<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<product>
  <body-html>&lt;p&gt;Ivory Coast &#8211; Fair Trade Certified &#8211; Forastero 2008&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Country of origin Variety&lt;br /&gt;Ivory Coast Forastero&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;Hopefully you know me well enough by now that you know I don&#8217;t put a lot of stock into names and labels. That said, this origin (the Ivory Coast of Africa) has quite the infamous reputation and it is only origin I have refused to even taste or consider until I could verify the conditions of the works, hence the Fair Trade designation.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;As for the cocoa itself, there is a second component to the Ivory Coast&#8217;s reputation &#8211; they produce some rather nice cocoa. It is a fully fermented Forastero. The preparation is a little uneven from a sorting perspective. There are a few flats and broken beans, but nothing that really makes it difficult to work with. The fermentation is quite even with not a hint of purple in the nibs. The aroma &#8211; chocolate, dark spice (pepper?) and roasting bread. And are you ready for this one &#8211; lilac. Perfume. There is virtually no astringency which is quite a surprise. The acid balance is right on &#8211; not really fruity (but flowery from the lilac), but there nonetheless. It has hints of light biscuit (that baking bread smell), a little black pepper (odd, but after two days tasting it, that is what comes to mind) and of course the rather characteristic and &#8220;classic&#8221; earthy chocolate flavor.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;So, please, give this a try. It is a first for us to offer it, but as always, it isn&#8217;t about just the label (nor ever about just the label &#8211; organic, FT, Criollo) it&#8217;s about how the beans taste the heady chocolate they will allow you to make. This really shows just how nice Forastero can be.&lt;/p&gt;


	&lt;p&gt;And a final note &#8211; this is also a good beginner bean. I like this best roasted a little heavier than I do some beans, so don&#8217;t be afraid to let it pop. It&#8217;s fine lighter also, but it develops a nice depth of flavor &#8220;darker&#8221;.&lt;/p&gt;</body-html>
  <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
  <handle>ivory-coast-ft-forastero-08</handle>
  <id type="integer">1692231</id>
  <product-type>Whole Beans</product-type>
  <published-at type="datetime">2008-03-18T04:52:00-07:00</published-at>
  <template-suffix nil="true"></template-suffix>
  <title>Ivory Coast FT - Forastero '08</title>
  <updated-at type="datetime">2008-04-26T04:27:56-07:00</updated-at>
  <vendor>Cocoa Beans</vendor>
  <tags nil="true"></tags>
  <body>Ivory Coast &#8211; Fair Trade Certified &#8211; Forastero 2008

Country of origin Variety
Ivory Coast Forastero

Hopefully you know me well enough by now that you know I don&#8217;t put a lot of stock into names and labels. That said, this origin (the Ivory Coast of Africa) has quite the infamous reputation and it is only origin I have refused to even taste or consider until I could verify the conditions of the works, hence the Fair Trade designation.

As for the cocoa itself, there is a second component to the Ivory Coast&#8217;s reputation &#8211; they produce some rather nice cocoa. It is a fully fermented Forastero. The preparation is a little uneven from a sorting perspective. There are a few flats and broken beans, but nothing that really makes it difficult to work with. The fermentation is quite even with not a hint of purple in the nibs. The aroma &#8211; chocolate, dark spice (pepper?) and roasting bread. And are you ready for this one &#8211; lilac. Perfume. There is virtually no astringency which is quite a surprise. The acid balance is right on &#8211; not really fruity (but flowery from the lilac), but there nonetheless. It has hints of light biscuit (that baking bread smell), a little black pepper (odd, but after two days tasting it, that is what comes to mind) and of course the rather characteristic and &#8220;classic&#8221; earthy chocolate flavor.

So, please, give this a try. It is a first for us to offer it, but as always, it isn&#8217;t about just the label (nor ever about just the label &#8211; organic, FT, Criollo) it&#8217;s about how the beans taste the heady chocolate they will allow you to make. This really shows just how nice Forastero can be.

And a final note &#8211; this is also a good beginner bean. I like this best roasted a little heavier than I do some beans, so don&#8217;t be afraid to let it pop. It&#8217;s fine lighter also, but it develops a nice depth of flavor &#8220;darker&#8221;.</body>
  <variants type="array">
    <variant>
      <compare-at-price type="decimal" nil="true"></compare-at-price>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <fulfillment-service>manual</fulfillment-service>
      <grams type="integer">499</grams>
      <id type="integer">3633971</id>
      <inventory-management>shopify</inventory-management>
      <inventory-policy>deny</inventory-policy>
      <inventory-quantity type="integer">60</inventory-quantity>
      <option1>1lb</option1>
      <option2 nil="true"></option2>
      <option3 nil="true"></option3>
      <position type="integer">1</position>
      <price type="decimal">11.30</price>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <requires-shipping type="boolean">true</requires-shipping>
      <sku></sku>
      <taxable type="boolean">true</taxable>
      <title>1lb</title>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2010-03-04T12:48:15-08:00</updated-at>
    </variant>
    <variant>
      <compare-at-price type="decimal" nil="true"></compare-at-price>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <fulfillment-service>manual</fulfillment-service>
      <grams type="integer">408</grams>
      <id type="integer">3633981</id>
      <inventory-management>shopify</inventory-management>
      <inventory-policy>deny</inventory-policy>
      <inventory-quantity type="integer">46</inventory-quantity>
      <option1>1 lb as raw nibs</option1>
      <option2 nil="true"></option2>
      <option3 nil="true"></option3>
      <position type="integer">2</position>
      <price type="decimal">11.30</price>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <requires-shipping type="boolean">true</requires-shipping>
      <sku></sku>
      <taxable type="boolean">true</taxable>
      <title>1 lb as raw nibs</title>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2010-02-21T05:32:31-08:00</updated-at>
    </variant>
    <variant>
      <compare-at-price type="decimal" nil="true"></compare-at-price>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <fulfillment-service>manual</fulfillment-service>
      <grams type="integer">953</grams>
      <id type="integer">3633991</id>
      <inventory-management>shopify</inventory-management>
      <inventory-policy>deny</inventory-policy>
      <inventory-quantity type="integer">41</inventory-quantity>
      <option1>2 lbs</option1>
      <option2 nil="true"></option2>
      <option3 nil="true"></option3>
      <position type="integer">3</position>
      <price type="decimal">22.00</price>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <requires-shipping type="boolean">true</requires-shipping>
      <sku></sku>
      <taxable type="boolean">true</taxable>
      <title>2 lbs</title>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2010-02-17T08:05:02-08:00</updated-at>
    </variant>
    <variant>
      <compare-at-price type="decimal" nil="true"></compare-at-price>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <fulfillment-service>manual</fulfillment-service>
      <grams type="integer">2313</grams>
      <id type="integer">3634001</id>
      <inventory-management></inventory-management>
      <inventory-policy>continue</inventory-policy>
      <inventory-quantity type="integer">1</inventory-quantity>
      <option1>5 lbs</option1>
      <option2 nil="true"></option2>
      <option3 nil="true"></option3>
      <position type="integer">4</position>
      <price type="decimal">53.55</price>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <requires-shipping type="boolean">true</requires-shipping>
      <sku></sku>
      <taxable type="boolean">true</taxable>
      <title>5 lbs</title>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2008-04-26T04:27:56-07:00</updated-at>
    </variant>
    <variant>
      <compare-at-price type="decimal" nil="true"></compare-at-price>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <fulfillment-service>manual</fulfillment-service>
      <grams type="integer">4581</grams>
      <id type="integer">3634021</id>
      <inventory-management></inventory-management>
      <inventory-policy>continue</inventory-policy>
      <inventory-quantity type="integer">1</inventory-quantity>
      <option1>10 lbs</option1>
      <option2 nil="true"></option2>
      <option3 nil="true"></option3>
      <position type="integer">5</position>
      <price type="decimal">98.00</price>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <requires-shipping type="boolean">true</requires-shipping>
      <sku></sku>
      <taxable type="boolean">true</taxable>
      <title>10 lbs</title>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2008-04-26T04:27:56-07:00</updated-at>
    </variant>
  </variants>
  <images type="array">
    <image>
      <created-at type="datetime">2006-10-06T14:26:10-07:00</created-at>
      <id type="integer">3298991</id>
      <position type="integer">1</position>
      <product-id type="integer">1692231</product-id>
      <updated-at type="datetime">2008-04-26T04:27:56-07:00</updated-at>
      <src>http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0001/0103/products/ghana_2.jpg?1268032017</src>
    </image>
  </images>
  <options type="array">
    <option>
      <name>Title</name>
    </option>
  </options>
</product>
