{"product_id":"pangoa-peru-single-origin-chocolate-copy-1","title":"Piura Blanco Peru Single Origin Chocolate","description":"\u003ch2\u003ePiura Blanco — Peru\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis bean has an OMG component to its story.  We are heading to the arid coastal northwest part of Peru - you can see on the map where the bottom of Ecuador sort of splits Peru forming a western spur.  I have not been to this origin in person and had only seen photos which defied everything I have come to expect (lush tropical valleys of cacao growing lands).  My immediate thought about Piura Blanco was \"no way, someone had to have messed up the photos\".  But no!  This is for real.  These beans defy logic!  When I was making the chocolate I could smell the desert and the sandy rocky soils.  I felt like I could smell and taste mesquite or chaparral - but the brain can tell you stories when it sees photos right?  For sure though, there is a distinct mineral component that sets this origin apart in a very good and enticing way.  It's the Rocky Balboa of cacao.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailable in the Large 3 oz Grand Adventure Bar, dark only (68%).  Only a few left.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOrigin:\u003c\/strong\u003e Piura Blanco, Peru\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLocation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Piura, Northwest arid coast\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGenetics\/Type:\u003c\/strong\u003e Native Blanco de Piura genetics\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCacao certifications:\u003c\/strong\u003e Organic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFlavor notes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Tropical fruit, persimmon, lime marmalade with some mild malt and nutty notes.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIngredients:\u003c\/strong\u003e Cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDirectly from the Chocolate Alchemist John: \u003cem\u003e\"Piura Blanco is an outlier origin because it’s literally grown in the Sechura desert and is one of the very few of a handful of legit heirloom cacao cultivars. These communities have been growing this cacao for somewhere around 1000-1300 years since the time that the Moche or their predecessors carried seeds over the Andes from an area that is the present-day border of Amazonian Ecuador and Peru. There are very narrow river\/stream valleys cutting through the desert as they come down from the Andes and that’s where the communities cultivate cacao, rice, and a few other crops including mango and lime. As the European market and price sensitivity has gotten worse, they’ve been cutting down more and more cacao to plant mango and lime which have higher values in the domestic market.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThese particular communities are some of the only cacao producers where no other varieties (e.g., run of the mill Trinitarios\/hybrids, CCN-51) have worked their way into the mix.  By supporting this bean, you are helping the community of Puerta Pulache, to improve harvest and post-harvest process,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe color is like a dark milk chocolate from the ~30% white beans plus a portion of lavender\/pink, which is the natural color mix from this cacao population - there hasn’t been a deliberate selection for white seeds.\"\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's more.  Directly from Cacaolife Peru: \u003cem\u003e\"\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eThe history of this bean origin is pretty interesting. Ready? Here we go.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font_8 wixui-rich-text__text\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eThanks to a small break at the lowest point of the Andes, called El Paso de Porculla, the Mayo-Chinchipe-Marañón Amazonian cultures were able to make their way to the arid northern coast of Peru where they traded their cacao and other goods with coastal communities. Over millennia, amid tough growing conditions, these coastal communities helped the cacao adapt and thrive throughout various areas of the department of Piura—each area creating its own unique cacao bean origin.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font_8 wixui-rich-text__text\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eOne of those areas is home to the bean known as Piura White. And it grows in what are now the provinces of Ayabanca and Piura. More specifically the districts of Las Lomas, Tambogrande, Montero, Paimas, and Suyo. It’s an exceptional cacao harvested at an elevation of ~50-400m that will surely take your chocolate making to the next level.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font_8 wixui-rich-text__text\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eTypically made up of ~30% white beans, Piura White is a mix of Native Blanco de Piura genetics that is light in colour and rich in complex dark fruit and citrus flavours with mild panela, malt, and nutty notes. It also has medium acidity and is extremely low in tannins—the likely result of these cacao trees not needing to ward off all the pests that come with more humid tropical climates, like Witch’s Broom. Piura White has done such a good job of adapting to this area’s low humidity and scarce water that if you transplanted them to the jungle today, they likely wouldn’t survive.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font_8 wixui-rich-text__text\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eIt is precisely this bean’s geographic location and rare growing climate, along with its uniquely evolved genetics, that have given it its unparalleled fine-flavour profile and made it a premium cacao that has been commercialized for thousands of years. Many of the scientific theories today, supported by well-known researchers, like Dr. Evert Thomas and Dr. Juan Motamayor, and Bioversity International are that cacaos in Central America likely came from Peru—through naval trade with coastal communities in this area that obtained their merchandise from the Mayo-Chinchipe-Marañón Amazonian cultures.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font_8 wixui-rich-text__text\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: montserrat,sans-serif;\" class=\"wixui-rich-text__text\"\u003eIf it weren’t for the Mayo-Chinchipe-Marañón cultures, who knows if cacao would have landed on the northern coast. And if it weren’t for the coastal communities who helped it thrive in the tough arid conditions, we may never have Piura White. And if we didn’t have Piura White, well, then we wouldn’t have one of the best fine-flavoured origins of one of the most sought-after bean genetics in the world.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Cocoa Forge","offers":[{"title":"Dark 68% \/ 3 oz Grand Adventure Bar","offer_id":50413108363478,"sku":null,"price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0777\/2615\/4966\/files\/Piura_bar.jpg?v=1789343499","url":"https:\/\/thecocoaforge.com\/products\/pangoa-peru-single-origin-chocolate-copy-1","provider":"Cacao Voyages by The Cocoa Forge","version":"1.0","type":"link"}