Gold Medal Winner at the NZ Chocolate Awards 2022 - Bean to Bar category

Viva Frida

Did you hear about that daring Frida Kahlo heist? Everyone in Coyoacán was talking about it – a cat burglar broke into her house and stole her famous five-chili mole recipe. To set the record straight, the Baron had nothing to do with that. Nothing… nada. Any resemblance to this spicy, almondy, cinnamony chocolate is purely coincidental. The crunchy sprinkling of pepitas is circumstantial evidence at best. You can’t prove anything. So can we all just move on already?

Cacao-Chiapas, Mexico
70g

52% CACAO CONTENT
INGREDIENTS: Cacao (Chiapas, Mexico), Organic Raw Sugar, Almonds(Almond)
Cacao Butter, Pumpkin Seeds, Anaheim Chili, Pasilla Chili, Ancho Chili, Chipotle Chili,
Guajillo Chili, Pimento, Cloves, Cinnamon, Star Anise, Vanilla Pod, Sea Salt.
Contains: Almond.

Vegan, Gluten Free.

Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico

From a cooperative named Organización de Productores de Cacao Sostenible Rayén founded in 2016. The core “group” consists of around 30 members.
With the help of Euro-American Cacao Company, they are devoted to the
rescue of the heirloom varieties of local cacao which are under threat by the
introduction of highly productive and pest-resistant “clones” as is the case
in most cacao growing countries. This is done by researching the varieties
already present in their lots (which can be over a hundred years old) and by
propagating the ones that are more productive/ tastier / healthier. Cacao in
the region is typically a polyculture: in the cacao orchards you can find
other fruits such as mamey, lemon, coconuts, pineapples, mangoes;
timber-yielding trees (shade trees of the cacaos) like ceibas and cedars and
tropical flowers, among them hibiscus, ginger and heliconias. Cacao is
organically grown, however not certified as such (too expensive).

The beans are fermented in wooden fermentation boxes for 5 – 7 days on average.
As genetic diversity is so big (which translates into fresh beans that can be white,
pink and purple and everything in the between), the different lots are carefully
paired accordingly to achieve consistent fermentation (white beans need less
fermentation days and purple ones more).
Beans are then sun-dried for around a week.
Although the difference between “forastero”, “trinitario” and “criollo” is not
clear-cut and somewhat artificial , it can be regarded as a “tendency”.
Rayen's cacaos genetics could be described as a mixture of criollos and trinitarios
(“trinitarios acriollados” as they call them), the beans when fresh are predominantly
white and pink and the shape of the pods have the typical shape of Mexican
heirloom varieties: corrugated skin and the typical "lizard" tail. There are dozens of
different colors and pod shape combinations.

**Product Shelf Life is 12 months.