The Cacao Beans We Currently Use
Honduras, Wampusirpi: These beans come from a remote part of Honduras (two days by canoe) where there simply are no chemicals and they have never been used. Everything we know about the Wampusirpi district leads to the fact that the whole region is committed to organic practices, although the beans are not certified as such. These beans were sourced with care from the farmer and co-ops, premiums well above the market minimum were paid (nearly double in this case) and only the best beans were accepted.
Belize, Maya Mountain Cacao: Maya Mountain Cacao (“MMC”) is a pioneer in direct trade cacao sourcing. MMC works with 350+ certified organic smallholder cacao farming families in the Toldeo District, most of them indigenous Q’eqchi’ and Mopan Maya. The farmgate price paid for wet cacao in Belize has grown by over 90% since MMC began operations in 2010, leading to meaningful increases in farmer income.
Columbia, Tumaco: Tumaco is a region where the predominantly Afro-Colombian population has faced a great deal of prejudice and sustainable local development has been hijacked by extensive penetration of paramilitary and narco groups. In recent years, widespread cocaine plantations have been replaced with nearly 14,000 hectares of flourishing cacao parcels. Cacao de Colombia has worked with three community cooperatives to introduce centralized processing and drying. Farmers today earn 70% more income from cacao than they did when selling dried beans to the commodity market supply chain, and have a true sustainable alternative to coca production or involvement in the narco groups.
Dominican Republic, Oko Caribe. Since its inception in 2006, Öko Caribe has been purchasing wet beans from smallholder farmers and fermenting and drying them at their centralized processing location in the Duarte Province of the Dominican Republic. Öko Caribe currently works with 165 farmers who are formed into regional base organizations which receive training and funding.
Other Beans
I regularly experiment with other organic cacao beans and can let you know if I have other beans if you email me.
Belize, Maya Mountain Cacao: Maya Mountain Cacao (“MMC”) is a pioneer in direct trade cacao sourcing. MMC works with 350+ certified organic smallholder cacao farming families in the Toldeo District, most of them indigenous Q’eqchi’ and Mopan Maya. The farmgate price paid for wet cacao in Belize has grown by over 90% since MMC began operations in 2010, leading to meaningful increases in farmer income.
Columbia, Tumaco: Tumaco is a region where the predominantly Afro-Colombian population has faced a great deal of prejudice and sustainable local development has been hijacked by extensive penetration of paramilitary and narco groups. In recent years, widespread cocaine plantations have been replaced with nearly 14,000 hectares of flourishing cacao parcels. Cacao de Colombia has worked with three community cooperatives to introduce centralized processing and drying. Farmers today earn 70% more income from cacao than they did when selling dried beans to the commodity market supply chain, and have a true sustainable alternative to coca production or involvement in the narco groups.
Dominican Republic, Oko Caribe. Since its inception in 2006, Öko Caribe has been purchasing wet beans from smallholder farmers and fermenting and drying them at their centralized processing location in the Duarte Province of the Dominican Republic. Öko Caribe currently works with 165 farmers who are formed into regional base organizations which receive training and funding.
Other Beans
I regularly experiment with other organic cacao beans and can let you know if I have other beans if you email me.
About Some of the Ingredients
Maruya Miso: This uses the miso from the oldest miso company in the world – Maruya. Miso has been made there since the 13th century and is fermented in large vats under piles of river-rocks (the image on the label). Maruya Miso was fed to the samurai warriors before they went into battle. Miso gives a delicious umami and salty flavor to the chocolate.
Vegan Milk Bars: Instead of dairy, our "milk" bars use oat milk or tiger nut milk.
Tiger Nut Milk: Tiger Nuts are one of our earliest food source, eaten by our early ancestors 1 to 2 million years ago. Ancient Egyptians were cultivating it over 4,000 years ago. It has a high fiber content and is high in magnesium. Currently one of those popular “superfoods”, it has a delicious creamy and nutty flavor.
Panela Sugar: Most bars are sweetened with organic Panela sugar. Panela sugar is most commonly found across Latin America and parts of the Caribbean. The majority of organic panela is made by cutting down the sugarcane by hand and kettle cooking it in small batches. Using centuries-old methods that involve dehydrating the raw sugarcane juice over low levels of heat, the dried end product is then pressed into blocks. This traditional, small-scale production method lends itself to distinct, lightly sweet flavor and aroma. At the same time, molasses contains naturally-occurring vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that you won’t find in sugars that go through an industrial refining process. The small farms also use very sustainable processes. These processes protect both the environment in which the sugarcane is harvested and processed as well as the communities that traditionally produce this staple.
Date Sugar: I often have date-sweetened chocolate. The date palm is known as the Tree of Life (also the Phoenix Palm) and has been cultivated for over 4,000 years although fossil records show it has been in existence for over 50 million years. Dates are an unrefined, whole food sweetener - the dates used are unrefined and have only been dehydrated.
Custard Apple Sweetened: Dehydrated custard apple tastes like the name - it's a great whole food sweetener but also expensive, so bars I make using this sweetener have an additional $2 per bar added to the cost.
All my chocolate is vegan and gluten free.
As I have lost my commercial kitchen space, as per NM Department of Environment regulations, the bars are currently home produced and are thus exempt from state licensing and inspection.
Vegan Milk Bars: Instead of dairy, our "milk" bars use oat milk or tiger nut milk.
Tiger Nut Milk: Tiger Nuts are one of our earliest food source, eaten by our early ancestors 1 to 2 million years ago. Ancient Egyptians were cultivating it over 4,000 years ago. It has a high fiber content and is high in magnesium. Currently one of those popular “superfoods”, it has a delicious creamy and nutty flavor.
Panela Sugar: Most bars are sweetened with organic Panela sugar. Panela sugar is most commonly found across Latin America and parts of the Caribbean. The majority of organic panela is made by cutting down the sugarcane by hand and kettle cooking it in small batches. Using centuries-old methods that involve dehydrating the raw sugarcane juice over low levels of heat, the dried end product is then pressed into blocks. This traditional, small-scale production method lends itself to distinct, lightly sweet flavor and aroma. At the same time, molasses contains naturally-occurring vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that you won’t find in sugars that go through an industrial refining process. The small farms also use very sustainable processes. These processes protect both the environment in which the sugarcane is harvested and processed as well as the communities that traditionally produce this staple.
Date Sugar: I often have date-sweetened chocolate. The date palm is known as the Tree of Life (also the Phoenix Palm) and has been cultivated for over 4,000 years although fossil records show it has been in existence for over 50 million years. Dates are an unrefined, whole food sweetener - the dates used are unrefined and have only been dehydrated.
Custard Apple Sweetened: Dehydrated custard apple tastes like the name - it's a great whole food sweetener but also expensive, so bars I make using this sweetener have an additional $2 per bar added to the cost.
All my chocolate is vegan and gluten free.
As I have lost my commercial kitchen space, as per NM Department of Environment regulations, the bars are currently home produced and are thus exempt from state licensing and inspection.
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