Brief History

Ortinola Estates Ltd. is a small family business, passionate about bringing you high quality, Trinitario chocolate. Ortinola was a Cadbury-run cocoa estate in the early 1900’s. Discovered and restored after decades of neglect by Russell Nath and his family, the 150-year old Great House was lovingly restored, and is now a listed heritage building, where guests can visit for cocoa tours, conferences, weddings, and special events. In 2012, the Nath family was able to replant 6,000 Trinitario cocoa trees on the estate, nestled in the lush Maracas Valley, and a few years later, they began to manufacture gourmet chocolate bars. The 365-acre estate has its own microclimate, and adjoins the Northern Range rainforest, making it uniquely suited to growing cocoa. From harvesting, fermenting and drying, to the chocolate-making, Nikita spent more than a year of trial and error to experiment with the beans, using her Biotechnology background to assist in developing the recipes and protocol needed for Bean to Bar chocolate-making. Our beans are fermented in wooden boxes, then naturally sun-dried in a traditional-style drying house, using sunlight as the only drying method on cedar boards. Passionate about local, Ortinola crafts our chocolates with the utmost care as we have full control over the value chain. Our beans and therefore bars made from our beans have a well-balanced cocoa flavour to complement our fruity and floral notes, making this a balanced and utterly enjoyable bar for all palates.