A few months back, we were put in touch with the founder of social enterprise Living Koko: a no waste manufacturer of cacao-based products. One such product is cacao tea, but Phoebe Preuss had more leaves than she could use and wondered whether brewers might be interested. We put her in touch with a few we figured would be interested in such an offer, and that's led us here, to Shadow Self, a chocolate stout from Sailors Grave featuring single origin cacao husk tea.
While I picked up a citrusy fruitiness, the beer is very much – as you'd expect – all about chocolate. There's chocolate milk, milk chocolate, Milo and nothing roasty or bitter: just soft, fluffy chocolate. Shadow Self sits at the sweeter end of the stout spectrum but does so without becoming sticky or creamy.
And if you're keen to learn more about Living Koko and the work they do empowering women in business and local communities in Samoa and the Pacific Islands by supporting ethical trade practices and sustainable farming, look out for an upcoming story on this site.
James Smith
If you're reading this in time, there's a launch party at Ramblin' Man on July 7.
Published July 6, 2023 2023-07-06 00:00:00
