What’s Sumatra with you? – Hey Tiger
As the Beatles ever so eloquently put it, all you need is love – but a lil’ chocolate every now and then certainly does not hurt, especially if it is being produced in a sustainable manner, i.e. not only by reducing harm but doing more good.
Started as grassroots small-scale operation fuelled by not only a passion for making quality chocolate but with the aim of having a social impact while doing so, Hey Tiger has organically evolved into a social enterprise whose dealings impact the communities the lion’s share of the world’s cocoa is grown, i.e. West Africa, by a partnership with The Hunger Project to fund their women led community development programs in the cocoa farming belt of Ghana.
Now, when it comes to Hey Tiger’s portfolio of chocolate bars, things are taken to the next level in every aspect imaginable – we are talking about a multi-sensory experience before one gets to the delicious crux of the matter.
The packaging and the designs that adorn not only the bar but also the boxes – no matter if your order comes in a specifically designed colourful gift box that is graced with their opulently designed spirit animal, the regular post boxes or satchels, attention to detail reigns supreme and brings back some of the playful excitement that has been associated with indulging in chocolatey treats from childhood.
Once unwrapped, the handmade chocolate bars, which come in a carefully array of flavour combinations start the flavour experience that is accentuated in equal measure by flavours and texture.
The first bar I experienced I loved for the flavour hybrid alone, as it combines some of my favourite treats, i.e. the NYC-style salty peanut butter and pretzel praline. What could have ended up as double whammy in terms of calories, feels surprisingly on the lighter side of things due to the carefully selected fresh ingredients.
With Hey Tiger’s ambitious plans to launch a new flavour variations each month, each of which transcend the realms of classic pairings the European school relies on and essentially based more on the approach of an inventive chef rather than a classic chocolatier, my anticipation for new releases is not dissimilar to new 7”s being announced for members of the Pushead and Sub Pop fan clubs in the nineties.
Given my love for whisk(e)y, Hey Tiger’s vegan woodsmoke infused whisky chocolate went down a treat with a recent Octomore tasting and it served as an example par excellence that even the more exotic flavours are not merely created for novelty’s sake, but are refined deliberate experiments with carefully calibrated delicious outcomes.
Think of combining wild flavour variants that have become commonplace on the chocolate firmament in the US infused with dessert experiences and voila – you got Hey Tiger: Do good chocolate with both milk and vegan variants that not try to mimic traditional ingredients but reinvent the traditional approach and take the enjoyment that chocolate is to the next level.
