Chloe Tan

In continuation of my first Hennessy cocktail—the refreshing and fizzy See Trust, topped with a delicious chocolate truffle—I am continuing your experience with the second glass of sustainable creativity for the night: Loco Coco. A cocktail that celebrates the local cacao from my dear hometown of Pahang, Malaysia.

Chocolate, one of the most indulgent treats of all time, has always been a wonderful complement to Hennessy XO, as the cognac carries delicious notes of dark chocolate and toffee.

However, during the production of chocolate, there is always waste, as the only part of the cacao fruit typically used to make chocolate is the bean. It takes an average of five years for a cacao tree to bear fruit and around five months for a cacao fruit to grow. What a waste it would be to simply throw away all the other parts.

For this cocktail, I will be utilising every part of the cacao fruit in an effort to achieve zero waste.

First, the fresh cacao fruit is opened and the flesh is removed. Cacao flowers and water are incorporated to create a flavourful and refreshing cacao water. The cacao water is then used to make cacao kombucha through fermentation with a SCOBY. The fermented kombucha is ultimately transformed into a foam that sits on top of the cocktail.

The cacao nibs are paired with rosso to bring out their rich chocolatey and fruity notes.

A self-infused citrus syrup, which was also used in the first Hennessy cocktail I created, makes another appearance here, further connecting and elevating the overall experience.

The leftover cacao husk is chopped and repurposed as a smoking element, providing smoky and chocolatey aromas to the cocktail. For the presentation, the aromatic smoke is trapped beneath half of a cacao husk, which acts as a cover for the glass.

Finally, a cacao leaf coaster sits beneath the cacao-shaped cocktail, completing the experience and reinforcing the idea of a sustainable serve in which every part of the fruit has a purpose.