साराम
We celebrate values, cacao, and aesthetics at every step - from bean to bar - for those who care and appreciate the finer things in life. We do not see our chocolates as mere products. We see them as a philosophy, a purpose and a practice immersed in all that is intrinsically Indian. We are immensely proud of our origin.
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Indeed, the global artisanal movement has placed purpose and place above everything else. It has allowed local to morph into global. In India, every season has a reason. Every soil has its soul. Every climate it’s a special character. We harvest India’s deep diversity. We package its plethora of fruit and vegetables. Every bar embodies an essence unique to the place of its origin.
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How do we do it? Not in large factories. Just with large beliefs. We are a young company based out of Udaipur, India. We source well-fermented cocoa beans from farms in South India - as our aim is to explore Indian cacao - and further process it into fine smooth chocolate here in Udaipur through slow and artisanal methods. Our process is hands-on with each stage being monitored by the human eye and heart.
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Saraam (साराम) our brand name, which means the coming together of people and soul in Korean and also of the word "essence" in Sanskrit - Saar - sets itself apart by retaining the cacao’s original aroma and taste profiles belonging to the terroir it grows in and acknowledges the efforts of each human who showed their love in the compact chain of bringing the chocolate to you.
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But for us, when the first bean pops while roasting and that aroma envelopes the entire room for a day or when the grinding cocoa nibs look, smell, and taste better and different every day, it is nothing short of magic which we then wrap ourselves for you in our bars.
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Finally, what is bean-to-bar? Bean-to-bar, similar to farm-to-table or bean-to-cup, is a shorthand for the long process of micro-batch chocolate making. The chocolate maker gets the cacao from the farm directly - buying small quantities, sorting, roasting, cracking, and winnowing before grinding the beans themselves. In an alternate yet dominant scenario- cocoa beans are over-roasted, being looted of their terroir’s flavours and aroma profiles, and are used to extract cocoa fat and replaced with cheaper alternatives like vegetable fat and other artificial additives to make it “standardized” and what you are left with is a mundane sugary bar which is devoid of the real essence or सार of the cocoa your chocolate is made from.
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Our chocolates are also innately single-origin, i.e., our beans are sourced from a single region and, mostly, belong to the same harvest and fermentation batch. With each lot coming into our factory - a ritual of testing and tasting takes place and the roasting profile is altered to bring out the best aroma and taste in our chocolate. Come and travel to wonderful places with our chocolates. Every bite is a journey
