India 72% Dark

The ancient practice of henna art transcends time, religion, and culture, with enormous beauty to be found in the mesmerizing ritual of its expression. 

It begins with the henna plant, Lawsonia inermis, a flowering shrub of desert climes believed to have originated in the Middle East and North Africa and dating back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The henna plant carries a history of interconnected uses, particularly within medicine and the arts; beyond this, it is often believed to be a conduit of the divine. The leaves it bears are lance-shaped and green, yet they yield a rich, mahogany-colored powder when dried and ground. This substance forms the base of the revered dye used in the ceremony of mehndi, the adorning-of-the-body with henna paste.

Mehndi derives its name from mehndika in Sanskrit, its application woven deeply into the social canon of ritual and festivity of the various regions where it is practiced. Many claim that the art form’s earliest documentation exists in ancient Indian texts, with roots in spring fertility celebrations commemorating the triumph of good over evil, as well as the power of the sacred feminine. First, the ground leaves of the henna plant are mixed with a variety of other ingredients, such as lemons, limes, black tea, coffee, rose petals, orange blossoms, pomegranates, clove, tamarind, okra, essential oils, and sugar. The paste is then applied to the skin and left in place for a number of hours, its color penetrating the skin’s surface and staining it across a range of reddish-brown hues, from rust to black cherry, in a process thought to infuse spirituality from the outside in.

In this way does the art-form unfurl itself across the surface of the body, its often-intricate designs laden with symbolic depth, even if they remain, by nature, ephemeral. Indeed, though its renderings will fade in a few weeks time, henna emphasizes storytelling and self-expression, its paisley- and peacock-feather-like patterns, its interlacing vines and open lotus flowers speaking to the life-cycle of the very body they embellish. 

Henna enchants; it captures the essence of the soul—and in its transience can be found a kind of power, a recognition of the beauty of change and renewal that marks our lives.

The cacao for our India 72% dark is estate-grown in Anamalai, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. We sweeten the cacao with date sugar to create a paste, then refine and conch to create a luscious chocolate. And through its notes of roasted peanut, honey caramel, and pop of zesty lime, it conveys the vibrant, life-giving aspects of nature with new emphasis and artistry.

Flavor Profile roasted peanut, honey caramel, pop of zesty lime 

Ingredients cacao, date sugar

Allergen free of egg, gluten, milk, nuts, soy, wheat

Net Weight 75 g