Pacari Chocolate

Region: Ecuador
Bean Type: Nacional
Cocoa Content: 72%

This week's featured bar is from Pacari Chocolate- a line new to Chocolopolis. Pacari Chocolate, a company based in Quito, Ecuador, produces premium fair trade, organic chocolate from Ecuadorian beans. Their product line includes chocolate bars as well as chocolate covered fruits, nuts, and cacao nibs. Uniquely, two of their bars are "Raw," meaning they are made from unroasted beans that are processed at low temperatures. Pacari claims that such a process "maintains the anitoxidants and complex flavor of the cacao."

Pacari is one of a very few bean-to-bar chocolate makers who process their chocolate entirely in the country of origin. The company's founders, Carla Borboto and Santiago Peralta, are passionate not only about using organic ingredients, but also improving the communities in which the beans are grown. They founded the "Organic Agriculture Educational Project" which helps educate both local farmers and school children.

Our bar of the week is a 72% dark chocolate bar from the Los Rios region of Ecuador. The Los Rios bar has a wonderfully complex flavor profile: we tasted hints of smoke, green plant, olive, and rum. It's bold, it's unique, it's earthy. And with descriptions like that, it should feel right at home here in Seattle!

Fun Fact: The word Pacari means "nature" in Quechua, an indigenous language of Ecuador.