Pacari Los Rios

The Ecuadoran chocolatier Pacari Chocolate makes wonderfully tasting chocolate bars using cacao beans from Ecuador; I've come to see that these beans make for an excellent chocolate bar. This one features beans from the Los Rios region in central est Ecuador. Pacari is an artisanal chocolate maker, they craft their chocolate in small batches using the finest ingredients. The ingredient listing looks good, cacao beans, evaporated cane juice and sunflower lecithin. The cacao content is at 72%.

How does it taste? As with all the bars that I've tasted from Pacari, this one makes for an excellent chocolate experience; the chocolate is smooth and melts well in the mouth, smells good and snaps well. Despite the high price for this what I call half-size bar, I would definitely buy this bar again.

Pacari Merken Aji Ahumado

The Ecuadoran chocolatier Pacari makes some great chocolate bars; I've enjoyed very much several of them. This bar uses a spice from Ecuador called Merken, which is used traditionally by the indigenous Mapuche people of Chile, and is a combination of heat and smokiness. The ingredient listing is good, cacao beans, cane sugar, merken (chili, cumin, salt) and sunflower lecithin. The cacao content of these Ecuadorean Origin beans is 60%.

How does it taste? Very good, as I've said I've enjoyed the taste of all the bars I've tried from Pacari. They are a little expensive, but well worth the treat. This bar is not too spicy, for those wary of the heat, and the merken spice works well with the chocolate. I would buy and eat this bar again.

Pacari Raw Chocolate

The chocolatier Pacari makes chocolate bars from cacao beans sourced from Peru; they select small, independent growers who follow organic and equitable trade practices. The ingredient listing is short, cacao beans, evaporated cane juice and sunflower lecithin. The big thing about this particular bar, is that all the ingredients are minimally processed and kept at low temperatures, to make a Raw product.

How does it taste? This is a very good bar, and another fine example of their chocolate. The rawness, its minimal processing, did not make it end up tasting like eating ground raw cacao beans, the chocolate was very smooth and melted well. The only thing I don't like about this, is that it is such a small bar. I would definitely buy this bar again (and do, when I see them on sale).

Pacari Esmeraldas

The Ecuadoran chocolatier Pacari uses organic Arriba Nacional cacao varietal beans, in this case from a single region, the Esmeraldas region on the north coast of Ecuador. The ingredient listing looks good, cacao beans, evaporated cane juice and sunflower lecithin. The cacao content is at 60%. They control all steps from pod to bar.

How does it taste? The bar snaps well, is very dark in colour, and smells fruity. The chocolate melts well in the mouth, and has a good aftertaste, but suffers somewhat because of the taste of cane sugar that underlies the not strong flavour of this bean. The bar cost me $3 (for a 50 g or half-size bar) at a health food store, and I enjoyed eating it (as I do most Ecuadoran chocolate.