Origin:  Guatemala

Type: Trinatario

Size isn't everything, but sometimes it is notable.  Cocoa beans are standardly 90-110 beans/100 grams.  These are 50-55 beans/100 grams, or nearly double the average size.

 

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to offer a cocoa bean from this region, and I can't say it is 'like' any other bean.

 

This particular cocoa is very round and big with a nice mild but definite chocolate flavor.  There are nuts, dry spice (like cinnamon and nutmeg), and a delicate bitterness and tangy fruitiness bringing it all together.  The beans are also notably dry, so you may or may not hear the traditional pops and cracks when roasting as this is often water explosively leaving the bean (like popcorn).  

 

They come from a coop in Cahabón, Guatemala.

Cahabón lies in the Alta Verapaz mountain chain in the state of Coban.  The people in the coop that grow these beans are from the indigenous tribe Kekchi Maya who are used to consuming cocoa in drink form as done in their culture for thousands of years.  They were in the past paid only very little for their cocoa by local brokers but now a contract has been drawn up which allows them to receive 4 times the price more.  All this extra money goes direct to the coop.  Much of the money pays for school for the children of the coop's members.  The extra income from their cocoa also will allow these people to plant more cocoa trees in some of the deforested lands in their area.