Reserva Zorzal is a bird sanctuary with conservation at the heart of it's mission. The 1,019-acre private reserve aims to tackle big obstacles like climate change and deforestation through the preservation of one tiny songbird with a chipper voice, the Bicknell’s Thrush, zorzal de Bicknell in Spanish. Here is a great example of where conservation meets craft chocolate.

 Zorzal strives to pick each cacao pod at its optimal ripeness, removing any diseased, damaged or over-ripe fruit. The beans are then coaxed from their pods and brought to their Fermentorium where the master fermenter nurtures the cacao through a process of natural fermentation and drying cycles to elicit the nuanced flavor profiles found in the high mountain rainforests of the Dominican Republic.