Heinde & Verre - Pearl of Ecuador Dark 71%

PEARL OF ECUADOR DARK 71%

Our mildest dark chocolate

Discover a new take on the exquisite Nacional Arriba cacao variety from the Hacienda Victoria Estate. For this national treasure we selected the highest ASSPS quality cacao grade of Ecuador. This means, at the plantation the farmers make a special unblemished selection of perfect fermented beans.

Don’t be fooled by the dark colour of this bar, you will be treated on a gentle warm hug of deep notes of classic chocolate.

Awarded Silver at the Academy of Chocolate • 2023

TASTING NOTES

Flavours of chocolate brownie cake, coffee, soft white fruit, honey, nougat and floral notes in de arôme de bouche.

ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

CACAO FROM HACIENDA VICTORIA ESTATE

Thanks to the reforestation the gentle savanna hills – rolling from the Andes Mountains towards the Ecuadorian coast – can now also harbour cacao plantations again.

Hacienda Victoria is named after the wife of the founder, Carlos Eduardo García Fuentes, who bought the estate back in 2009. Some of the best professionals in the agricultural sciences were involved to undertake the study of soils. Agreements were established with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) in order to guarantee the delivery of Arriba certified seeds. Hacienda Victoria traditionally grows pure Arriba cacao, which is the ancient cacao variety of Ecuador. The latest addition is the La Perla variety. The farm works in a sustainable and socially responsible way certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

LOCAL DUTCH SUGAR

The locally grown sugar beet is an ideal sweetner for chocolate. Its neutral character allows cacao flavours to shine without adding flavours to the chocolate (other sweetners such as sugar cane adds for example a molasses flavour to chocolate) Because of the relative small scale of the sugar beet processing industry, organic and non-organic sugar beets are combined in the extraction proces. Research shows that the CO2 footprint of Dutch beet sugar is 4 times lower compared to the average sugar cane production. This is due to a higher yield, efficient farming, harvesting and processing and the fact that it does not need to be transported over long distances. Moreover, an additional benefit is that beet sugar has a lower water consumption than cane sugar.