Mexico Almendra Blanca Finca Frida 2025 Direct Trade
$ 22.90
Origin: Mexico
Region: Tabasco, Chontalpa
Estate: Finca Frida
Type: Almendra Blanca (White Almond), Criollo
Certifications: Direct Trade
Harvest Year: 2025
Flavor notes:
There is a bit to know going into this bean. As you can see, it is a white bean. This is your classic Criollo. It is reasonably delicate in nature and oddly, can be rather polarizing with it being right up your alley or not. The chocolate turns out a light brown and many people will think it a milk chocolate. This is where it gets the White Almond description. I guess saying this bean is unique would be on point.
The thing with Criollo is that it comes with a lot of mystique and myth. It is generally speaking, highly sought after. What that is is very much up to debate. My personal theory is that it is mostly supply and demand but that is also mixed with its unique flavor and history.
It is not unlike why we prize gold. It is pretty and pretty rare. That is where its value most is. As a metal, it is not super useful except in very select circumstance and the same is true here. As a tool, gold pretty much sucks. As an inlay to a tool, it is hard to surpass its beauty. As a bar of chocolate Criollo is....not very approachable. It does not have a huge chocolate flavor. It is often quite bright. In some places this has morphed into such words as elegant, nuanced and sublime. Those words are not wrong but I have trouble saying they are correct in all cases. Where are they correct?
Unsurprisingly, they are much more on target if the cocoa is used how it was originally used, as a drinking chocolate.
As hot chocolate it is indeed sublime. I find it velvety, soft, mild but with chocolate present. If you happen to be like me and find too many hot chocolates too sweet but drinking chocolate too heavy, you have simply got to try this. There is a nuttiness that peaks out in the chocolate that in this liquid gold form is dare I say elegant, nuanced and sublime. Yep, I dare! The acidity that is a bit bracing in bar form is the perfect counterpoint balance here.
You tastes may vary but I found a one to four ratio of 80% chocolate to water near perfect. That means 2 oz of chocolate in about 6 oz of hot water will make a delightful cup of liquid gold and can be sipped and savored without overwhelming the palette.
But what about as a chocolate? Not unlike gold that is so very more useful (and less frustrating) when alloyed with another metal (think 18 carat gold vs 24 carat) I find I like this bean blended with another (Mexican Aqua Escondida is a great choice) or just tamed a little with some extra sugar or milk.
How is it as pure 24K Gold Criollo? Let's get into that.
Nothing like burying the lead, once and yet again, like gold, this bean is expensive. Beans from Finca Frida are notoriously expensive (nearly double the current already high market) and hard to get so when some came available I jumped on it, for better or worse. There is only a few hundred pounds and when those are gone, I haven't a clue if I'll be able to get so lucky as to get more.
The aroma starts off with lovely light chocolate and bright high notes. They put me in mind of various lively fruits like plum (Japanese style) and lychee. The chocolate is tangy and bright. No surprise. It is a very clean citric acid brightness. There is a hint of fresh bell pepper (very subtle), soft persimmon and a round milk chocolate like softness. The delicate bitterness present (combined with the acidity) rather puts me in mind of a lightly roasted 3rd wave cup of unsweetened coffee. I describe it that way as it really isn't mocha which I think of as heavier with more body. There is a little malty sweetness that you even get from certain white breads. Again, that round, soft mouth feel plays over and over that can you think you have a bright milk chocolate.
The Almendra Blanca we have had in the past is a Mexican variety of cocoa, coming from the Chontalpa region in Tabasco Mexico coming from around 30 farmers supported by Maxiterra’s Cocoa Program, based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Sustainability and Fairtrade thru FAO’s Farmers Field Schools model (FFS).
Here, this is from the single estate Finca Frida. Compared to elsewhere in Mexico, and for cacao farms the world over, cross-pollination of the cacao from different genetics at neighboring cacao farms does not occur, thanks to the fact that the almendra blanca grown at Finca Frida is located next to the sea and far away from other cacao farms.
Small fermentation boxes are used, built with the same tropical woods that are grown in the estate. Usually, fermentation boxes have a capacity of 1000 kg of wet beans, but these boxes are much smaller, Each box contains between 150to 200 kg of wet beans.
The beans are fermented 3-4 days, pretty short due to their delicate nature.
The small batches are also dried separately under the sun with small drying beds. The drying process lasts usually in 6 or 7 days to a moisture content of 6-7% and then sorted by hand as needed.
