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Dandelion Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70%

Dandelion Costa Esmeraldas Ecuador 70%

Weight: 56 g

Regular price $10.25
Regular price Sale price $10.25
Sale Sold out
Reasons to Love

Bean to Bar

Bean to Bar

Direct-Source Cacao

Direct Sourced

The beans for this bar come from Freddy Salazar's estate near Ecuador's northern coast. Eric visited the farm in 2016, and admires the commitment to quality he saw from harvest to drying. In this bar, they taste fudge brownies with cherry undertones and a hint of toasted nuts.

Awards
GF-2022 Award

Dairy Free

Dairy Free

Peanut Free

Peanut Free

Soy Free

Soy Free

Tree Nut Free

Tree Nut Free

No animal products, and vegan sugar or alternative sweetener

Vegan+

Gluten Free

Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS & ALLERGENS

Ingredients: cocoa beans and organic cane sugar

Contains no milk, tree nuts, wheat and soy.

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

    Once you’ve tasted pure chocolate, the other stuff won’t do. Read verified customer reviews.

Maker

Dandelion Chocolate

Dandelion is a small batch chocolate maker in San Francisco. Todd and Cameron, the founders have maintained an uncompromising quality with their sourcing, processing, and quality to produce great tasting bars. You'll notice that the majority of their bars are 70% with is done on purpose, so you can taste the unique difference each cacao from different countries have to offer. Both Todd and Cameron were tech geniuses located in Silicon Valley, where they started building their own chocolate equipment in their basement. Right in the middle of the craft chocolate movement starting to take over the country, they decided to tackle the adventure for themselves. Todd and Cameron wanted to produce high quality chocolate bars using only simple ingredients. Today, Dandelion produces over 12,000 bars monthly, and it’s still not enough to meet the demand for this great chocolate maker. Dandelion’s shop also boast wonderful variety of baked goods, hot chocolate and even daily tours of their chocolate factory.

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

Esmeraldas

This cacao strain takes its name from the northern Ecuadorean province to which it is native. The path which brought it there is yet unclear, but experts agree that Esmeraldas contains some amount of criollo ancestry, maybe even the same criollo types found in ancient Mesoamerica. But whatever its origin, the pods are mostly small and maroon-colored, with relatively few fruits per tree. The characteristic flavor profile of Esmeraldas cacao is incredibly mild, with traces of spices and melon, though chocolate made from pure Esmeraldas is uncommon.

Customer Reviews

Based on 3 reviews
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A
A.
fudgy and delicious

Rich brownie flavor, hint of berry. Very satisfying!

J
J.N.
Outstanding

Dandelion makes amazing chocolate. I am a huge fan and this one didn’t miss.

c
carolb
Delicious!

Absolutely delicious, pure unadulterated chocolate! 2 ingredients, cocoa beans and can sugar! Can't beat it...