As luck would have it, we timed our trip for "La mejor cacao y chocolate feria del Ecuador" aka as the major cacao and chocolate fair of Ecuador! The fair will be held in Archidona, still in the Amazon, but farther north than where we are staying. The fair starts today. Most of today's agenda is lectures given by local agencies about the potential of chocolate for the economy in this region.
We plan on attending tomorrow when everyone will be selling their cacao and chocolate products. The purpose of the fair is to showcase the cacao and chocolate of the Amazon. Today is all about getting ready for the fair. Henry's plan is to make as much chocolate as we can so that it can be sold at the fair.
We started the day with the usual sorting and weighing of the dried beans. Today we will be making chocolate from 36 lbs. of beans
Ned is instructing Saul on how to get a consistent roast. Here's Saul documenting time and temperature. One of the most difficult things in making chocolate is maintaining a consistent flavor from batch to batch. Varying temperature levels, as well as batch size, will effect the flavor of the beans.
Never underestimate the power of a great winnower! Ned and I used to do this by hand, when we were doing this as a hobby and not as a business, and it took us about an hour per pound to separate the shells from the nibs. We, Cello Chocolate, give our shells from the winnowed beans to Ol' Republic Brewery. They make an awesome stout from it. Tsatsayaku sells their shells to one of the association members who makes a tea from it. It's a win-win situation.
Besides selling chocolate liquor (bulk unsweetened chocolate), Tsatsayaku also sells 1 lb. bags of nibs. In the near future Tsatsayaku hopes to create a marketplace at their chocolate making facility to sell other related cacao products such as cacao wine, tea, chocolate bars both sweet and unsweetened, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder.
After grinding the nibs to a dry paste they were placed in the melanger. This will refine the chocolate liquor to a smooth texture.Tsatsayaku hopes to purchase a large melanger that will be able to handle a capacity of up to 65 lbs. of liquor.
It's all about knowing your market. Here the local restaurants and bakers prefer the unsweetened chocolate. It reminds them of the times as children on the fincas (farms) when their grandparents would harvest the cacao themselves, roast it, hand grind it and serve it with milk.
Here's the finished product (a 1lb block) ready for the fair! Ned and I have been brainstorming with Henry on ways to help raise money for Tsatsayaku. They need about $16,000 to finish the building of the plant. (Henry keeps phenomenal records and spreadsheets and has presented his findings to the Peace Corp headquarters in Quito. He was kind enough to share this information with us as well.) Without these finishes which includes construction of the ceiling, a cooling system, lighting system, tubing for hoses for cleaning, ventilation system for the roaster, stainless steel work tables, observation room for tourism, and ceramics for flooring or epoxy paint on floor, the Department of Sanitation won't issue them a license. (Yes, they have been selling the chocolate now under the radar...shhhh). One of our ideas is to begin a Kickstarter campaign for Tsatsayaku. Ned and I would not only run the campaign, but also make sweetened chocolate bars from the bulk chocolate liquor that we will buy from Tsatsayaku. We thought Cello Chocolate could give them as incentives to people donating to the Kickstarter campaign. Stay tuned...
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