Truth Coffee extends its 'no sugar needed' motto to Minimalist Chocolate

When David Donde founded Truth Coffee, an acclaimed roastery in Cape Town, he was guided by the motto “flavour not bitterness, no sugar required”.

Now he’s applied the same principle to Minimalist Chocolate, his new venture with Ken Walton, which was born out of the need to weather the economic crunch caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

When lockdown temporarily shut down Truth Coffee and Donde’s award-winning bar, The Art of Duplicity, he had to think fast. Responsible for the livelihoods of about 60 families, inspiration struck in the form of cocoa beans.

“We realised that nobody had done for chocolate what we had done in the speciality coffee industry for coffee,” says Donde, referring to the idea that if you use the best ingredients to begin with, you don’t need sugar to “fix” your end product.

To this end, Minimalist Chocolate sources cocoa beans ethically from Roça Bella Vista, a small-scale, organic plantation on the island of São Tomé.

The result is a no-nonsense, silky smooth pure chocolate that will make you shudder at the thought of how much sugar gets added to standard chocolate to please the palate.

Despite having the perfect texture, those with a particularly active sweet tooth may need some time to adjust to Minimalist Chocolate’s wares.

As for the target market? “People who appreciate luxury chocolate and wouldn’t eat ingredients that they would be suspicious of if they were listed in their shampoos.”

A section of Truth Coffee’s shop in Buitenkant St has been dedicated to hand-crafting and selling the chocolates.

Visitors can look forward to trying their hot chocolate grenades, which transform hot milk into a shimmery liquid chocolate drink, as well as pretty chocolate bonbons in five flavours: hazelnut, salted caramel, Truth Coffee, dulce de leche and Christmas cake.

They’re in the final stages of launching a dairy-free 60% oat milk chocolate bar — the vegan alternative to their 60% dark milk chocolate bar, R80, which is available both in store and online.

While the oat milk bars are crafted just as skilfully, I prefer the dark milk chocolate bar with its straightforward chocolate flavour.

As for plans to expand the chocolate selection and add more playful flavours, Donde’s reply is short: “Mum’s the word.” 

• Visit Truth Coffee at 36 Buitenkant St in Cape Town City Centre, or shop online at truth.capetown.