Cacao Cusco 75% – Dark Chocolate

Cacao Cusco by Chocolat Bonnat, red berries and honey

Cacao Cusco by Chocolat Bonnat is a dark chocolate from the Peruvian Amazon, not far from the Valley of the Incas. It tastes of red berries and sugar cane, with honey in the background, and the bitterness remains unusually mild.

Cacao Cusco is a dark chocolate from Chocolat Bonnat in Voiron, France, ground from one of the oldest Peruvian cocoa varieties with 75 percent cocoa content. The 100-gram bar is part of the Grands Crus d'Exception range, the narrowly defined origins; the packaging simply reads Chocolat Cacao Cusco.

Red berries, sugar cane and a hint of honey

The aroma is understated, but the taste is fruity: red berries first, then a sweetness that is reminiscent of fresh sugar cane.

This is followed by honey and a light caramel note, which soften the bitterness before toasted notes take over at the end. The snap is clean, and the chocolate melts slowly without becoming greasy.

Because the bitterness is so soft, this bar is suitable as an introduction for those who otherwise find dark varieties too intense.

A bowl of fresh raspberries on the side highlights the berry notes, while an espresso brings out the roasted side. It also pairs well with a fruity red wine, as both share the same bright acidity.

After a meal, one bar replaces dessert without anyone at the table feeling like anything is missing. It goes a long way, as the flavors unfold slowly and do not disappear immediately.

One of the oldest varieties, high up in the Amazon

The cocoa grows in eastern Peru, where the Andes meet the Amazon lowlands, not far from the ancient heartland of the Incas.

Trees of a very old lineage grow there, which have changed little over the centuries and are now rarely cultivated. Higher-yielding breeds have long since displaced them in most growing countries. Such old lineages produce fewer fruits per tree and require more care, but in return, they provide a flavor profile that no breed can replicate.

Chocolat Bonnat grinds this harvest on its own, without diluting it with other origins and without the addition of vanilla or lecithin.

This allows the fruit of the bean to remain in the foreground, where a mixture would long have settled into a uniform cocoa aroma.

Cusco itself lies high in the mountains and gave the origin its name; the trees grow further down, in damp heat.

How the fruit notes get into the bean

The berry tones do not come from any additives, but are created in the days immediately following the harvest.

The fruit pulp around the seeds begins to ferment, heat is generated, and this forms the precursors of the later aromas. If this fermentation is short, the result remains light and fruity; if it lasts longer, the result becomes darker and more chocolatey.

Only after that come drying, roasting, and the long conching process, which only fine-tune the flavor.

Store the bar in a cool place and in its closed paper, because the light berry notes are the first to evaporate.

Thus, no harvest tastes exactly like the previous one, and that is the charm of a single-origin chocolate.

Peru in further origins

Coming from the same country are the light Alto Piura and the Madre de Dios from the Amazon region. Everything else that comes from Voiron can be found in the Chocolat Bonnat collection.