Nat Kaw - 76% Herbal Nativo
Nat Kaw blends cocoa beans to create distinctive flavors. In this “herbal” chocolate, the objective is achieved. Flavors of tea, thyme, cumin and mint orbit a heart reminiscent of caramel.
Conexion - Chocolate Medium Roast - 70% Cacao Arriba
On the tablet’s box, Conexion evokes notes of red fruit. It’s accurate: a tangy, rounded note reminiscent of strawberry and cherry from the very first seconds. It’s an impression that lingers throughout the tasting, evolving on a woody background for a fine, pleasant chocolate.
Mashpi - Chocolate Organico 65% Cacao con Cereza de Brunei
The Brunei, or Borneo, cherry does not, as its name suggests, come from Ecuador. It had to be fetched far. But Mashpi did more than that: the cherries are fermented, which brings an unexpected flavor, somewhere between red fruit and wine.
Jeff de Bruges - No 8 - Équateur Corsé & Aromatique - 80% Cacao
Here’s another European chocolatier offering Ecuadorian cocoa. The bar is thick, the texture silky, the color uniform and deep.
ChocoCumi - Mandarina y Te Verde - 60% Cacao
This is a chocolate that gives much more space to the added flavors than to the cocoa. The essence of mandarin, in particular, is very strong, and leaves no room for the cocoa arriba to express itself. A good tangerine treat, but hard to distinguish from a supermarket orange chocolate, except for a bit of bitterness at the end. A pity.