70% Single-Origin Bar - Rayén Coop., Mexico

This chocolate bar was handcrafted with cacao whose genetics could be described as a mixture of criollos and trinitarios (trinitario acriollado, as they call them). When fresh, the beans are predominantly white and pink, and the pods have the typical shape of Mexican Heirloom varieties: corrugated skin and the typical “lizard tail”.

Variety: Trinitario Acribillado

Flavor profile: roasted almonds, fruity, tangy, caramelized banana

The Grower

Organizacion de Productores de Cacao Sostenible Rayén, was founded in 2016. The core group consists of 27 members farming 50 hectares of cacao trees. They are devoted to the rescue of heirloom varieties of local cacao under threat by the introduction of highly productive and pest-resistant “clones”. They do so by researching the varieties already present in their farms (which can be over 100 years old) and propagating the best among them.

Cacao is grown as a polyculture: cacao trees are interspersed with fruit trees such as mamey, lemon, coconuts, pineapples, and mangoes; timber-yielding trees, (shade trees of the cacaos) such as ceibas and cedars, and tropical flowers, among them hibiscus, ginger and helicornias. 

Our trusting supplier for this cacao is Revival Cacao, whose mission is to revive the over 4000 years of Mexican cacao history. Check them out!

*Information provided by Revival Cacao.