Description
TASTING NOTES
This dark bar has a vinous and wine-like flavour profile, with lots of eucalyptus and green notes thanks to the famous Ecuadorian Arriba Nacional beans. It ends with a lovely long finish that evolves and matures with great balance.
ABOUT THE MAKER
Herencia Esmeraldas is the result of a four-year development project funded by the Italian International Cooperation Agency. It is an association of 400 families – all partners in the business – who drop off their unprocessed cocoa beans at six different collection centres around the region. The beans are then processed centrally before being turned into chocolate bars. During fermentation and drying, sensors in the batches send real-time information to their systems, allowing them to learn from each batch and adjust their processes to obtain the desired flavours and fragrances.
Their mission is to be as transparent as possible, and to show the world that farming can be a sustainable practice. Their name “Herencia” reflects this. Meaning “heritage”, it is in recognition of the generational process they are a part of – how they learned their practice from their ancestors and how they hope to keep the traditions alive by protecting their rich soils and biodiverse ecosystems for future generations.
This bar was featured in our January 2021 subscription box. You can see what Spencer and Mika had to say about it in the video below:
Lynette A. –
My entire family likes this. The first bite I had was peanuts and then cinnamon. But that might have been because I was eating fresh tomato and chili salsa before. After a few more squares, I got the eucalyptus talked about in the notes and other reviews. Zoe’s review explains it perfectly. It is cooling. Lovely bar. I do get peanut in the beginning. But eucalyptus is there soon after. That might sound unappealing but it works. The logo is amazing with a cacao pod in a woman’s hair. Beautiful packaging.
Zoe D. –
(Received as part of a virtual tasting kit)
Aroma: green but nothing pronounced
Flavour: immediate eucalyptus, aloe vera, redolent of rainforests and succulents. Sweetness increases towards the crest of the wave as as the wave breaks, it decreases and moves to the back of the mouth. Cooling sensations throughout. I thought the melt was initially buttery, then satiny as it continued to melt. The aftertaste is a muted version of the eucalyptus flavour.
I enjoyed comparing this to Bare Bones’ 68% Dominican with salt.
4 stars since I’ve tasted chocolates that have a more distinct flavour ‘wave’ but the flavour itself is a personal favourite.
Ben S. –
This is a really lovely chocolate. The kind that people who wouldn’t touch 70% chcolates would be surprised by how much they like.
Philippe M. –
Very chocolate, indeed. And that curious green final, a slight Afrer Eight ferling?