The good news is that the new crop of Ocumare Criollo from Venezuela will be in around the end of the week, and I have begun accepting orders. The bad news is that it has lost its certified organic certificate. Now, that is not as bad as it sounds. They did not lose it per se, as much as they decided not to obtain it for financial reasons. In order to be certified organic, the farmers have to be inspected and certified in addition to the co-op needs to be certified. For financial reasons the co-op decided to forego inspection until the next go around at the end of the year. So, it is like this. This crop of Ocumare is from farmers who were certified organic, and plan to be certified organic again, meaning they can't be doing anything right now that is not organic. Likewise, this shipment is coming direct from Venezuela and so will avoid the port fumigation. So I leave it to you to judge how "organic" these cacao beans are. They do not have their certification, paper trail, etc and that is important. But they are the same beans, grown by the same people using the same techniques as they did before. And that is important too. So, if you want so, go ahead and order and I will ship out your order as soon as they arrive. Aside from that, a new crop of Ghana has arrived and I like it a little better than the previous crop. A little more complexity of flavor. Some hints of vanilla and cardamom to compliment that deep chocolate base flavor.
Happy chocolate making everyone.
BTW, Santha update. I will be offering modified motor covers that will allow continuous use of the Santha for refining. Look for those in a week or so. In addition, I have been working with Santha and they have decided to supply me with pre-modified Santhas sometime in November. I will let you know when those become available.