Behind the Scenes at Orfève
At Orfève, every collection was born from a journey, of patient work, often experimental, always driven by passion. Because before creating recipes, we had to learn a forgotten craft, without formal training, without shortcuts.
A craft learned by hand
When we founded Orfève in 2016, there was no school, no program dedicated to bean-to-bar chocolate making in Switzerland.
So we learned everything by doing: selecting beans, understanding fermentation, mastering roasting, refining texture until the balance was just right. It took us two years to release our first bars.
Noir de Noir: melting elegance
Our very first collection, launched in early 2018, was Noir de Noir.
It blends the discipline of Swiss tradition with the creative spirit of Belgium, François-Xavier’s family homeland.
A smooth, round dark chocolate, crafted through slow, patient granite-stone conching.
A minimalist recipe with a subtle blend of raw and whole cane sugar, designed to reveal the full complexity of fine cacao.
This is our vision of classic dark chocolate, melt-in-the-mouth, rounded, precise, without stiffness.
Brut de Noir: unapologetic texture
Next came Brut de Noir, born of our fascination with certain Italian textures, such as the chocolate from Modica.
But unlike Modica, we insisted on conching: to soften bitterness, round out the tannins, and unlock the cacao’s depth, without losing that gritty texture.
We wanted a dual-layered experience: first, the impact of pure cacao, then the slow melt of raw sugar. All without added cocoa butter.
A bold, grainy, uncompromising chocolate. The pure taste of cacao with the crunch of crystalline sugar.
A persistent idea: removing added sugar
Even as we developed Noir de Noir and Brut de Noir, one idea stayed with us: replacing cane sugar with a different kind of sweetness.
This idea was in our DNA from day one.
But none of the alternatives we tested met our flavor and technical standards.
Until one day, we tried fruit.
Noir de Fruits: cacao, fruit, and spice
Noir de Fruits is our latest creation. It took three years of R&D to arrive at a recipe we could stand behind. No added sugar. No sweeteners. No compromise.
Each bar contains only cacao, gently cold-dehydrated fruit, and a hint of spice to accentuate flavor. Each bar includes the equivalent of 200g of fresh fruit.
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Apple & nutmeg blossom
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Pear & peppermint
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Peach & Espelette pepper
The texture is unique. Not melting like Noir de Noir, nor crunchy like Brut de Noir. It’s dense, full, almost nourishing. The cacao opens slowly, carried by the soft acidity and roundness of fruit.
Noir de Lait: A New Exploration of Milk Chocolate
With Noir de Lait, we wanted to explore a territory we had never ventured into before: milk chocolate. Not as a softer or sweeter version of dark chocolate, but as an expression of cacao in its own right.
We combine our fine cacaos with Swiss milk from Geneva, which we transform in our own manufacture, applying the same pursuit of balance and precision as in our dark chocolates. The collection comes in three intensities — 41%, 47%, and 53% cacao — gradually shifting the relationship between milk and cacao.
At 41%, the milk brings greater roundness and softness. At 47%, cacao and milk find an intermediate balance. At 53%, the cacao takes a more prominent role and asserts its aromatic identity, while retaining the texture and softness brought by the milk.
Three recipes exploring the same question: how far can the expression of cacao be pushed in a milk chocolate without losing what makes milk itself so distinctive?
A consistent vision
Today, these four collections express the foundations of Orfève: recipe simplicity, noble ingredients, and uncompromising craftsmanship.
And tomorrow? Other ideas are maturing. New trials are underway.
But as always, we’ll take our time. Because for us, creation isn’t declared, it’s built with care.