Oodaalolly x Kasama Rum Release “Special Batch” Chocolate Collaboration
SAN FRANCISCO, California - Oodaalolly, the Filipino chocolate brand, and Kasama, the Filipino rum brand, announce the release of “Special Batch,” an offering of 25g chocolate bars made using rare ingredients available in small quantities. This release of Special Batch features Oodaalolly cacao steeped in Kasama rum for one year.
In March 2021, Oodaalolly set aside a stash of imported Philippine cacao and steeped it entirely in Kasama rum as an experiment. There were no expectations of what would happen to the cacao. After a year of infusing, the cacao had absorbed over 80% of the rum, imbuing the cacao with a rich caramel aroma. The experiment prompted the team to create an exceptionally unique bar of 70% dark chocolate celebrating the Philippines, the flavors of the tropics, and the two companies’ successful collaborations.
The Process
Oodaalolly employed low-temperature heating and dedicated desiccation chambers to eliminate any residual liquid to drive moisture out of the cacao while preserving the new flavor components. Taste tests indicated the emergence of complex and distinct new flavors. This chocolate has only three ingredients—cacao, sugar, and cocoa butter—and the specific steps a maker follows to combine those ingredients affect their chocolate's final texture and flavor. “We had to be very careful,” notes founder Hernan Lauber, “because if we had an accident or miscalculated something, we couldn’t just try again, and we had to get it right.”
The Chocolate
The 25g bars (USD 15) exhibit a polished rosewood sheen. They have a firm snap that releases a heady aroma—similar to the experience of opening a bottle of wine. Chocolate typically has over 600 different aromas, but this bar has a distinct personality. When it softens, new layers of aroma become apparent. According to chocolate developer Jeremy Burnich, “Taste is subjective since everyone experiences flavor slightly differently, but I experience a warm caramel melt, with some raisin and oak. How long the flavor lingers, the textures and finish are also unique.”
The Presentation
Each bar is hand-wrapped in gold-tone paper-backed foil. With over 100 years of experience in the industry and as a leader in creating and manufacturing specialty papers for premium use cases, the team selected Neenah Paper’s natural linen coverstock for the box and internal card.
The box and card employ Kasama’s floral motifs and iconography which evoke the tropics in an elegant, understated, and timeless way. The linen texture invites touch—this is a luxury to be used and enjoyed—and the darker color scheme lends intrigue to this top-shelf creation.
The Mold Design
The bar tells the story of Oodaalolly and its celebration of both Filipino and Swiss cultures and traditions. The cacao and the cocoa butter we pressed for the bar come from Davao on the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The pattern on the mold calls attention to that origin by displaying a regional textile motif from the Yakan people who inhabit the area. The bar also incorporates the Swiss cross into the mold design—Hernan is a Swiss national, and Oodaalolly uses Swiss-style chocolate-making techniques that Hernan learned while working with his father, a classically Swiss-trained baker, pastry chef, and chocolatier.
Press Packet
About Oodaalolly Chocolate
Oodaalolly is what you’d exclaim after biting into something extraordinary, and you need to express exuberant delight or all-encompassing joy. In 2017, Filipino-American and the son of a Swiss chocolate maker, Hernan Lauber, founded Oodaalolly in San Francisco, California. He blazed a new path in his family’s chocolate heritage by blending the best of his upbringing's two cultures. Oodaalolly focuses exclusively on direct trade sourcing of natural ingredients from the Philippines, combines them with time-honored family recipes and techniques, and creates award-winning chocolate. Follow @oodaalolly on Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.
About Kasama Rum
Kasama, named after the Filipino term for “together,” pays homage to founder Alexandra Dorda’s Filipino-Polish heritage resulting in a rum that defies the category. As the daughter of the Belvedere and Chopin vodka co-founder, Alexandra brings the same level of quality and experience her family company was built on to her first solo venture. Kasama is distilled in the Philippines, bottled at her family's distillery in Poland, and enjoyed in the United States. The brand represents sunshine and optimism inside and out with a golden rum that is aged 7 years in ex-bourbon American oak barrels and has notes of sweet pineapple, a hint of vanilla, and a pinch of sea salt. Leaving behind the typical tropes associated with old-school rum brands like sailors and pirates and absent of heavily spiced flavor profiles - Kasama brings a refreshing approach in both branding and palate to a category in need of a breath of fresh air.
Follow Kasama on Instagram (@kasamarum) and Facebook (@wearekasamarum)