Origin:  Bolivia - Wild Harvest

Type: Pure Criollo

Certs: Organic

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to offer a cocoa bean from this region.  And it has so many notable items.  Size, wild harvest, light husk, delicate yet sold flavor and two 'hot items' - Organic and Criollo. I also been told of some very interesting harvesting practices for this bean, namely that it is only harvested during the rain seasons when boats and canoes can be taken into the jungle to actually reach the wild cacao trees that are otherwise not readily accessible.

 

Size isn't everything, but sometimes it is notable and this is one of those cases.  Cocoa beans are standardly 90-110 beans/100 grams.  These are 160-170 beans/100 grams, or about half the average size.

 

This particular cocoa is very tiny, with a very delicate husk.  There is a nice mild but definite chocolate flavor.  There is toffee, soft fruits, butter and even blueberry laced all throughout. Often with a bean this small you would get an inordinate amount of waste due to the surface to volume ratio, but due to the light paper thin husk, nib recovery still exceeds 80%