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10:21 am
May 21, 2004
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If you go to http://www.felchlin.com you can see a new couverture from Bolivia, called Cru Sauvage. They claim it is the first chocolate made from wild cacao. According to B. Bartley in the book The Genetic Diversty of Cacao and its Utilization, the cacao plants i Beni in Bolivia are survivors of old plantations and not wild cacao. It seems like the variety is an Amazonian amelonado with purple cotyledons, an indication of forastero family.
Could be interesting to try it anyway, not many Bolivian chocolates around.
11:23 am
August 6, 2006
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You can buy fair trade chocolate made of beans from Boliva.
Maybe not the best chocolate around so it would be nice to try the new couverture from Felchlin.
“Porcelana: The Holy Grail of Pure Criollos” (Maricel E. Presilla)
12:10 pm
May 21, 2004
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Who has fair trade chocolate from Bolivia?
Are there anyone who provide Felchlin in bars in Sweden?
1:22 pm
August 6, 2006
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Chokladfabriken in Stockholm makes bars of couverture from Felchlin. Felchlin’s Maracaibo Clasificado 65% and Maracaibo Creole 49% so far but I’m pretty sure they will make a Bolivian bar later on.
The fairtrade chocolate (Mascao) I think is made by Bernrain/Stella and not the best around.
[url]http://www.sackeus.se/CHOKLAD%20OCH%20KAKOR.htm[/url]
“Porcelana: The Holy Grail of Pure Criollos” (Maricel E. Presilla)
4:04 pm
August 1, 2006
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I’ve heard rumors of retail bars in the past, and I’ve seen presentation boxes with four large napolitans, each one about 15g in size perhaps. Included were: Arriba 72%, Madagascar 64%, Maracaibo Clasificado 65%, and a Maracaibo Creole 49%.
10:38 pm
March 17, 2005
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They’ve got a Swedish distributor,click Europe on the map.
Pretty strong to claim cacao trees, which “remained natural for centuries”, indeed wild, if all that means that cacao naturalized there. And what that mistery “Criollo nacional” classification they have under Arriba Grand Cru?
12:45 am
August 1, 2006
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It’s just a marketing ploy. Nacional is often regarded as a fourth subclass of cacao because of its similarities to Criollo and Forastero. It shares properties of each, i.e. the plant itself is hearty and robust, while the flavor is delicate. Apparently, Felchlin is using this to their advantage and twisting things around a bit.
I think that Felchlin is also trying to promote their use of cacao that was not grown on a plantation. It is probably grown in the wild – the forest, nature, whatever you want to call it – but of course, it is tended and cared for by human hands.
10:42 am
May 21, 2004
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The term criollo have some places been used on the cacao plants that were “indigenous” to dicern them from varieties later introduced, even if the cacao not were from the criollo group.
5:04 pm
August 1, 2006
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Yes, the term “Criollo” actually means “indigenous,” but this was used before the distinctions among all three (or four) types were made. In context, this usage is obsolete and very confusing for people, so I do not see the point as to why someone would still use it.
10:17 pm
December 3, 2005
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It is wonderful a chocolate and I for one am glad I got a chance to sample it. The depth and delicate flavor was amazing. Great mouthfeel. Not to mention that the presentation with it molded with the feather on the top of the bar is great for wowing your foodie friends. Beautiful stuff.
10:44 pm
August 6, 2006
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I’ve tried it and it sure is Felchlin but I still prefer Maracaibo Clasificado 65%.
“Porcelana: The Holy Grail of Pure Criollos” (Maricel E. Presilla)
6:53 am
August 1, 2006
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If you want my two cents, I’ll say that Felchlin has an awfully good handle on Arriba, which is perhaps the next best interpretation next to Slitti.
11:14 pm
May 22, 2005
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The Cru Sauvage is now available in the US through Pure Origin (Clay Gordon), and he was kind enough to send us a sample. The chocolate has a wonderful roasty aroma, luscious mouthfeel and a really nice bouquet of fruit flavors on offer, especially towards the finish. All in all a really nicely composed chocolate, if a bit too sweet for my taste at 68%.
As far as origin, it seems likely that the trees are some wild Forastero variant rather than a truly wild Cacao species like Bicolor…Still the region is really unique, and the chocolate shows it.
