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Post by Brad on Mar 23, 2008 20:09:11 GMT -5
Hi All.
I just received, roasted and processed a sample of Arriba beans from Ecuador.
I've found them to be very lightly fermented, and of a VERY mild chocolate flavor - definitely not as prominent tasting as other types of beans I've tried.
Having said that, I've only compared them to REALLY good beans, like Ocumare, and Cuyagua Criollos. The Arriba definitely don't stack up in comparison to those.
My research tells me that while Arriba beans are actually Forastero, they are of top quality, and considered in the upper echelon of cocoa.
Does anyone have any experience with Arriba beans and what I should expect from them?
Is the flavour typically very flat and unexciting, or should I be expecting something else? Maybe I processed them wrong. It's hard to determine from a 2kg sample.
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
;D
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Post by cacaufarmer on Mar 24, 2008 5:57:06 GMT -5
Brad It is highly likely the beans are FORESTERO as 80% of cacau is, CRIOLLO adds another 10% and TRINITARIO the other 10%. Many beans have been given names associated with their region but in reality still remain one of the three basic types. Of more consequence are fermentation procedures, ripeness of fruit when harvested and drying techniques. The regions soil characteristics and climate play some part of final flavors but post harvesting process is the main factor.
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Post by Brad on Mar 24, 2008 11:05:08 GMT -5
Cacau;
Thanks for the reply. The beans are in fact being sold as Forastero. I was just wondering if people had experience with the flavour profile of this particular region. I find the flavour to be VERY mild - almost flat, however as mentioned in my earlier post, I've been making and eating dark chocolate from a very good quality Venezuelan Ocumare Criollo, and Cuyagua Criollo for the past couple of years, and am used to that.
Ideas about flavor anyone?
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Post by Alchemist on Mar 24, 2008 11:12:16 GMT -5
Hi Brad,
Painting with a very broad stroke of the paintbrush, I would say I find Arriba lackluster at it's best. It's never been a particular favorite of mine. It is Forastero. That is true. That it is in the upper echelon is totally a matter of personal taste. What I can tell you is I have never carried it, and there is a reason for that. I will let you read between the lines there.
What I will say is that I have never had more of an inconsistent range of quality than I have seen from Ecuador - it seems to be a real crap shoot. I have sampled probably a dozen different Ecuador's, some Arriba, some Nationial. I have carried one Nationial once. Not a good ratio. I currently have some Ecuador in (don't recall what it's label is) that I just roasted. It may well be #2 that I carry, but so far that is based on aroma and roasting behavior only. The prep was quite inconsistent, with evidence of inattention to drying, but it's the final flavor I care about. I will be tasting that in a day or so.
All that said, I think if you don't find the sample "bad" you go a good one a processed it right. Like I said, at it's best, I find it lackluster.
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Post by jamescary on Mar 24, 2008 11:15:25 GMT -5
I've got a bar of "Cocoa d'Arriba" here from Hachez. The bar has strawberry and pepper in it as well, but I have to say that all of the flavors in the bar are very flat. It's 77% cacao and it claims to use "selected, light coloured grades of cocoa from Ecuador." The strawberry and pepper are subdued, but the chocolate doesn't come through much and tastes like cardboard.
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Post by Brad on Mar 24, 2008 12:03:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Your opinions are welcome and appreciated.
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jim
Neophyte
Posts: 7
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Post by jim on Apr 14, 2008 20:03:57 GMT -5
Brad, I emailed you separately with an answer, but for everyone else, here's an explanation for the not-so-spectacular experience people are having with the supposedly legendary Arriba, or Nacional, cacao from Ecuador.
First, Arriba is NOT Nacional. There are currently NO known plantations producing cacao Nacional in commercial quantities anywhere in the world. The true Nacional beans are larger than other beans, like some varieties of Trinitario, and their larger pods usually have an orangish tint to them at time of harvest, but the true cacao Nacional died off almost completely during the first waves of witches broom as farmers quickly searched for ways to replace dying stocks with more disease resistant and imported varieties. There are efforts now underway by a few planters to reestablish close-to-true Nacional stocks of trees from selected varieties at the cacao research stations that known to be more resistant to disease and still have good yields. But those are going to be at least 3-4 years away before they will be at any level of commercial capacity, and there are few farmers who are taking that kind of trouble in the current high-priced environment for all agricultural commodities.
Arriba beans are hybrids, mostly unprofessionally done by individual farmers over the last 75 years, of Nacional and/or imported forestero and trinitario stocks. Arriba beans usually retain some of the Nacional's legendary aroma and fast fermentation, and they have interesting fruit-like flavors the differ by the soil type and region grown. They are very high quality and comparable to the Criollo in its subtle and distinctive flavors, IF you can get a hold of good products.
However, none of that explains the underwhelming reception that the Arriba beans get when tried by so many small-scale buyers. The real problem is that since the cacao Nacional was so easy to ferment and commanded such a good price due to it's rare flavor, Ecuadorian post-harvest has evolved over the centuries into the poorest of any cocoa producing nation. It was even known for its poor post-harvest quality control 100 years ago, and that tradition continues to this day. Ecuadorian farmers receive good prices at the farm for their under fermented and poorly dried beans just due to the renowned flavors of the Nacional and, now, Arriba, beans, so they have never had an incentive to do a better job of fermenting and drying. The only farmers who do a good job of quality control post harvest are the large commercial plantations who have decades-old contracts with European or, more often, local buyers. Any Arriba beans that small scale buyers, such as those of us at this site, can find will usually be of poor post-harvest quality right now. This goes, unfortunately, doubly-so for those Fair Trade or Organic certified, small scale farms, so beware.
Some of us are trying to change the practice, and we hope to be able to provide the growing small-scale market with high quality beans reflective of the legendary, distinctive flavors of Arriba, and eventually Nacional, cacao, but old habits, especially among the experienced farm hands that one needs to depend on, are hard to break, so quality control is a slowly improving process overall.
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Post by cacaufarmer on Oct 12, 2008 7:38:14 GMT -5
Jim, I recently was reading archives and ran across your comments regarding Ecuadorian beans. I don't know where you are but sounds like a similar situation to mine. I'm in Bahia Brazil, an American, and manage two family farms which contain 400+ hectares of cacau. I have been here 13 years and just now have managed to instill quality control into the system. It has been a tough battle and actually only managed to do so through constant training of a 2nd generation of employee. The people I inherited felt I was not a "born" cacau farmer and therefore knew nothing about cacau. It was true, but, I am an engineer and spent many years developing quality control policies and procedures for the manufacture of equipment.
My change process was complicated by the fact that workers were poorly educated and could grasp only small bites of organization as they were fed. Written procedures were developed to learn that they could not read. Temperature and ph measurements were out of the question. Record keeping complicated as they could not write. New ideas regarding fermentation, bean cut tests and humidity measurement were slow to come. In short, I was trying to do a "moon walk" with 1st grade students. Over a long period of time, we sent younger workers to night schools and gave classes in the farm. Now we have begun to crawl.
Our cacau has gone through radical changes in all stages of production and post-harvest process. Witches Broom was put on hold by strong phito-sanitary procedures in the farms, old stock was grafted with new varieties of disease resistant material, collection and breaking of fruit required new types of operations, strong record keeping of specific area production initiated, and complete modification of fermentation and drying techniques. Through the use of digital thermometers, ph meters and cut tests, I was able to establish norms that translated into "color" and "time" standards for otherwise unwilling workers. Drying demanded modifications in the quantity per unit area changes, manipulation of beans during drying and final analysis with digital humidity measurement equipment. You can believe it was a drastic move to convince the post- production crew that i demanded 6.5% humidity levels when they were accustomed to " test by squeezing in the hand" 15%.
We have built new fermentation boxes that accept 1 cubic meter per unit, initiated schedules for "turning" the beans and are currently adding industrial machines for separating beans by size, shape and density. New lighting had to be installed, proper drains established for fermentation boxes and new physical handling techniques installed. Balance beam scales went by the wayside and we are now digital. Storage in jute bags had to be modified to include a new dual layer plastic inner-liner. The bag, manufactured by Grainpro, allows you to store properly processed beans for one year or more without degradation of quality.
It has been a challenge to make the changes and certainly included many headachess....but...we have now reached a level of quality that I will put against cacau producer. Our beans are excellent and I'm now in marketing phases that will identify and target buyers that insist on quality and are willing to pay an equitable price for it. Look for us in the future with web sites and other announcements in the cacau bean market. We are "Bahia Cocoa Bean Company" and will be present in most North American high end chocolate manufactures.
Best regards Jim Lucas Fazenda Venturosa Faxenda Santa Helena
Floresta Azul, Bahia, Brasil
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Post by doris on Nov 9, 2008 5:33:28 GMT -5
wow...I am so new to this...but I just want to thank you for all that you have done...it is so important. I wish you well and that you receive all that your hard work brings you!
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