Nicaragua Bisiesto Criollo 2022
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I'll be blunt. I know, it is a shock. I'm not a fan of the perpetual search or the golden child everyone calls Criollo. It's reputation in nearly all cases vastly out shines the reality. Do to that rarity, not unlike gold, it is expensive. To be clear, it is not due to price gouging, it is due to the very small yield and effort required for the isolated harvest, fermentation and drying. To that end, I know the price might be a shock....and it is what it is. Is it worth it? The effort put in to my mind does. Does the flavor reflect is? That really isn't how this work but....that does not mean it doesn't either..... Let's talk about how lovely this cocoa is.
First and foremost, by the nature of being a pure strain Criollo, it is not going to be a powerhouse. It is soft and elegant. You will see that outright by looking at the spider chart. Aroma: Mellow chocolate with hints of summer. Taste: The chocolate is quite restrained and there is a light minerality that could be mistaken for acidity. There is a slightly nuttiness that is a cross of macadamia and toasted almond. The over all impression is one of being super soft and I find a hint of leather in the finish. There is a taste there that for me tastes green but not grassy. At 80% it is incredibly very easy to eat and has a lovely clarity of flavor and sweetness. Astringency and bitterness are nearly non-existent and that only works because the other flavors are so delicate and in check. Final Impressions: I come back to that light mineral note, a touch of umami and the barest hint of complex sugar like butterscotch. There is also some gestalt impression I'm left with of a young and delicate lowland single malt scotch.
This is a lovely example of Criollo. I expect it to disappear quickly so get it while you can.
Cacao Bisiesto Nicaragua:
Cacao Bisiesto is a boutique cacao company founded on leap year (bisiesto) day, February 29, and based in La Dalia, Nicaragua. They offer premium cacao beans for bean-to-bar or artisan chocolate producers.
With years of professional experience in agronomy, ecotourism, coffee, and cacao, Cacao Bisiesto founders José Enrique Herrera and Gifford Laube have developed respectful relationships with local cacao growers by offering higher than world-market prices for their crops assisting in making cacao a primary product on their farms
teaching tree management.
Cacao Bisiesto supplies the critically important steps of rigorously supervised fermentation and drying to remove acidity and bitterness and supply richness and body to the final product.
Roasting Notes:
Roasting something that is pretty lightly flavored seems to always give people trouble. The thought (except it is wrong) is that light tasting beans should be roasted lightly. In short, I couldn't disagree more. It is light because that is all it has to give, not because it needs light treatment. If you roast a bean like this too lightly or gently, you are apt to simply not develop the flavor that is there. And the same goes for floral notes. Don't be concerned about the floral notes going away in the roast. Floral notes don't act that way. So what should you do? Well, you should roast it as aggressively as you can, with this one caveat. Don't damage the bean. Roast it with a sure, strong hand, but keep an nose out for sharp aromas (initial acidity of vinegar aside) and only dial back the power if you note those sharp aromas. So, yes, you should treat this a little more gentle but that is not the same as roasting it gently. Get the difference? That all said, it does tend to like a moderately low end of roast temperature, in the upper 240s or lower 250s. The main thing to keep in mind is the lower you go, the longer you need to go to rid the bean of raw astringency.
Drum Roasting The roast profile for my evaluation was 13:00/15:30/20:00 @ 254 F. The EOR was just a little lower than some taking into account its moderate to low over flavor and chocolate levels. Also, I kept the EOR and ramps a little lower so that nut does not go bitter but it is not a delicate snowflake. If you want to really lean into the delicate and nuanced flavors try X/3.0/6.0 @ 248-250 F.
Behmor 2000AB If you are using a Behmor with Manual mode, P1 to start with 2 lb will be just fine. Be ready though to turn the power down as you start to note sharp aromas, probably pretty early on, say 12-14 minutes. When it turns sharper near the end of the count down, you are done. If it isn't there yet, add a bit more time (the C button for Continue, will reset your timer to 3:10) waiting for the turn of aroma. Oven Roasting I've been experimenting a lot recently with a less fussy way to oven roast and I find this procedure works pretty well. It is moderately predictable, repeatable and although not as dynamic and controllable as a drum roaster, does a good job. You will need an IR thermometer. Roast 2 lb of beans. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Place your cocoa beans in a single layer on a baking sheet and into the oven. Stir the beans at 5 minutes and check the temperature. Continue roasting until the surface temperature reads 205-215 F (it may well vary across the beans). At that point, turn your oven down 10-15 F above your target EOR, in this case 255 + ~15 = 270 and continue to roast, stirring every 5 minutes until approximately 255 F. Again, there will be variation but the beauty of this method is having turned the oven down it is difficult to over roast. If you do find your roast is progressing too fast, adjust accordingly, starting at 325 F and/or changing your target to 260 F. Overall you may well roast 30-40 minutes. The important part here is to get good momentum going in a hot oven and then basically coasting to finish.