Cocoa beans

Origin: Ivory Coast
Crop: 2025
Type: Forastero/Amenolado
Certifications: Rain Forest Alliance

The aroma – very clear chocolate with mid and high notes of soft vanilla The astringency is quite low, especially for a Forastero, which is a wonderful surprise. I was struck immediately with a flavor that was a tad nutty, putting me in mind of toasted almonds. What comes next is a soft comforting leather note and the associated slight balance of acid that is really spot on. There is a molasses sweetness that is strong but not cloying. The vanilla note in the nose comes through in the taste which highlights the flavor many of us have come to associate with chocolate and the natural sweetness. The chocolate absolutely shines at 75% dark and would have no reserations taking the percentage both higher and lower (all the way to a rich milk chocolate). I've not mentioned bitterness as mainly because it is working so great in its supporting role of giving balance and body without distracting.

At the end of the day this is the chocolate you probably grew up with in the best way. It is why you love chocolate.

Profile Drum Roasting: The profile we use is 12:30/14:30/19:00 @ 264 F. It is a nice robust roast, right at 2 minutes in the Development phase and a solid 4-5 minutes (just under) Finishing phase to keep any raw astringency in check. I pushed the end temperature all the way into the mid 260s and suspect it could have taken more. This is a great beginner bean.

Behmor: Due to the cold start of the the Behmor, you can just set it on the 1 lb setting with 2.5 lb of cocoa and go. When you begin getting aromatic notes, somewhere around 4 minutes left (14 minutes elapsed of the 18 minute start) drop the power to P3 (50% power) and continue roasting for about another 6-8 minutes, waiting for the aroma to either decrease or get sharp. This is all of course if you don't have a thermocouple in the beans (Modifying your Behmor) If you have that you can follow the profiles above.

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 over 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 20-25 F above your target EOR, in this case 265 + ~25 = 290 and continue to roast, stirring every 5 minutes until approximately 260 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 265 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.

About Ivory Coast + RFA

Hopefully you know me well enough by now that you know I don’t put a lot of stock into names and labels. That said, this origin (the Ivory Coast of Africa) has quite the infamous reputation and it is only origin I have refused to even taste or consider until I could verify the conditions of the works, hence the Rain Forest Alliance designation.

Give this a try. It is only the 2nd time I've offered this, but as always, it isn’t about just the label (nor ever about just the label – organic, FT, Criollo) it’s about how the beans taste the heady chocolate they will allow you to make. This really shows just how nice Forastero can be.

As for the cocoa itself, there is a second component to the Ivory Coast’s reputation – they produce some rather nice cocoa. It is a fully fermented Forastero. The preparation is a little uneven from a sorting perspective. There are a few flats and broken beans, but nothing that really makes it difficult to work with. I suggest not even sorting before hand. The process or roasting, cracking and winnowing will take care of sorting better than you can by eye.

Bold, Deep, Dark, Balanced, creamy, Well Rounded, Heavy Bodied, Dark Sugar, Powerhouse

Please note, all bag orders shipping from warehouses not in Oregon have additional warehouse load out charge not listed ranging from $100-200 on average, in addition to shipping that will be billed out later.