3 lbs BOLIVIA ALTO BENI. HEIRLOOM, ORGANIC RAW CACAO/COCOA BEANS

This our latest 2016 crop. Air-freighted in June, 2016. These extremely rare, Heirloom (Silvestre, Wild) cacao beans are collected by hand by indigenous low-lands Bolivians in remote areas of the Alto Beni and Beni proper regions. We purchased them directly from farmers as part of the community outreach efforts of our ongoing cacao project. These cacao beans are significantly smaller than our other Walikeewa (Hybrid, Trinitario) beans but they have at least 20% more cacao butter. Not your everyday cacao, but a Heirloom variety that has been recognized at Cocoa of Excellence (CoEx) competitions. These cacao beans are a different cutivar and variety compared to our Walikeewa, larger cacao beans. We are very excited to now be working with Taza, and independent growers and Indigenous Communities to revolutionize the Bolivian cacao industry by building a first-in-country, industry-leading cacao fermentation plant and nursery for high-quality Bolivian cacao seedlings in the Palos Blancos region. Construction of the plant was finished in 2013, production started in the 2014 growing season. Our project is called the Alto Beni Cacao Co. 2016 was our third year of cacao improvement and processing in our centralized plant in the Buena Vista community. How do I roast cacao beans? To roast cacao beans, you need to expose them to a high temperature, close to 325 degrees, and then gradually lower that temperature for the next 15 to 30 minutes. The processes of roasting coffee and cacao beans are nearly the same, except because cacao beans are more fragile than coffee beans, they have to be roasted at a much lower temperature. Cacao beans should never get hotter than 325 degrees. We recommend using the Behmor 1600 coffee roaster for cacao roasting. Use the one-pound setting with the P2 profile, but fill the grid drum with 2.5 to 3 lbs. of raw cacao beans. We are an authorized distributor of the Behmor 1600.