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.

This is "Ocumare" but not Ocumare. Most Ocumare out there is from the centrally located co-op run by the government. Like Patanemo, this bean comes from a former slave founded village 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 village just outside of Ocumare - they have the same genetic varietals and consistency of the Ocumare you have grown to know and love. But to my tastes, it is like the Ocumare of years ago, and no wonder, given it is from the farmers that gave it its reputation.

As usual 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.

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.