In the bundle you will find the following:
Our next cacao release comes from the Vinces de Los Ríos region showcases floral citrus atop a lush base of fig and butterscotch. The Nacional varietal of cacao can trace its history back over 5000 years, tracing its genetic lineage back to cacao domesticated by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in around 3300 BC.
This lot is composed of the work of 60 farmers near the city of Vinces, inside the original ‘Arriba’ region where Ancient Nacional grew natively. The pods are purchased by the Cedeño Aguilar family at a premium, before they take care of the fermentation themselves, in wooden boxes for approximately 140 hours, allowing the fermentation liquids to drain throughout. The beans are then dried carefully on raised beds to a moisture content of 7%. The character of the Nacional cacao is found here in the subtle florals and the hint of lemon in the final bar, atop a rich base of dried fig and a deep butterscotch sweetness.
Ground Chocolate
This lot is composed of only Nacional pods, harvested in the Vinces de los Ríos region, fermented in wooden boxes for 140 hours.
Ground Chocolate is a natural extension of our cacao project. After years of searching for a high quality hot chocolate to serve in our own cafés, we finally have the opportunity to create our own, using cacao sourced and roasted by La Cabra.
Ground Chocolate doesn’t go through the final tempering stage of chocolate making, meaning it melts at a much lower temperature when combined with warm milk. We recommend a 1:6 ratio of Ground Chocolate to your favourite milk or plant-based alternative. We steam the mixture on an espresso machine’s steam wand, but it can also be heated gently on the stove.
Nacional
Ecuadorean cacao became renowned for its complexity and florality, and was known as Cacao Arriba. Arriba is understood to be a misunderstanding between European cacao buyers and a group of Ecuadorean growers, who when asked where the cacao was grown, replied with ‘río arriba’, or ‘upstream’. After this golden era, Nacional stocks across the country were hit hard by a fungal disease known as Witches Broom in the early 20th century.
Careful processing
Pods are collected from farmers and taken to the processing station, where they are split into grades, and colours of fruit. This lot is composed of only the Nacional varietal, harvested in Vinces de los Ríos, fermented in wooden boxes for 140 hours, before drying on raised beds, similar to those used for coffee.
