Criollo

Ethically and Sustainably traded.  I am planning on using that phrase a bit more.  Chocolate Alchemy is working with Tisano who is on the ground in Venezuela, working side by side with the farmers.  Since Chocolate Alchemy is not actually there, Direct trade is not quite the right term, and since these are farm purchased, not co-op, they are not eligible for Fair Trade status.   

Like Patanemo, this bean comes from  a former slave founded villiage tucked away deep in the canyons of the Henri Pettier National Park. The Farmers at Cumboto were the guys that were running the Ocumare Co-Op before it got taken over by the government. It is a small villiage just outside of Ocumare - they have the same genetic varietals and consistency of the Ocumare you have grown to know and love.

 "Ocumare" is from the Ocumare de la Costa Valley and a variant unto itself, and has many single strains such as Ocumare 67. It's officially a blend of Criollo and Trinatario, but as Trinatario is a hybrid of Forastero and Criollo, it's easy enough to understand that a given strain of cocoa can have a particular percentage of that sought after Criollo, and in many cases it is considered a Criollo. Now, I'm not going to throw numbers at you because the farmers picking it don't know, so how could I know just from tasting and evaluating it?

What I can tell you is that if you compare the 'break' of the nib you will see it is very light. The lighter that break, the GENERAL trend there is to more Criollo. Forastero is rather dark, often purple or deep brown. A good solid, middle of the road Trinatario (think Dominican Republic or Panama) are a mid to dark brown. A cocoa bean with heavier Criollo in its breeding will be a lighter brown, and real Criollo (especially Porcelano) can be down right pale brown with the finished chocolate looking almost like milk chocolate.  

What you'll get is a medium fruited chocolate with good chocolate flavor. There are sweet alfalfa and caramel aromas while roasting.  The chocolate itself has a delicate brightness and nuttiness.  After that, there are some savory aromas. Overlaid on all of that is a soft tartness (not really acidity) of raisin and dried cranberry.  Of all the current Venezuelan beans currently in, if I was forced to pick a favorite, this might well be it.

The oven roasting profile I have given for Ocumare works well here.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F. Put a pound of beans into a heavy corning ware type container, about an inch deep. Put them in for 10 minutes, stirring at 5 minutes (and every 5 minutes after this). At 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 300 and roast another 10 minutes. Pull out a handful of beans for comparison. Turn off the oven and let the remaining beans set/roast for a final 10 minutes in the cooling oven. Remove them and let them cool. This should give you a nice light roasted bean. Compare the two sets and see what you think and adjust your roasting from there.