Cocoa Origins
Del Tambo, Ecuador
- Partner
- Asociación Aroma de Cacao Fino
- Variety
- Nacional (Arriba)
- Relationship
- Partners since 2009
A cooperative in the coastal lowlands growing Nacional cocoa with a floral, bright profile. Our longest-running partnership.
The place
Del Tambo sits inland from the Ecuadorian coast where the rivers run brown after rain and cocoa grows under banana and citrus shade. Farms here are small, often two or three hectares, worked by families who have grown Nacional for generations.
The beans
Nacional, sometimes called Arriba, is the heirloom Ecuadorian variety prized for a floral, almost jasmine-like aroma. Our partners ferment in cascading wooden boxes and dry on raised marquesinas rather than on the roadside.
What we pay
We have paid above the world market and above the local farmgate price at every single purchase since 2009, and returned an annual profit share paid in person in Guayaquil.
In the bar
You will taste Del Tambo in our raspberry collaboration bar and in the Super Dark Blend: red fruit, a floral top note and a long, clean finish.