Somerville Chocolate - Nicaragua 70% Cacao Bisiesto bar - June 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Somerville Chocolate
Nicaragua 70% Cacao Bisiesto bar
Good++
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35.375 g.) / 2.5 oz. (70.75 g.) in total bar
Calories: 188 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Nicaragua Theme Week.

Today's Nicaragua 70% Cacao Bisiesto* bar was handcrafted by Somerville Chocolate (Somerville, MA). The company describes itself as a bean-to-bar Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)* operation.

For this bar, swaddled in an outer paper wrapper in the form of an historic map, the makers at Somerville Chocolate partnered with Cacao Bisiesto,** an in-country, cacao company in Nicaragua that plays a valuable role in advising farmers on cacao quality and flavor and connecting these growers with craft chocolate makers.

The aroma of this 70% dark Nicaragua bar had well balanced savory, light earth, dense chocolate aroma, and red/citrus fruit flavor that blossomed with the first bite. It had a lingering, satisfying aftertaste with a very slight astringency.

Nicaragua Flavor Profile?

At this point in a single origin chocolate theme week, it's often easy to draw conclusions about an origin, a terroir-influenced flavor profile that might be found across a series of bars from the same country. This is especially true in countries where chocolate makers are buying cacao beans from just one or two farms or plantations. If so, what does a characteristic Nicaragua cacao taste like?

While there are some similarities, there also have been many differences in flavors this week, in part due to the use of different varieties of cacao being used in Nicaragua. A few of the resulting chocolate bars have been relatively high in fruit acidity, and others have been amazingly complex, hitting on almost every major category on a chocolate tasting wheel. The earthiness found in some of these bars has been very appealing. (Nothing like the mold-tinged dirt bars that can keep people off "earth" notes for the rest of their chocolate-tasting days.) Keep us guessing Nicaragua! All of the bars have been quite good in their own right.

*A CSA often helps support farmers by giving them some renumeration before or during a growing season (in advance of a harvest). And in turn the farmer(s) provide goods/produce to the organization. Community Supported Agriculture also serves as a way to buy local food directly from a farmer.

**Cacao Bisiesto is a small cacao company based in La Dalia, Nicaragua. (The company was founded on leap year (bisiesto) day, February 29.) Founders José Enrique Herrera and Gifford Laube, with backgrounds that include agronomy and agriculture management, have developed respectful relationships with local independent farmers in Central America and have offered assistance to them on fermentation, cacao tree management and other techniques. They help connect these farmers with craft chocolate makers, who in turn are willing to pay farmers a higher price for higher-quality cacao. 

Cacao Bisiesto - Nicaragua - March/April 2016

Cacao Bisiesto - From Tree to Bean
A Tour of Nicaragua Cacao Farms with Gifford Laube and Jose Enrique Herrera
March - April 2016

What's better than eating chocolate? OK, that's hard to beat.

But a close second might be a chocolate field trip to Central America, to see how cacao seedlings transform themselves into ripe cacao pods, full of tasty fruit pulp and seeds (cacao beans). The beans are harvested, fermented and eventually turned into chocolate.

Last month, I was part of a guided tour* to a handful of cacao farms outside Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

Our guides were Jose Enrique Herrera and Gifford (Giff) Laube, of Cacao Bisiesto. This knowledgable duo has been working directly with cacao farmers to produce premium cacao from independent farms in the highlands of Nicaragua. Both founders bring valuable experience to the partnership.

Giff was originally from the U.S., and worked for a chocolate company previously. Jose Enrique had in-depth experience with the local area and was trained as an agronomist.

Together they advise farmers on how to prune and cultivate cacao trees for the best output, and help shepherd beans through a careful (and customized) fermentation and drying process—necessary before beans are sold to chocolate makers—such as French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC, who was profiled yesterday.

Farming Cacao in Nicaragua

Our first stop on the farm tour was a coffee farm (Finca Mil Flores, Cafe Organico), where cacao trees were also grown; and here we had our first taste of fresh cacao fruit (pulp around the seeds). A few quick expert machete chops and the open pod was passed around for inspection and tasting.**

Also, most farmers in the area were growing cacao as a secondary (or tertiary) crop—after, e.g. coffee, bananas, sugar cane, and/or cattle ranching, Giff explained to us.


Why is proper pruning important? In part to keep diseases in check, which affects output as well. We also stopped at a farm with mature cacao trees that were slightly larger, that had not been so tightly manicured. Walking under the cacao tree canopy was beautiful; but the pod health and harvest apparently was less robust.

Our next to last stop was an operation known as Henry's Farm, that was also a good-sized cattle ranch that lay at the end of a long dirt road.

In addition to diseases there are some natural crop predators. We saw no traces of the "dreaded" native gray and white squirrels (ardillas). Squirrels are known to chew through pods (as are woodpeckers and various rodents). But we did spot other more benign wildlife.

We hiked up a packed dirt track to take a look at their cacao trees and seedlings, being careful not to tread on a line of leaf-cutter ants. The ants were almost too small to see, but we could see a slow-moving tiny parade of green leaf pieces moving underfoot, seemingly under their own steam, across the forest floor. And cicadas sang in the trees in the hot, summer weather.

Trees were in bloom with purple-pink flowers across a mountain valley.

Another cacao pod was picked, opened, and passed around. The pulp was sweet, fruity and wonderful, and the flavor(s) were slightly different at each farm we visited. (What did it taste like? Citrus, floral, watermelon...all of the above.)

We had lunch in a spacious old white barn, and sampled several craft chocolate bars made from Nicaraguan cacao.

Our last stop of the day was Cacao Bisiesto.

Fermenting and Drying Cacao 

Cacao Bisieto takes in beans from farmers and operates fermentation and drying facilities where beans go through initial stages of processing and developing flavor before being shipped to chocolate makers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

We stopped at the fermentation and drying areas. Here is where additional expertise was came into play.

Each batch of farmer's beans were checked and assessed for fermentation profiles. Fermenting beans were carefully monitored and moved from box to box during the process over a period of days. Cut tests were done on selected beans. Near these "vats," the aroma was similar to a winery.

After fermentation, batches of beans were dried on screens in elevated wooden frames, that allowed for just the right amount of air to circulate. Plastic sheeting around the area helped prevent contamination or moisture from wind or rain.

As the sun was setting, our group made our way through carefully planted and tended rows of cacao trees; and Giff explained to us techniques they were using on their own farm. Although it was hard to hear what Giff was saying, as a symphony of cicadas were broadcasting at full blast around us. (The sign of a healthy ecosystem one might say.)

It was a full and educational day, and great to see and hear first-hand the how a few organizations and individuals can add lots of value in the supply chain, as cacao moves from tree to bar.

Thank you to both Giff and Jose Enrique for their time and patience during the tour, when they were peppered with questions from myself and others.

*The group tour was organized by The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA).

**Yes the seeds/beans are a bit bitter and astringent in their raw state, but you can suck the pulp off them and they're just fine that way. 

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

French Broad Chocolates - Nicaragua bar - Apr. 8, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

French Broad Chocolates
Cacao Bisiesto Nicaragua dark chocolate 68% cacao bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 157 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $9.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: French Broad Chocolates, Asheville, NC

I picked up today's Cacao Bisiesto Nicaragua dark chocolate bar during a recent trip to Asheville, North Carolina.

This attractively packaged, single origin Nicaragua bar was made (from bean to bar) by French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC).

It was made in collaboration with Cacao Bisiesto -- a small organization that helps connect chocolate makers, such as Dan and Jael Rattigan at French Broad Chocolates, with cacao farmers in Nicaragua.

When I opened the well-crafted package, the stories behind both companies unfolded (literally).*

The dark, 68% cacao bar had a complex cacao aroma. The chocolate had a roasted, slight balanced bitterness, faint floral, earthy, marshmallow and raspberry flavor notes.

And, since this was Day #10 of Chocolate and Cashew Theme Week, I paired this bar with a small handful of roasted, lightly salted cashew nuts.

Note: See also interview with Dan Rattigan, co-founder/owner and chocolate maker, at French Broad Chocolates (April 10, 2016); and a post about a recent cacao farm tour with Cacao Bisiesto founders Jose Enrique Herrera and Gifford (Giff) Laube (April 11, 2016).

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.