For many people, Ecuadorian chocolate is the best in the world. That’s why the Tandem Ramble did not want to miss out on a great opportunity to meet a local producer. Yumbo’s Chocolate factory gave us a unique experience private tour of their production line, that you should definitely include in your visit to Mindo as well. And by the way, the tour is available fully in English. Here is: How chocolate is made?
It all starts with a hot chocolate and some samples as the tour guide explained to us the basic about chocolate making. As you are sitting in a beautiful garden, try to look around you, you might be able to spot some chocolate trees. The chocolate Yumbo uses comes from the north of Esmeralda close to the border with Colombia.
!DELICIOUS!
The production line is only a few steps away. It includes fermenting the choco beans and turning them. After this several-day-long process, the beans are sorted for further use. Now the roasting can start.
The roasting process in the tumbling machine is followed by cracking the shells. That’s almost it. Now the only thing that is missing is to divide the shells (these can be used for tea) from the Choco nips. But words can only describe so much, why don’t you just check out our video below with the entire process.
We hope you take the time to visit Claudia Ponce and Pierre Ala’s chocolate factory in Mindo. Furthermore, the 60% Dark Chocolate has received the Gold Bar Award on a national level. Some other specialties include chocolate beer (dark, stout) and choco wine. We can also recommend the chocolate – coffee mix (60% Choco, 20% coffee, 20% sugar). Fill up your system and take some to go, these bars aren’t easily found elsewhere.
Yumbo’s Chocolate factory on Facebook
Check out our video about the chocolate factory:
Click HERE to read about the recipe of the Jordanian national dish – Mansaf.