Behind the Scenes at Orfève

Orfève and the Search for the Finest Beans: A Never-Ending Quest

At Orfève, everything begins with a cocoa bean. But not just any bean.
We don’t seek the rarest or most decorated beans, we seek those that tell a story. The ones that, once fermented, roasted, and carefully processed, reveal a unique aromatic signature.

A sourcing process rooted in precision

Every bean we select has gone through a demanding process at origin: controlled fermentation, slow drying, manual sorting.
We work only with fine-flavor, traceable cacao, grown with respect for ecosystems, and for the men and women who cultivate it.

We collaborate with committed cooperatives, family farms, or independent growers, anywhere cacao is still a living craft.

Tasting without prejudice

No origin is excluded by default. We blind-taste, without geographical bias, letting flavor speak for itself. Some cacaos win us over with their floral elegance, others with raw power, others still with their balance, depth, and complexity.

Our ultimate criterion: a bean’s ability to express terroir, not to conform to a standard.

A never-ending pursuit

We don’t believe in fixed recipes. Each year, each harvest, each vintage can surprise us.
That’s why our selection process is ongoing, vigilant, and constantly renewed.
We test, compare, refine, because a great chocolate always begins by listening to what the bean has to say.