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LetterPress Esmeraldas, Ecuador 85%

LetterPress Esmeraldas, Ecuador 85%

Weight: 57 g

Regular price $12.00
Regular price Sale price $12.00
Sale Sold out
Reasons to Love

Bean to Bar

Bean to Bar

Direct-Source Cacao

Direct Sourced

Woman Owned

Woman Owned

This cacao is grown in the province of Esmeraldas, an area not typically known as a cacao producing region of Ecuador. Costa Esmeraldas is a family business, entirely owned and managed by the Salazar family. This single estate farm was established on reclaimed cattle pasture and is currently planted with approximately 100 hectares of 5-year old Nacional hybrid cacao (clones EET-95, EET-96, and EET-103). The farm is currently expanding, and will include 10 hectares of a traditional Esmeraldas cacao varietal that was cultivated in isolation for over 100 years from the typical Nacional cacao grown in the rest of the country. The original farms planted with this cacao are currently being cut down and replaced with oil palm and CCN-51. The farm is located less than 10 miles inland of the coastal town of Muisne. A brand new, high efficiency fermentation and drying facility was designed by Cacao Services and constructed in a dry microclimate about 15 miles from the farm near the town of Tonchigue. The facility design allows production of unusually consistent and clean cacao with an efficient movement of material that reduces worker injury and fatigue.

The color is strikingly dark for a 85% dark chocolate, but belies its mild flavor. Enjoy.

Tasting notes: nutty and floral

Awards
AOC-silver-2018 Award

Certified Parve

Kosher Parve

Manufactured in a facility which also processes dairy

Trace Dairy

Manufactured in a facility which also processes peanuts

Trace Peanuts

Soy Free

Soy Free

Manufactured in a facility which also processes Tree Nuts

Trace Tree Nut

No animal products, and vegan sugar or alternative sweetener

Vegan+

Gluten Free

Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS & ALLERGENS

Ingredients: cacao, organic unrefined cane sugar

May contain traces of tree nuts, peanuts and milk.

SHIPPING & GIFT OPTIONS

Free standard shipping for US orders $75+ or $6.99 Flat Rate. Faster options available at checkout. Warm weather? We ship with eco-friendly ice and insulation for no melt shipping.

International: Canada: $9.99 Flat Rate $150+ Other Countries: Rates calculated at checkout.

Add a Gift Message (free) or a Gift Box ($6) from the side cart. Contact us for corporate gift options.

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  • REAL CHOCOLATE

    True chocolate has rich, nuanced flavors. Like wine it can vary by the variety of cacao beans, and where it's grown.

  • ETHICALLY SOURCED

    Chocolate makers that source cacao at high standards beyond Fair Trade, and produce responsibly.

  • A CURATED SELECTION

    A diverse selection sourced from the top 2% of all chocolate in the world.

  • 25,000+ HAPPY CUSTOMERS

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Maker

LetterPress Chocolate

LetterPress Chocolate was cofounded by David and Corey Menkes in Los Angeles, CA. They founded LetterPress with the purpose of paying cocoa farmers a a premium for quality, sourcing their cacao through direct trade, and working with partners such as Uncommon Cacao, Meridian Cacao. Quality above quantity with as few ingredients as possible to make the best chocolate possible is their mission. On the inside flap of every bar is their favorite quote from Benjamin Franklin: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

Cacao Region

Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Esmeraldas is the northernmost province of Ecuador, bordering both the Pacific Ocean and western Colombia. The province is notable for its strong Afro-Ecuadorian culture & seafood-based cuisine, as well as the beautiful beaches. Much of Esmeraldas’ population relies upon agriculture to make a living, with the most important crops being banana, tobacco, coffee, and cacao.

Cacao Estate

Costa Esmeraldas

Located in the coastal Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, this family-run estate has experienced a complete turnaround in recent years. After nearly a decade of their farm just scraping by through selling produce into the commodity market, in 2015 the Salazar family took on the project of completely revamping the 100-hectare farm. This included adding a complete post-harvest processing facility on-site, which is now managed by Freddy Salazar, the youngest sibling in the family. Management of the cacao orchards create over 40 full-time jobs within the local community in rural Esmeraldas, while the fine flavor neo-nacional beans they grow are now used by over a dozen chocolate companies around the world. Makers favor it for its strong base notes of cocoa, roasted nuts, and light fruitiness, with almost no astringency or bitterness.

Cacao Strain

Nacional

Nacional is one of those ten evolutionarily unique types identified in 2008, using samples collected throughout the Americas over the previous century. Samples proven to be of the nacional cluster were taken from Ecuador and northern Peru, where it’s considered one of the traditional cacao cultivars; it was domesticated by indigenous Ecuadorians over 5000 years ago, reaching far beyond its small native growing region. Many years ago, however, the cultivar neared extinction as more productive clones replaced the region’s native trees. Nacional is known to be fruity & floral, with some astringency and almost no bitterness.

Customer Reviews

Based on 2 reviews
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A
Anonymous
Chocolate Connoisseur

Very good chocolate for all lovers of the bean.

J
James W.
Excellent dark chocolate

The Letterpress 85% Ecuador dark chocolate bar has an extremely smooth melt, with a strong chocolate flavor that is not bitter or sour. Excellent, especially for a bar with no other additives. I thought there was the slightest hint of licorice taste at the start, but then it just became strong chocolate. The embossing on the bar is beautiful, but makes it hard to break into even pieces.