Ecuador Palo Santo 68% Chocolate Making Kit

Some beans fight you. Palo Santo is one of them. It refuses to behave at 80% — too sharp, too dry, too much swagger for its own good.

After a few rounds of what scientists technically call FAFOing, I landed on a formula that finally makes it sing: 68% chocolate with 14% cocoa butter. It rounds off the rough edges without drowning the flavor.

So rather than let you reinvent the wheel, I’m offering this turn-key kit—everything you need to make chocolate fine-tuned to this particular bean. Not a trade secret, and definitely not perfect, but close.

See what you think.

Everything is pre-roasted, winnowed, portioned, and measured. No weighing. No prep. Just pour it into your melanger and let the magic happen. By the next day, you’ll have fresh craft chocolate.

Ecuador Palo Santo 68% Chocolate Making Kit

Flavor Notes from Ecuador Palo Santo - UTZ - 2023

The aroma starts off with higher notes of lively lemon and citrus peel.  There is chocolate and sweet nut aromas in a subtle way too. Going around the chart, there is a very soft malic acidity.  Given the citrus aroma and flavor you might expect a higher acidity but it isn't there.  There is the slightest bitter edge of citrus rind and a classic lemon zest astringency.  It rounds off with a creamy mouth feel, light resinous wood and a soft sweet fresh date in the aftertaste.

I would recommend keeping the chocolate you make with this on the slighter sweeter side.  Where I evaluate it, at 80%, can be a bit much for some and it is missing some balance.  In the 65-70% range I find it really shines. 

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Recommended For

1. Dark Chocolate
2. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Certifications

UTZ

What's Included:

This kit includes all the materials you need for making a batch of untempered chocolate, already portioned out.  You won't need to roast, winnow or even weigh anything. All you have to do is toss the supplied ingredients in your Melanger and in the next day or so you will have chocolate ready to temper or store (or other uses as you see fit).

What's Required:

A Melanger is 100% required to refine the ingredients to smooth modern chocolate. This is not optional.

What's Recommended

• Basics: We assume you have basic cooking equipment and utensils and a basic home oven.
• For Tempering: We can't recommend using Silk enough. Makes it dead simple and reliable to get a modern shine and snap finish on your chocolate. Please know, we are only able to ship Silk in the cooler months.
• Molds: We suggest our chocolate molds for tempering to make sure you have enough. Many People enjoy our Professional Grade 2oz Bar Mold.

Care & Storage

To preserve its freshness and rich flavor, always store chocolate making ingredients in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. They benefit from stable, moderate conditions and should be kept sealed when not in use.