Ghana – Forastero 2007

Country of origin Variety
Ghana – Forastero

Small farm, intimate co-op, romantic tropical forests. All of these are getting to be all the rage in “Cocoa”. I am not saying there is anything wrong with those, but most of us love chocolate and that deep luscious flavor. This crop is from a “conventional” crop of Ghana Forastero. It has a nice robust chocolate flavor and will be immediately identifiable as CHOCOLATE. No, to be clear, there is a LOT of conventional cocoa out there that I would not touch with a 20 foot pole. I have tasted quite a bit, and it deserves every sneer and upturned nose it is given. Moldy, broken, inconsistent, and just bad. This is NOT that. This is a nice, well cared for cocoa bean. Give it a chance.

I have carried this origin from time to time, and this particular lot is a bit softer on the pallet. The chocolate notes are there, but not as robust as some times. There is a hint of tobacco and earth, but a little liveliness of apple or maybe plum (that round flavor). It isn’t super complex, but it’s not plain either. It stands on it’s own very nicely in a single origin chocolate or would make a great base for a more complex chocolate.

The preparation quite clean and is quite easy to winnow after cracking. This would make a good introduction bean. It roasts easily, can handle a light or heavy roasting and in general is pretty forgiving. For eating by itself, raw or roasted, it is a touch sharp, but I find I actually like that flavor (some call it bright).