Ecuador

What does Ecuadorian chocolate taste like? Ecuadorian chocolate is best known for one variety in particular: Arriba, also called Nacional. Valrhona describe it as a fine aromatic variety, and it is prized for floral and spiced aromatics rather than sheer cocoa power. Ecuador has also climbed sharply up the list of the world's cocoa producers over the past decade.

Those aromatics are fragile, so how the beans are handled after harvest matters enormously. Valrhona use short fermentation periods on their Ecuadorian cocoa specifically to protect them, and Ecuadorian farmers have invested heavily in new cultivation, fermentation and drying techniques, which is why the sensory quality of the country's beans has moved on so much in recent years.

Our Ecuadorian Single Origin Chocolate

Ecuador gives us the widest choice of any origin outside Colombia. Callebaut's Ecuador 70% is the dark workhorse, and Velvet Ecuador 39% is its milk counterpart, well suited to panning, fine enrobing and fine moulding. Valrhona's Alpaco 66% sits at the top of the range, part of the Grand Cru collection, and takes its name from Alpa, the Quechua word for plain.