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Post by Steve loves choco on Sept 7, 2013 17:38:06 GMT -5
I saw cacao nibs at a Whole Foods recently, and since I love chocolate, I decided to try them. Well, sort of. I suspect the QC is lacking. There were several really nice flavored nibs (nutty and fruity) and a few that weren't so nice (musty) and one that tasted bad (like it had been soaked in gasoline). So, what I'm looking for now is a roasted bean that's tasty to eat by itself, but has been made so that I don't get nasty little surprises while eating them.
So what are the best beans to eat as beans?
And I'm specifically interested in the roasted beans sold through Chocolate Alchemy. I guess nibs would be ok too, but I'd prefer them to be ready to eat which I assume means they need to be roasted.
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Post by Ben on Sept 7, 2013 18:54:35 GMT -5
Hi Steve, I've had the Belize and Peru as nibs and have enjoyed them both. I'd also say that the Madagascar, La Red and Sur Del Lago would be good bets, too. Actually, most of the Venezuelans are probably great. I'm probably not being very helpful here... -Ben
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Post by Steve loves choco on Sept 8, 2013 12:33:48 GMT -5
Hahah, thanks. No, that's helpful. I figured any/all of them would prebably be good.
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Post by lilypa on Sept 10, 2013 9:19:44 GMT -5
Hey Steve,
I really enjoyed the Dominican Republic "Conacado COOP" beans (nibs). Also the Madagascar beans are quite fruity with a tart raspberry and/or citrusy flavor. The Belize beans are good too with a solid chocolate base.
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Post by Steve loves choco on Sept 11, 2013 23:59:22 GMT -5
That sounds like a couple of votes for the Madagascar beans.
One thing that I notice, when ordering from ChocolateAlchemy, it looks like the nibs come unroasted, but the beans come roasted, but it sounds as if you folks have gotten the nibs roasted, or did you roast your own?
I'm going to order something that's already roasted since it sounds like the Alchemist has the process down pretty well. I don't want to experiment my first time out.
I see that the Alchemist lists some "Testing and Evaluation beans" that are very inexpensive. Maybe I'll order a little of those to practice on.
I also see the sampler pack, it's unfortunate that those are raw, but not roasted.
Any other suggestions?
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Post by Ben on Sept 12, 2013 7:40:06 GMT -5
I roasted my own, and assume lilypa did as well. I think you're right about the beans can come roasted, but the nibs are raw. You may be able to ask CA to winnow them for you for an extra fee, but if you're just eating them, it's not hard to shell them by hand.
CA usually provides some roasting guidance on the bean pages. If you stick with that, you're unlikely to have too many problems roasting beans for eating.
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