Plantación Del Eden: journey log-book

STEP 1: Cocoa culture

« Plantación Del Eden » is a 100% organic plantation. It is grown according to agroforestry principles: it is a principle based on biodiversity growing together trees and crops.

A cocoa tree needs shade and a peculiar eco-system. Everything seems "messy" and wild but each planted tree has an individual function.

A visit is essential to understand.

STEP 2: The visit of the plantation

I was with Tamara, the owner of the plantation. She told me about the age of the cocoa trees: some are young, three years, five years... and farther in a valley, we got close to cocoa trees at the age of 18. They enforce respect.

STEP 3: The cocoa pods

Ruffa, the man in charge of the plantation, escorted me with his machete. He asked me to open a pod. I could not dare asking for it! His movement was quick and accurate and the pod seemed easy to open.

He immediately asked me to taste some beans. They were coated with a fresh and white pulp. The texture was soft and gelatinous, the taste was close to the litchi, the cocoa bean seemed to be the core, the kernel. Tamara told me I could crunch the bean. This fresh bean tasted a hint of bitterness and the cocoa aroma was not found yet. The color was between violet and burgundy like Bordeaux wine.

We continued on our way through other cultures, like banana plantations and food crops.

STEP 4: Fermentation containers

We got out of the forest toward the houses. I discovered a hangar with many wooden containers. These containers were for the fermentation of the beans. Tamara explained to me that all the flavors turned up during this fermentation step. This step could take a week and would give all the nuances to cocoa and then to the chocolate. Fermented cocoa would make a very aromatic chocolate. (In the non-organic industry, cocoa beans are directly dried without going through the fermentation step to save time).

STEP 5: The drying tunnel

Very close to the hangar was the drying tunnel with a greenhouse shape. Cocoa beans were spread on shelves at 80cm above the ground. This place was highly ventilated and the cocoa beans had to be regularly stirred. To do so, Ruffa used wooden tools not to oxidize the beans.

All the beans seemed so precious. They had a nice brown color. They were close to the color of chocolate. I tried again the taste of the beans. The taste was totally different from the fresh bean. Strong cocoa hints had appeared. The acidity reminded me the taste of passion fruit, lemon or citruses...