Askinosie Chocolate is auctioning a set of five of the first single origin chocolate bars made with cocoa beans from Liberia. It’s a fundraiser to send high school students in the Cocoa Honors program to Africa in the Summer of 2010.

The auction is hosted on eBay and will continue until Sunday, April 11, at 9 PM CST. These five chocolate bars are not only the first single origin chocolate bars made with Liberian beans, but they are also the first and only chocolate bars that Askinosie Chocolate has made from those beans. This nano-batch was crafted from a one-kilo bean sample received from Lofa County, Liberia.

The Liberian bar is believed to be the first single origin bar available in the world made from Liberian cocoa beans. According to Kesha Alexander, chief operating officer for Askinosie, the Liberian chocolate bar is bursting with notes of red berries and jasmine, with hints of roasted cocoa and coffee, and a long lingering earthy finish.

Students will complete a service project in an African community

All of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Cocoa Honors program, comprised of 13 students from Central High School in Springfield, Mo., who will travel to either Liberia or Tanzania in the Summer of 2010 with Shawn Askinosie, founder of Askinosie Chocolate. While there, the students, who have been working with Askinosie for several months on sourcing the beans and creating his next chocolate bar, will meet with their selected farmer group and perform a service project for the community. A second auction will be held for their first chocolate bars made with cocoa beans from Tanzania.

The Cocoa Honors students receive guidance from Drury University students, Springfield, as they seek to understand the cocoa industry within the context of the history, culture, and economy of Africa. Over 18 months the students will have a complete ‘bean to bar’ experience by sourcing the next origin of cocoa beans with Askinosie.

Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch chocolate manufacturer sourcing 100% of their beans directly from the farmers. Shawn Askinosie travels to regions of Mexico, Ecuador, and the Philippines to work directly with the farmers and source cocoa beans for his chocolate. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled Authentic Single Origin Chocolate. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a Stake In the Outcomeâ„¢. The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other; sharing the Askinosie Chocolate Experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it.

More details on Chocolate University can be found at www.chocolateuniversity.org.