COCABO Fairtrade Cacao--First Impressions

Thus far in the production of our Bittersweet Origins chocolates, we've focused on sourcing organic and pesticide-free cacao for our raw material, but we're now beginning to stretch out into Fairtrade cacaos as well. Although we've got our reservations about the overall utility of the Fairtrade certification process in the world of cacao, there are clearly some very good coops out there that have pursued that path and are achieving good results.

With that in mind, today we ran our first roast of COCABO (Cooperativa Cacao Bocatoreña) Fairtrade cacao, and the initial roasting and nib tastings are looking like something very tasty! At first glance, these Trinitario beans are quite pretty raw, with large average size--in appearance they almost look like a Jamaican polished bean without the shine:

After a pretty long roast, there were some wonderfully deep chocolate aromas, and we really enjoyed the nib. Fresh and chocolatey with just a little fruit and acidity at the finish. Can't wait to see what comes of these when they're finished into chocolate, but more on that later!