Freshly roasted Hacienda Limon Heirloom-designated cacao beans, almost ready for the grinder.
My friend Pam Williams of Ecole Chocolat gifted me a kilo of these precious beans to play with. Samuel von Rutte grows this cacao–the third cacao designated as heirloom by the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund (HCP)–in Los Rios, Ecuador. The beans have no bitterness, and a deep, bright, satisfying flavor. After consulting with cacao guru Ed Seguine, I chose to roast them hot up front (to give a strong start to caramelization and the Maillard reaction), then quickly drop to a cool roasting temperature. The chocolate will be finished conching on Sunday, then will age for a few weeks to balance and develop flavor.