Collection: Bean Origin Venezuela - Dark Chocolate

Venezuelan Fine Flavor Cacao has a long history of quality and wide-ranging aromas and flavors; they might be too extensive to post. Overall, anticipate fruity and nuts flavors with a significant "chocolaty" taste.

Mark Christian, from the C-Spot, states as he describes Venezuela as a cacao origin: "Venezuela is the Mercedes of chocolate, hence the abbreviation 'Venzy' – sold as the world capital of premium cacáo production today."

Venezuela is mostly planted with "Criollo" cacao shown by trees filled with reddish fruits spread throughout the northern coast of the country. However, in the early 1800s, some other varietals were introduced, some "Trinitarios" and "Forasteros" removing the "Criollo" purity. Generally, though, it continues to carry, genetically speaking, a mostly fine flavor Criollo cacao.

An exciting feature of Venezuela as a cacao country is that its varieties or strains are identified by the towns where it is grown. Some famous ones include: "Chuao," "Ocumare," "Rio Caribe," and "Sur del Lago." In fact, "Chuao" is the only cacao with appellation of origin certification in the world, at the time of this writing. The peculiarity of using places or towns to name its cacaos highlights the "terroir" impact on the final taste profile of each fine flavor cacao. 

There are controversies about the place of birth for cacao, and Venezuela is in the middle of it. Some claim that the first cacaos originated in the mountains near Lago de Maracaibo in this western Venezuela region. It is a fact though that Venezuela, as a Spanish colony, seems to have been the first country to commercialize and have cacao as the main export product. "Caracas" cacao at the time was thought to be the best fine flavor cacao.

Two elements make Venezuela's fine flavor cacao very attractive. One is that the country's geography protects it from most natural disasters; therefore, most plantations throughout the country, and throughout history, have been unaffected by nature. Second, some genetic analyses have discovered "pure" cacao strains in different areas, unadulterated. 

Lately, in the first part of the 21st century, political instability and corruption schemes have threatened this fine flavor cacao legacy in Venezuela. By getting involved with the bean to bar chocolate movement or craft chocolate world, you will be contributing to saving these fantastic cacaos of the world. 

There is no one single chocolate bar that could express the whole Venezuela fine flavor cacao varieties. The dark chocolate bars in this collection will showcase all of the country's comprehensive cacao flavor profile.