~CACAO FARM TOURS~
ECUADORIAN HEIRLOOM CHOCOLATE TASTING AND CACAO CEREMONY!
Spend the day on our farm!
Cacao Tour Schedule (for 2 to 6 Guests):
Saturdays
We depart from Camarones Playa Retreat after lunch at 1pm
and drive for 1 hour into the lush coastal cloud forest to our destination
Finca ChoCoaque CACAO
where you will experience the Traditional method of growing, fermenting and
processing Cacao Criollo from ECUADOR.
After the 1 hour Farm Tour you are invited to relax and Taste the CHOCOLATE.
We will return via Jama where we will join local Artist Ricardo Alcivar in his Studio
to learn about the culture of indigenous Jama-Coaque tribes of Manabi.
We arrive back at Camarones Playa Retreat for Sunset and a delicious evening Meal
followed by a Cacao Ceremony at the Beach. Feel the benefits of Theobroma Cacao.
FOREST FARMED in the mountains of coastal MANABI, where the lush climate and rainfall is perfect for the growth of ChoCoaque CACAO, these beautiful heirloom CACAO TREES grow. For the past 80 years groves of CACAO CRIOLLO TREES have been sustainably cultivated and family farmed, without chemicals or stress, under a canopy of bananas, oranges, avocados and local foliage which provides shade and also allows the generous Equatorial sunlight to filter in.
ChoCoaque CACAO is from a SINGLE ORIGIN, harvested by hand on a remote family farm, from heirloom CACAO TREES on an average between 30 and 60 years old, and the CACAO BEANS are FERMENTED in huge wooden bins for 3 to 4 days. The CACAO BEANS are then sun dried, being turned and moved with big wooden pallets. Next the CACAO BEANS are lightly roasted (under 118 degrees F) in earthenware vessels over hot cinders and stirred with wooden pallets. Finally, the CACAO BEANS are peeled by hand, just THE WAY TRADITIONAL LOCAL FARMERS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR A CENTURY and the CACAO NIBS are ground into CACAO PASTE to form into our ChoCoaque CACAO RUSTICO WHEEL.
It is important to note that ChoCoaque CACAO is a socially responsible product MADE ENTIRELY BY FARMER’S HANDS, no slave labor, no homogenization with transgenic or lesser quality beans, no chemicals or industrial machinery is involved. Because of the traditional method of preparation, ChoCoaque CACAO retains its RUSTIC QUALITY and FULL ENZYMATIC PROFILE, with medicinal benefits for a healthy mind and cardio vascular system. ChoCoaque CACAO provides all of the full-bodied flavor and rich aroma that FINE ECUADORIAN CHOCOLATE is famous for.
RAPADURA raw cane sugar (aka PANELA) used in our products is
harvested from chemical free fields.
Enjoy!