Soma Mr. Salazar Costa Esmeraldas 70%
Soma Mr. Salazar Costa Esmeraldas 70%
Weight: 65 g
Bean to Bar
Bean to Bar
Direct-Source Cacao
Direct Sourced
Woman Owned
Woman Owned
Costa Esmeraldas is a single estate cacao farm owned by the Salazar family on the NW coast of Ecuador. The steep 100-hectare site is planted with Nacional-Venezolano Amarillo cacao. The pods are transported daily during harvest, beans meticulously fermented and sun-dried at their brand new post-harvest facility close to the farm.
Oranges, limes, lemons, plantain, bananas, guayaba, and papaya are grown interspersed with the cacao to reduce erosion on the steep terrain. Last time they met, Fredy Enrique Salazar passionately explained, they also grow fruit because it feeds everyone on the farm. Their land is beautiful - lush namesake emerald green hills layered in every direction.
Tasting notes: lemon, bread, cherries, balsamic vinegar, brownies, green bananas
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Maker
SOMA Chocolatemaker Country
CanadaCacao Origin
Ecuador
Manufactured in a facility which also processes dairy
Trace Dairy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes peanuts
Trace Peanuts
Sesame Free
Sesame Free
Manufactured in a facility which also processes soy
Trace Soy
Manufactured in a facility which also processes Tree Nuts
Trace Tree Nut
No animal products, and vegan sugar or alternative sweetener
Vegan+
Manufactured in a facility which also processes wheat or gluten
Trace Gluten
INGREDIENTS & ALLERGENS
INGREDIENTS & ALLERGENS
Ingredients: cacao nibs, organic cane sugar, cacao butter
May contain traces of milk, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and eggs.
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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.
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ETHICALLY SOURCED
Chocolate makers that source cacao at high standards beyond Fair Trade, and produce responsibly.
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Also from the Same Region
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Maker
SOMA ChocolatemakerSoma was founded by David Castellan and Cynthia Leung in 2003. A rarity in the industry, Soma are adept at both chocolate making, and also a fantastic chocolatier. At the time, ‘bean to bar’ chocolate wasn’t necessarily even a term! Anybody who knew how to make chocolate were those who worked for big chocolate companies. Soma was one of the first to tackle the micro batch chocolate bar production. Besides their wonderful line of chocolate bars, Soma also uses their chocolate to make ganache for truffles, and other chocolate treats. Soma's high quality chocolate bars have been awarded multiple times over the years. First starting off in a 400 square foot tiny corner of an old whiskey distillery, Soma now has two chocolate factories in Toronto, Canada.
Cacao Region
Esmeraldas, EcuadorEsmeraldas 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 EsmeraldasLocated 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
Cacao Strain: EsmeraldasThis 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.
I wish I had the skill to be able to enumerate all the flavor notes this bar offers, but I don't. I can say, though, that there are many layers, all delicious. Excellent example of Ecuador craft chocolate.
SOMA can do no wrong. Their bars are always a delight; they're complex, with many flavors, and delicately balanced. Their bars are unparalleled, this one being no exception.
I find this bar to be an exceptional example of the surprising range of flavors possible in pure dark chocolate. The flavor profile (lemon, bread, cherries, balsamic vinegar, brownies, and green bananas) may seem a bit unexpected for a non-flavored bar, yet the tasting notes and similar/adjacent ones come through loud, dynamic, and clear. This is a very fun, excellently executed, flavor bomb of a bar.
Fantastic! A satisfying variety of flavors with great development throughout the tasting: cocoa powder, bread, bright tanginess (lemon, lime, dried cherries), red wine, fades to a rich vanilla creaminess and a lingering cocoa flavor. There's a lot going on flavor wise, definitely recommended.
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