Tranquilidad Forest Cacáo Beans (Raw)

$30.00

Out of stock

Primary Flavors: Fruit; Floral; Cocoa

Notes: mellow complex of chocolate nuts ‘n honey -> aged black fruit (fig, Empress plum, pomegranate, currant) -> mildly condensed tannins (chicory) -> Bolivian fuchsia -> stringent lime to liken young Scotch

The ancient Béniano genotype. One of the greatest heritage cacáos of all-time… cited by arguably the 1st Western chocolate-critic — Fr. Francis Xavier Eder in the early 1700s — as best among all, including the fabled Criollos of the Maya. Unless you’re the age of Methusaleh or old as diamonds you’ve probably had nothing like it.

Harvested on moat “islands” in the Béni River. Locals call them chocolatal (“place where cacáo grows”).

Re-introduced to the modern world by pioneer Volker Lehmann – a latter-day Indiana Jones-meets-Fitzcarraldo. His the 1st single-origin & single-variety wild cacáo Gran Cru bar.

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Description

Varietal / genotype Béniano
Grade Wild Harvested
Origin Rio Béni, circa Estate Tranquilidad, Huarcaraje, Iténez Province, Bolivia
Vintage 2016
Harvester(s) the Cambas community
Post-Harvest Fermentation: optimal

Drying: in the sweet–spot 6-8% moisture range
Barsmith Amano
Cacáo-Content 100%
Ingredients cacáo beans; net weight 1 kilo
Roasting Curve  raw
Conche Refining  n/a
Characteristics Tree Density: tall & & relatively dense in patches of half hectares; close as 5 to 10 meters apart; scattered individuals throughout the entire forest… the 300 hectares of Tranquilidad Estate host approximately 10,000 of these trees
Soil: alluvial deep sandy
Pod size / shape / shade / scent: baby small / elongate with short apex / yellow / …
Seed # / pod: 28 – 42
Weight: light; 0.5 to 0.7 gram per seed
Lipid content: 56 – 58%
Flavor Profile: Fruits / Flowers
Historicity: For centuries Béniano cacáo has been revered by pre-Columbian cultures, as well as European explorers.
Seasonal flooding from the Madeira & Guaporé rivers forming the Bolivia / Brazil border primarily accounts for these isle wetlands. In the wake of such floods, early peoples may have then built irrigation systems to sustain them.
Multi-trunked trees also indicate some antiquity (see photo gallery above). Those come about when the mother tree dies & young shoots bloom at differing successive years over the course of the tree’s life & clump together.
Additional importance lies in Beniano being Witches Broom-tolerant — a disease & one of cacáo’s mortal enemies.
Production Date  2017
Expiry 2019 & for a taste of greater vintage, even better still thereafter
Landmarked 2016

 

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Analysis reveals that Tranquilidad samples are related to the new cluster of cacao found on the Béni River. This population is new & there are no clones of this type in any int’l GeneBanks. — Dr. Lyndel W. Meinhardt,  Ph.D., Geneticist, USDA

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