Bolivia - Heirloom #1 2022 - Direct Trade - Archive
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Origin: Bolivia
Region: Alto Beni
Type: Heirloom Cacao Project, #1
Certifications: Direct Trade
Year: 2022
Flavor Notes:
There we go, another chocolate has pushed out someone in my Top 5. The last time I felt this was when a Nigerian prince told me someone left me $2 million and all I had to do was buy some cocoa. That is a joke. Well, kind of. The Nigerian cocoa is totally true. There was no mention of $2M and there was no scam. I really should stop and get back to talking about this cocoa that is blowing me away. As I was saying, the last time I had a cocoa make such an impression was with the fruitcake laden Nigeria Akwa Ibom in 2017. This is an excerpt from that write up.
"....smells of cinnamon and damson plums. I'm not sure I have tasted a chocolate with more clear chocolate flavor. This is the flavor you grew up with (but better!)......super sweet toffee, cinnamon and baked fruits. Fruitcake even. There is a clean bitterness of browned (not brown) sugar that offsets the sweetness with near perfection. The acidity is a middle level malic, soft yet present. Astringency is muted, giving just enough body to round out the flavor."
This one starts out strong with raisin, cinnamon and rich chocolate in the nose. It repeatedly had me salivating in anticipation. The very first bite was incredibly and deeply sweet, almost verging on too much panella like sweetness. After that first rush there is a tangy but subdued tropical fruit flavor melding with dark rum. There is a perfect amount of bitterness (tannins) and astringency (dried orange zest) for structure. I'm left with a contradictory impression of dutched cocoa, chewy dried fruit and supple full grain leather and lots of soft savory nuts. I don't know how that is possible but there you go. And lest I forget to mention it, the chocolate flavor is simply delectable.
As a reminder, this is at 80% and I can see this going both higher (90%?, I've never liked 100% so I can't speak to that) and lower since it has such a wide array of flavors to pull from. It would punch through in a lovely fashion in milk chocolate.
These are out of the Alto Beni region of Bolivia. I find it terribly interesting how different the flavor profiles are given similar genetics but different cultivation and fermentation procedures. When I asked about the background of this cocoa, this story unfolded. I really supporting this and I hope you do too.
"I was running a B2B project in 2009 to develop fine flavor cacao protocols for boutique chocolate in Denmark. To get there we started from the ground and built a state of the art cacao centre in 2009 (Flor de Cacao) and worked only with selected producers in Alto Beni. The first production was right away successful in Paris at the International Cocoa Awards. In 2014 our Alto Beni cacao reached HCP (Heirloom Cacao Project) status.
"Unfortunately we had to shut down Flor de Cacao in 2015 due to lack of funding, high cocoa prices and production collapse caused by Monilla. The plant went into dormancy for 8 years. Last year I was able to reopen the plant and renew the contacts to the farmers, some already over 70 years old."The genetic cacao pool in Alto Beni, based on old trinitario varieties, has been continuously evolved since the 70'ties as many farmers believed that only a seed can produce a tree. In Peru and Ecuador CCN51 clones became the panacea. In Alto Beni, entirely unnoticed from International Aid projects, the people and their organizations overcame the Monilla crisis applying a local selection process of local elite varieties. The cacao you have is the result of the efforts to preserve genetic diversity thanks to the persistence of smallholder farmers in Alto Beni.
"Our best farmer, Felix Paredes (74) has selected 8 well producing local clones for his 3 hectare farm. This year I have made a special edition of Felix Paredes cacao that will be presented through HCP for its upcoming 10th anniversary in 2024."
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