On the road for a few days.

Mysuru. Puttur. Mangalore.

Different farms, different setups, different ways of handling the same fruit. Some more structured. Some entirely intuitive. A lot of it comes down to habit. What’s been done before. What works well enough.

Trying not to impose half-baked opinions too quickly. Just observing for now.

There’s a lot here that doesn’t show up once the chocolate is made. The impact of early decisions, tree care, fermentation work and drying — all undeniably important to flavor outcomes.

Feels important to sit with it a bit longer.