulated for Stories + Objects to include organic Criollo Cacao, Mexican Vanilla and Melipona Honey harvested from stingless bees indigenous to the region.
The Story
Mathieu Brees is a chocolatero, or chocolate maker, living on the Peninsula de Yucatán, Mexico. Brees, originally from Belgium, fell in love with chocolate at an early age, and wanted to explore the Central American, Mayan roots of the beloved confection. He settled at the outskirts of Mérida, Mexico twelve years ago to realize his dream of owning a bean to bar cacao tree plantation and artisan chocolate foundry. The plantation that Brees operates along with his partner, Belcolade, specializes in the rare Criollo bean. Criollo is less disease resistant than the other, more common, varieties of Trinitario and Forastero cacao, and its, therefore, conservation is an important aspect of his work. Criollo is considered to be the purest and noblest form of cacao imparting rich and complex tastes to dark chocolate.