Forum Activity for @Cristian Melo

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Two things:Jeff, the practice is to graft CCN-51 scions in Nacional stock (so you get a CCN-51 tree and pods with Nacional root stock). Grafting is a asexual plant reproduction technique... so you get 'pure' scion material. If people were grafting pure Nacional scion on CCN-stock you will get pure Nacional pods... the stock does not contribute to the pods (well, depends who pollinates what... but that is a another tale).About coops mixing Nacional and CCN-51, I wouldn't generalize. Some do mix, some other do not because they have premiums for Nacional... and the members are old and they have only Nacional trees. You have a considerable amount of self-selection among coop members. Cheaters are normally expelled if the coop is buying fresh beans (en baba). The "pepa" of CCN and the "pepa" of Nacional are quite distinctive (hybrids Nacional x CCN are a nightmare... but what do we call these? So,if a coop pays a premium of $10 for Nacional, if they pay market price (or below market price) for CCN-51, this pushes CCN farmers to the intermediaries (and out of the coops), because these guys gave them some other things (i.e., loans) and the productivity of the crop supplies for the other services...Nevertheless, even in the best case (premiums: 40% over market price for FT ORG cocoa), but CCN-51 yields three times as much as Nacional.... so younger cacaoteros tend to have CCN51.For the rest.... I agree with you... I think Nacional or Arriba have become merely a marketing term, buy quality is more a hit and miss thing (depends on who, what year, what was the sourcing that person used).

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Interesting, and pertinent, Samantha. Love that erudition.The marvel to me is somehow from those original cacaos somewhere near the confluence of what is today Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil; some of it travels south, some eastward that become purple, the "forastero" type. I can understand a slow spread like that.But the other trip, north and west where the first indications of its use are in Mexico, south of Tabasco, 2000 rugged miles away-- the white type, the "criollo" appears. Monkeys (they are ubiquitous in cacao country Mexico and Nicaragua) do not eat cacao, luckily for these farmers. Squirrels eat plenty but they tend to eat the pods right on site, as we see from the seeds dropped directly beneath the trees, uneaten.I find it hard to swallow that humans carried it all that way, before the year 2000 BC. [I heard from a learned doctor that pre-Olmecs used cacao.] Seeds do not remain viable very long outside the pod. Pods tend to rot pretty quickly.And Samantha-- in spite of her PhD in Chocolatology uses the word "seed", referring to the same thing the hifalutin text refers to interchangably as "cotyledon" and seed.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Thank you for this Brian. Where are you, and what is the (suspected?) pedigree of this cacao?

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

> possible to have a cross where 50% will be white and 50% purple also. Basic Medellian >genetics.Possible no doubt. I've never seen it but will be looking closely at a lot of cacao pretty soon.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Yes you are right, the color, indicating the presence of flavonoids, is found in most cacao, but some "rare/pure" are white/pinkish. Normally, the purple color trait segregates as a dominant trait, so yes, in a cross with a criollo, the seeds will usually, but not always be purple. It is possible to have a cross where 50% will be white and 50% purple also. Basic Medellian genetics.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Yes, thanks we agree as to what a cotyledon is. I have seen various writers talk of the color of the "cotyledon" when the CONTEXT told me they meant SEED. That is, the inner seed inside the hull.I find it odd that I have rarely if ever, in my rustic research, that writers remark the color of the seed. From my experience in the field, in Mexico, the "criollo" has pink seeds. I think that otherwise pink or white seeded cacaos are very rare. I'm thinking that perhaps one of the first traits the forastero shares in a cross is its purple color. As I have rarely seen seeds other than purple colored in a region whose original stuff was the criollo.Please correct me in this...

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Just to be clear about the photo... the wrinkled things near the bottom are the cotyledons, which are formed during embryo development and make up the bulk of the seed, after germination these stay on the plant for a week or two and all the nutrients inside are used by the seedling, then what is left over just falls off the seedling. These are not leaves. The green leaves at the top of the plant are formed from the apical meristem which is a tiny speck at the top of the embryo in the seed, you could not see it without a microscope until the seedling starts to grow and produce leaves. I hope this clarifies this discussion.Mark Guiltinan

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

A fine and learned discussion here. Not sure if this matters much, but it is a piece of the puzzle: the USDA offers free testing to determine the percentage of criollo-type genes, and forastero genes. The guy I've been discussing this with at USDA is Mr Dapeng Zhang,Dapeng.Zhang@ARS.USDA.GOVAnother piece of the puzzle-- the color of the cacao seed. As far as I can tell almost all cacao seeds are purple, which is a forastero trait. This of course does not mean that all purples are mainly forastero. I know one purple seeded variety that tastes (to my rustic palate) very criollo, very mellow.However, I'd guess that the white and pink seeded varieties (pretty rare I think) are either all or mostly criollo.I intend to find out more in the coming harvest in NicaraguaWhenever I've seen seed color referred to, wirters use the word "cotyledon." I believe this is incorrect: the cotyledon is the first LEAF out of the seed, here's an official definition: "A leaf of the embryo of a seed plant, which upon germination either remains in the seed or emerges, enlarges, and becomes green. Also called seed leaf."I'm no expert, JS Hepler

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Alex,CCN51 is called Don Homero, for Homero Castro.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Thank you!

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

The readings list is:Knapp, Arthur W. 1920. Cocoa and chocolate: Their History from Plantation to Consumer. Chemist. 1920 ed. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd.Lery, Francois. 1954. Le Cacao. 1st Edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.Parsons, James J. 1957. Bananas in Ecuador : A New Chapter in the History of Tropical Agriculture. Economic Geography 33, no. 3: 201-216.Tyler, Charles Dolby. 1894. The River Napo. The Geographical Journal 3, no. 6: 476-484. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1773582 .Whymper, Robert. 1921. Cocoa and chocolate, their chemistry and manufacture. Second Edition. Philadelphia: P. Blakiston's Son & Co.Wolf, T. H. 1893. The Western Lowland of Ecuador. The Geographical Journal 1, no. 2: 154-157.van Hall, Constant Johan Jacob. 1914. Cocoa. London: Macmillan and Co, Ltd.You can get access to Van Hall and the others 1920's books via Google books; for journals, depends if your library has a subscription.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Cristian,fascinating information. Can you tell me where you found this account?

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Scientist will read it, and keep digging. The issue is that Motomayor worked with cacao from live collections (think on large cocoa gardens where they (more or less) know from where each plant came), so it is not like all is said and done. You will need more info (more points) for making this info part of a GIS. Well, it is a start, and lets hope costs go down so we can use this technique more often.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

FYI, Cone and Taura are located in the region that was known as "Abajo" back in the good old days (according to Parsons 1957). Most people ignore that there used to be a regional classification by 1920's, so you had cacao de Bahia, de Esmeraldas, Arriba, etc. Each variety had its own 'bouquet.' For example, there is one account that says that the cacao de Bahia (Bahia de Caraques, not the the Bahia from Brasil) was especial because they used to wet the beans with sea water at the port (!!). Also, I would think that we should start thinking in following Motomayor et al. 2008, which offers a really nice genetic classification of cacao by origin.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hello Casey;I just became a member on chocolate life Upon receiving an email form a friend mentioning there was comments on our chocolate" Vintage Plantations" which were not true. Comments posted by lars Klassen .Vintage Plantations is not owned by the Crespo family. Vintage Plantations does not say " Arriba" on its bars.We do not use cocoa beans from the Crespo family. We partnered with this family in Ecuador, in order to have a collection point for our nacional cocoa beans coming from the Luz y Guia Cooperatives and la Florida cooperatives. The Crespo family could not collect enough cocoa beans from the cooperatives and we started to use a mix of CCn51 with the nacional. It appears The Crespo family goals diverged very quickly with our goal. and we no longer work with this family. As klars Klassen says, we work with small farms group of 12-15 families growing exclusively old "nacional antigua" Not the new nacional. ( another pandora Box). Upon trying many different model for sourcing only the old varietals from Ecuador , we have concluded , considering the constant hybridations of cocoa genotypes, that it was more accurate to talk about the Location and how it was fermented. The company is owned by Allan Suarez, and Pierrick Chouard by the way. We started sourcing cacao in Ecuador upon visiting Alaln suarez extended Family in the barrios of Guayaquil and bringing them clothes and others ustensiles from the USA. We have been Teaching about cacao post harvest process in Ecuador with my college friends from CIRAD. I Hope it dispells the misunderstanding. On a personal note: very good Chocolate was made using very mediocre Cocoa beans: When I launched Michel Cluizel chocolates in the USA , prior to pursuing my sustainable goals with Vintage Plantations chocolates, we sourced cocoa beans from a family in Dominican republic. This family benefited from students from Holland who were doing their PHD's on Post harvest process. Upon meeting these students and tinkering with their system, it appears they had excellent results, which were fully exploited by Michel Cluizel into a Good chocolate bar. My point ; The discussion of origins or genotypes is not a guarantee of quality in chocolate. and using "origins" as a marketing tool is premature until there is an independant international Audit controlling and certfiying : the entire commodity chain. We are a long way away from the wine and I am not sure this is the way to go. I would recommend: against making your choice of buying chocolates according to origins, or genotypes today.The Word" arriba" Is not on our chocolate bars precisely for these reasons.
updated by @Pierrick marie Chouard: 09/07/15 12:07:45

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

What many people may not realize is that two of the current names used to describe cacao varieties (criollo, forastero) are examples of how the victors write history.Criollo means, roughly, native (e.g., comida tipica criolla), and forastero, roughly, foreign. In the context of cacao, criollo means "from here" and forastero means "imported from elsewhere" and are therefore quite meaningless when talking about varieties of cacao as the "native" (as in, original varieties) are the foreign ones - as there is now consensus that criollo varieties were selectively bred from forasteros as the Mesoamericans (the Toltecs and Olmecs) found uses for the seeds where South American Indian tribes focused on uses for the pulp.Criollo and forastero are just as confusing as the term "arriba" which only means "up" (also, over, above, forward) and refers to where traders had to go ("up" the Guayas river from Guayaquil) to get the fine flavor cacao best known as Nacional.Over time these generic terms were applied to specific varieties of cacao without paying any attention to their original meanings.Motamayor's study is perhaps the first serious attempt to try to rationalize the naming scheme. However, I find it interesting that with the exception of "criollo" and "amelonado" all of the suggested new names refer to specific places. Amelonado is a reference to the shape of a pod - melon-shaped - of a specific variety of forastero originating in Brasil. It is likely that criollo varieties in Venezuela were almost certainly re-introduced from Mesoamerica.Ultimately, I don't see that there will be much uptake of these terms outside of the academic/scientific community - and perhaps hard-core enthusiast community - any time soon. Too much marketing and advertising has been done around the existing terms to make the transition easy. Plus, with an increasing emphasis on origins it's going to be hard to differentiate (meaningfully) between, for example, Nacional and Curaray; both are from Ecuador and Curaray is an obscure river south of the Napa in the Oriente.I think more people would understand and appreciate the distinction between "heirloom" (e.g., Nacional) and "hybrid" (e.g., CCN 51) cacao varieties.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

I wonder what the scientific community thinks about this study. There maybe a study that deals in more detail with the location. I could see making maps of the varieties in such a way that the work as layers.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Here are a couple of other fascinating discussions around here for more information about reclassification of cacao varieties, in this one we are pointing out different things about cacao of Ecuador. http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/1978963:Topic:4592 http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/cacao-info-resources

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Yea, what a neat and clear panorama of the cacaos . It certainly revolutionizes the traditional view in terms of varieties. The idea of the google map is great. I think we are talking about many maps, if we want more detail, many maps put together.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

It would be cool to see Figure 1 of this study on Google Map.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Very interesting. I'm going to go to the link and read more. What a breakthrough. This could mean so much for the world of chocolate! Please keep me informed as you find more information. I would appreciate it.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Yes, itis amazing, but something that surprized me the most was the fact that there are some theories that imply that there are many more types of cocoa than we initially thought. This comes out of a serious genetic study .Check it out in the following link. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003311#aff4 The conclusions are:Should cacao be reclassified from the traditional 3 (Forastero,Criollo, Trinitario) into the 10 categories suggested in the researchstudy *Geographic and Genetic Population Differentiation of theAmazonian Chocolate Tree.The suggested new categories are:1.Amelonado Brazil2. Contamana - Peru3.Criollo - Central America, Venezuela4.Columbia5.Curaray - Ecuador6. Guiana - Guyane7.Iquitos - Peru8.Maraon - Brazil (Amazon) and Peru9.Nacional - Ecuador10.Nanay - Peru11. Purs PeruThe arriba cacao from Ecuador, is a a type of Nacional

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

This is so interesting. I always thought these beans were really just aversion of Trinitario and were no longer around. The few bars that I've come across out there made me wonder. I thought perhaps some genius crossed the Trinitario and Criollo and tried to make a new hybrid. It just goes to show you that you never know. Mother nature is funny.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Casey:I think the traditional importers of cacao arriba started business many years before CCN51 appeared. They are for a long time used to the characteristic flavor and aromas of arriba, i dont think they would ever change or be cheated about it. Plus they have an educated consumer who p for that quality.In the laws of Ecuador, there are prohibitions to mix the CNN51 with arriba or Nacional.Arriba strictly talking, only grows in a defined geographical area of Ecuador, arriba, means up the river, in the surroundings of the Guayas an Babahoyo rivers, in higher elevations, than other lower land cocoas. Nacional, in the other side is the term that embodies all the forasteros considered to be fine in Ecuador.Both Nacional an Arriba are forasteros.In the last century, about a hundred years ago, the plagues almost killed the arriba varietals and many cocoa varietals were introduced to strenght the original arriba cocoa. These other cocoa from Venezuela, Trinidad, etc gave the original arriba the power to survive the plagues, but the main character arriba prevailed through the years. Our actual arriba got some criollo and trinitario features.For some especialistas the arriba original variety still exists pure just in a 10% of the whole fine cocoa in Ecuador.Definetibelly I think the cocoa and chocolate conosseurs buy the best national and arriba cocoa, while the CCN51 is internally and externally of lower consideration. It just does not attain any of the real characteristics of fine cocoa.There is a need to protect the arriba origin, and there is a project in Ecuador led by official, and private organizations to legalize the arriba in the frame of the Ecuador laws under the origin denomination (denominacin de orgen) .That is for now, there is a lot more to talk about arriba....Mara Soledad Troya

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

This is a photo of the front entrance to the Rancho San Jacinto. I visited there in October 2005. Across the street is (or was) a roadside stand where you could get fresh cacao pulp smoothies and warm pan de yucca con queso (cheese bread made from yucca (cassava) flour).

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Translation in English provided by translate.google.com. It's not perfect and there are some words that weren't handled at all (might be the difference between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish).Hi all I would like to provide information on cocoa represent, association and as chairman of APROCAFA (association of producers of fine and flavor) I have more or less 22 years to grow this cocoa as you all call and now CCN51 clone after having made many works of fermentation has been achieved remove the astringency and asidez who had this fine cocoa which is also being Trinitarian by concept. I could not read all the comments but some people conosco in this forum and others have been at the ranch (Rancho San Jacinto Naranjal) to which if any of you come to Ecuador would like to invite you and show me how to work the cocoa bean .Making summaries, if the problem you had in Ecuador was the mixture of cocoa beans that work in conjunction with Corpei, Aprocafa, MAGAP ANECACAO and control mixtures.About the Vintage Plantations Chocolates ERA until that company was part of a mixture of cocoa and 30% National Don Homer (CNN51) 70% but the difference is that I handled the fermentation of these 2 grains and the mixture is to level liquors. Today I am making a new chocolate with the name of the estate and also private label and make available the web pag finances ww.rsanjacinto.com

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hola a todos me gustaria aportar informacion sobre el cacao que represento, asociacion y como presidente de APROCAFA (asociacion de productores de cacao fino y de aroma) yo tengo mas o menos 22 aos cultivando este cacao que todos ustedes llaman como clon CCN51 y que ahora luego de haber hecho muchos trabajos de fermentacion se ha logrado quitarle las astringencia y asidez que tenia este cacao que es fino tambien por ser trinitario por concepto. No he podido leer todos los comentarios pero a algunas personas conosco en este forum y otros han estado en la hacienda (Rancho San Jacinto Naranjal) a la cual cuando alguno de ud vengan al Ecuador me gustaria invitarlos y mostrarles como se trabaja ese grano de cacao.Haciendo resumenes, si el problema que tenia el Ecuador era la mezcla de granos de cacao que por trabajos en conjunto con Corpei, Aprocafa, Anecacao y MAGAP controlar las mezclas.Sobre los chocolates el Vintage Plantations ERA hasta que fui parte de esa sociedad una mezcla de cacao Nacional 30% y Don Homero (CNN51) 70% pero la diferencia es que yo manejaba la fermentacion de esos 2 granos y la mezcla se hacia a nivel de licores. Hoy estoy haciendo un nuevo chocolate con el nombre de la hacienda y tambien private label y pongo a disposicion la pag web de la hacienda ww.rsanjacinto.com

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Declaration of Ecuador symbol product1. JustificationThe importance of the cocoa as one of the more relevant agriculture products in the production (2004 almost 111.000 tons), the exportation, jobs positions and income specially for the 100 000 small Ecuadorian producers, is a happy reality. Also the capacity of the country to be a producer of quality and scent cocoa -appreciated in the international markets- has not taken advantage of, on the contrary this image its being lost due to factors related to the quality offer diminished (defective post harvest, mixtures with the CCN51 clone, etc). Another reality is related with the low levels of productivity in the National cocoa plantations, which its decrease its due to the elderly age and the lack of management. These and other problems affect the competitiveness of the chain.These aspects have been discussed in several planning and analysis workshops of the cocoa value chain, promoted in the last months by groups such as ANECOCOA, UNOCACE, FEDECADE, PRONORTE, UDENOR, INIAP, CORPEI, IICA, FECD, GTZ, and one of the priority demands expressed by the assistants (more than 60), to face that situation a redefinition was made of a strategy and a politic to improve the competitiveness of the cocoa sub sector and the establishment of agreements and mechanisms for achieving its implementation.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

This was a awesome thread. Great detail folks. I am roasting some Arriba beans now. Or at least what I believe are Arriba beans. What are some of the flavor characteristics of the bean?

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Jeff;thanks for the compliment. We also have been living in Ecuador (Macas) for two years and a bit before founding Bouga CacaO. I just found out that you are making your own chocolate as well.I would be happy to know some more about your activities, especially as I think we got some partners in common...Actually we are going to travel to Ecuador for a couple of weeks in June and July - privately and with some clients... Our e-mail: info@bouga-cacao.com

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Alex:Seems you know quite a bit about chocolate from Ecuador. I would be interested in hearing more. I do happen to work with a grower who oversees production using beans from two plantations he runs using only Nacional Arriba beans as you say. You are very right though about the difficulty of getting pure "Arriba" lots. If you are interested in more info about my experience on the ground (I currently live in Ecuador) please do not hesitate to contact me.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Hello everybody;I am joining in quite late, but I only found out yesterday about www.thechocolatlife.com because our company (Bouga CacaO) was quoted within this thread.Surely, the name arriba comes from its origin "up-river" of the river Guayas in contrast to the cocoa that was grown closer to the port of Guyaquil.Nowadays in Ecuador, there is no real difference made between Arriba and Nacional; it is rather used as "nacional arriba" fino y de aroma.Genetically there are probably thousands or even more different varieties of cocoa. Some of them being grouped as criollo or nacional etc. There is no exact definition in that respect.However, the Arriba taste is rather well defined though hard to find. The taste is definitely not associated to one special genotype. It is rather a combination of the "right" genes and the soil and climate which leads to a cocoa bean that has the potential of becoming the mother of a Arriba chocolate.Obviously the adequate post-harvest treatment is vital in order to develop the arriba flavour, as well as the further steps. For example, the Arriba flavours are much more volatile than others, so conching the chocolate too long will just lead to the complete loss of its special characteristics (I recently tasted a so-called Arriba chocolate with the "quality sign" of "conched 72 hours"; well I do not know how it was before, but there was nothing left from the Arriba).Concerning who is using what I can only say that it is most unlikely that all Arriba marked chocolate is made from Arriba beans (just in terms of quantity available). Especially for the chocolate companies producing in Europe or the US and buying from intermediators in Ecuador it is hard to get pure Arriba lots. However, there are some direct links between certain producers and growers.For the companies producing in Ecuador: They mostly buy from different producers (big and small-scale), so if they mention Arriba, they will mainly have to rely on their suppliers. Testing mixed lots is quite difficult.And there is at least one company who produces in Ecuador using cocoa from one single plantation where the cocoa grower oversees as well the production process (meaning tree to bar production!) who also uses only Nacional Arriba beans.However, the CCN 51 (also called Don Romero) can be transformed into absolutely high quality chocolate; combined with its higher yield and the lower sensibility against deseases, it is a real alternative; yet for marketing departments the Arriba mythos still seems to be too valuable. The flavour is different though and high cocoa pourcentage in chocolate would not be possible.One more statement concerning the typical Arriba flavour: I recently had a discussion with Michel Barel, a researcher from the French Institute CIRAD (Barel is respected by the cocoa/chocolate world in France for his knowledge about cocoa varieties). I told him that our Arriba chocolate is much more fruity than floral and that some French chocolatiers are complaining about it. He said, that meanwhile there were so many different Arriba varities available, that it is just normal that the flavours vary as well. Real quality does not depend on the existence of a jasmine flavour but is drawn from a coincidence of several characteristics: a distinct fruity or floral flavour, free of off-flavours and astringence!Another project that is going on and might be of interest: in Mndez, small village in the Southern Amazon region (Morona Santiago) exists a small-scale farmers association, that, with the help of the "Municipio", reintroduced Arriba species in their region (species that are the result of scientific trials and crossings going on in the coastal region), and defined 9 different types to be well adapted in their area and having good flavour. It is a project worth visiting and gives hope that Arriba won't be lost in future! Anybody interested in that project can contact us.I apologize for writing so much, but since I was rather joining late into the discussion , there was so much to say.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

I've been facinated by the production of cocoa beans in Ecuador. The "facts", as published within the net have left my head spinning. One recently consumed source http://www.ecuadorcocoaarriba.com/eng/about-cocoa-arriba-ecuador.php depict a series of numbers that make me want to move out of Brazil and into Ecuador....." Between 1880 and 1890 Ecuador was the prime producer of cocoa worldwide. In early 1900 Ecuador decreased the production because of different diseases as the escoba de bruja and la monilla, these devastating diseases almost destroyed all the plantations. Also World War I helped with the reduction of the exportations. In spite of that, the country kept working to keep one of its more precious treasures alive.Today the cocoa chain is the third more relevant after the bananas and flowers. The production in the year 2004 was of 111.000 metric tons and more than 100.000 small producers where involved, making a profit of almost 150 million dollars. Ecuador is the first producer worldwide of the quality and scent cocoa (63% of the worlds production "100,000 producers111,000 tons produced1.1 ton/ producerAnnual sales /producer US$ 2530Profit $US 150M profitMarket price today US$ 2300/ton X 111,000 Gross sales US$255,300,000Profit 65.2%Average producer ANNUAL gross profit US$ 1650 (US$2530 X 65.2% )Average Mo Income $ 137.00

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks for the summary. The gentleman was in fact from Transmar, and the beans were definitely properly fermented, even in size, and were in general pretty decent - at least until I roasted and processed the samples into chocolate.I did a very light roast, to ensure any high notes in the beans were not destroyed, and suprisingly found the resulting chocolate to be VERY flat and lack lustre in flavour - even moreso than some Ghana forasteros I've sampled in the past couple of years. In the end I was quite disappointed as I had heard so much about Ecuadorian Arriba, and the gentleman promoting the beans was very accommodating.I'll keep looking though, and keep my fingers crossed while I do.In the meantime, if you know of any plantations that have a good reputation, and would be interested in working one on one with a chocolate maker, by all means, have them get in touch with me, or even email me their contact info. I'd be happy to represent a good Ecuadorian cacau.Brad Churchill.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

I looked into this and found that Transmar , one of the biggest purchasers of cacoa here and one of the biggest processors of semi-finished cocoa products in Ecuador (liquor, cake, etc.), and a major commodity house worldwide, is running a pilot project to provide traceability of beans in Ecuador for four european manufacturers who are unnamed. Taura and Cone are mentioned as two areas where they are sourcing beans from. For the full article text in Spanish, see here .My educated guess is that Transmar guarantees that cacao from these areas is pure "Arriba" flavor, or more strictly speaking, pure Nacional beans that have been properly handled during post-harvest. Since they are buying the beans in the pod, they have an extra level of control over quality, origin, and fermentation.(However, IMHO, there is a lot of mixing of CCN-51 and Nacional going on that is pretty hard to control given some of the idiosyncracies of Ecuador, and unless you have a very close relationship with your growers, it just can't be guaranteed that there is no CCN-51 in what may be called "pure" arriba/nacional beans. But another "however"-more and more commercial buyers in towns around cacao growing areas now buy cacao "en baba" or with the placenta, allowing them to control fermenting, origin, and to a much greater degree, quality. This also makes farmers happy since they get paid faster, rather than having to wait several days through the fermenting and drying process before they can sell their cacao.)Adhering strictly to the "Arriba" definition of "upriver" the beans Transmar is gathering for this projects would seem to qualify, as at least Taura, as found on google maps, is near the Guayas river, see link here , though not necessarily "upriver". I could not locate Cone, though the article indicates it's also in the Guayas province. It should be noted that the article does not mention "Arriba" but makes the point that the beans are Nacional and fine aroma quality.
updated by @Jeff Stern: 09/07/15 11:45:51

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Jeff;You sound very knowledgeable in Ecuadorian cacau.Last year I was sent 3 samples from one potential supplier - a Nacional, a "Taura", and a "Cone" Arriba bean. He indicated that the Taura and Cone were attempts by the local community to produce a cacau that would help rebuild the faltering arriba reputation as of late.Have you heard of "Taura" or "Cone"?I look forward to your reply.Brad Churchill www.SoChoklat.com

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

I'll add my two cents on who's processing what. I live in Ecuador and have heard of most of these bars, and can tell you some about some of them.Vintage Plantations is produced by Ecuacocoa, and as far as I know is mostly if not 100% CCN-51 beans.Republica del Cacao is produced locally by Confiteca, a large Ecuadorian confectionery manufacturer. Have heard but have no evidence that they do not produce their own liquor, but they do have their own collection centers.Caoni-Made by Tulicorp, not one of my preferred products. Personally, the flavor profiles all the products I have tried from Tulicorp just do not seem to sit well with me.Cacaoyere-Ecuatoriana de Chocolates' label, I think this is primarily sold in Europe, not the US.Kallari-contract manufactured currently by Ecuatoriana de Chocolates, though that may be changing soon as allegedly Kallari is working to build its own plant. Though I'm not sure it's exactly necessary or the best idea from an investment standpoint... from what I know there is plenty of in-country production capacity and unless you're planning to go huge (by that I mean 50+ tons a year or more in production) over night, there's no need to invest in production facilities at this time.Have seen a few of the other brands mentioned locally, but haven't heard of all of them.As to the CCN-51 and Nacional issue, my local sources tell me farmers large and small are planting more and more CCN-51 variety of cacao because of its higheryields, making the Nacional variety increasingly scarce. Anecdotally, on my recent trips to both the Quevedo/Los Rios area of the country and north to the Esmeraldas area, it's easy to spot CCN-51 and it's what you see nearly everywhere you go from the roadside. Since Nacional yields less per hectare and needs more care, it should be recognized by receiving a higher price on the market, but it rarely does. This is a big, controversial issue inthe Ecuadorian cacao industry and in the commodities trade as well, and was one of the main points brought up last year at the closing of the World Cocoa Federation's annual meeting in Guayaquil that I attended.While both types might produce a very good quality chocolate, amongconnoisseurs and chocolate lovers in-the-know Nacional definitely has aspecial standing above CCN-51. There is a lot of CCN-51 and nacional beingmixed both before and after fermentation, and once its mixed its almost impossible to tell the difference visually-though I did talk to a few buyers on commercial patios who said they can recognize it if theres a high enough percent of CCN-51 in the mix of dried fermented beans. From what I know, to develop a good flavor profile with CCN-51, it needs to be fermented on its own and with different procedures from Nacional, otherwise you will get off flavors. I buy some chocolate produced locally which is a mix of CCN-51 and Nacional, and you can definitely tell the difference from a pure Nacional bar.It might be an exaggeration to say that Nacional is already becoming scarce,but if the alleged trend continues, this may well become true, and CCN-51 will become the primary bean Ecuador produces.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

I've often asked people about the attempts to plant Arriba outside of Ecuador. Some people say it can't be done. Not that the trees won't grow, but that they have failed in that the flavor profile is not the same. Speaking with a company rep at the 2008 Fancy Food Show in NY, Republica del Cacao has claimed that the ocean currents off the coast of Ecuador make a unique passage that in someway is not replicable anywhere else and therefore creates an environment that leads to this unique flavor of Ecuadorian Arriba. They actually had a binder at their booth with various photos, one of which was this diagram of global ocean currents. El Nino does create unique environmental changes along Peru and Ecuador. Could this go along one of the theories Samantha wrote in an earlier post in this discussion?Since this was also started as a general discussion about Ecuadorian chocolate I thought it would be interesting to list the companies that produce the chocolate in Ecuador. There are quite a few and my hopes is to hear from people who have tried these chocolates and can comment on flavor profile. It's been said that the Arriba flavor profile is almost non existent, but with so many companies in Ecuador, my hope is that some small Ecuadorian company might actually have access to some very interesting beans. For example, Bouga Cacao has a 77% bar labeled Hacienda Bosque de Oro. I had this bar and think it's the most obviously floral bar I've tried. I should add that those who tried it with me didn't really agree. However, I thought it was clearly lavendar and I'm not that good at picking up floral notes. I'd like to hear what people's impressions are or know of the following companies. Granted, some of these I only know the name. Not so sure these smaller companies even have a web site and unless you go to Ecuador you probably can't get them.VintageRepublica del CacaoCaoniChchukululuCacaoyereKallariPacariFloralChocolate del Castillo (not to be confused with El Castillo del Cacao of Nicaragua)San JoaquinVincesHoja VerdeBouga CacaoVere (not really an Ecuadorian company but the chocolate is processed at Tulicorp)At least five of these companies process at Tulicorp. It might also be interesting to know more about Tulicorp and where do the other companies process.

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Here is another link of interest to those following the Arriba tales..This is portions of an article on chocolates of Ecuador from Cocoaroma magazine http://www.cocoaroma.com/chocolate/content/CROMAIssue2SampleArticleWeb.pdf

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Sure thing, Casey, going back over my comments, I see a couple of comments (which I did way too early in the morning): Arrible is Arriba, obviously. but no so obvious and more important is a very good Ecuadorian gourmet chocolate brand, which is Cacaoyere, not what I wrote above! L

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks, fascinating -- another great addition to this discussion.