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100% Cacao Powder

Single Origin - Ecuador

(Fermentation by Design)

Fine-flavor organic cacao, craft roasted in small batches, then winnowed and milled into a naturally rich powder. Nothing added.

$20.00

Stir

Melt into coffee, warm milk, or your favorite cozy drink.

Bake

Bring deep cacao flavor to brownies, cakes, and cookies.

Blend

Add chocolate richness to smoothies, shakes, and frozen drinks.

Finish

Dust, fold, or garnish with a final touch of cacao.

Make at Home

Fudgy Cacao Brownies

55 min

Everyday Bake

Deeply chocolate, irresistibly fudgy brownies with a delicate crackled top, chewy edges, and a soft, truffle-like center.

Cacao Forward
Mostly Pantry Staples
No Special Equipment

View Recipe

Make at Home

Sipping Chocolate

15 min

Quick Win

Deep, silky drinking chocolate made with pure cacao, 70% dark chocolate, milk, and cream—with optional Earl Grey for a subtle citrus note.

Cacao Forward
Thoughtful Sweetness
Mostly Pantry Staples

View Recipe

Make at Home

Silky Cacao Truffles

2 hrs 30 min

Everyday Bake

Silky dark chocolate truffles enriched with pure cacao and finished with a delicate cacao coating.

Cacao Forward
Thoughtful Sweetness
Mostly Pantry Staples

View Recipe

From Our Case

Flourless Avocado Fudge Brownie Cookies

45 min

Everyday Bake

Deeply chocolate, flourless brownie cookies made with avocado, pure cacao, and dark chocolate—with soft centers, and crisp edges.

Better by Design
Flourless
Cacao Forward

View Recipe

Country

Ecuador

Region

Multiple Ecuadorian growing regionsProcessed in Durán, Guayas Province

Cacao Identity

Mixed / Documented GeneticsNeo-Nacional

Harvest

2026

Fermentation

The cacao is bag-fermented in a humidity-controlled room at Camino Verde’s central fermentary. Carefully selected microorganisms are introduced to encourage an efficient, repeatable fermentation and promote specific flavor precursors within the beans.

This controlled approach reflects founder Vicente Norero’s background in microbiology and his extensive work developing fermentation methods for fine-flavor cacao.

Drying

Raised-Table Sun Drying

Following fermentation, the cacao is sun-dried on raised tables to encourage airflow and even moisture reduction. Mechanical drying may be used when weather conditions make it necessary.

Supplier documentation identifies the whole beans as containing approximately 49–52% cocoa butter. The finished natural cocoa powder has been pressed to approximately 10–12% fat.

Certifications

Organic

Producer

Camino Verde Fermentary

Roast

Balanced

Genetics / Pedigree

A Modern Expression of Nacional

This cacao is identified by the supplier as Neo-Nacional, a documented blend rooted in Ecuador’s Nacional cacao heritage. Camino Verde selects and combines cacao to achieve a consistent classic Nacional expression rather than presenting the lot as a single uniform cultivar.

The resulting profile retains Nacional’s aromatic character while emphasizing a deeper, more approachable foundation of chocolate, almond, and gentle floral notes.

Producer Profile

Camino Verde is a privately owned central fermentary in Durán, just outside Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is led by Vicente Norero, whose background in microbiology informs an unusually deliberate approach to cacao fermentation.

Rather than relying on a single fixed process, Camino Verde uses controlled conditions, selected microorganisms, and carefully designed fermentation methods to develop particular flavor characteristics within each lot. The fermentary can work with cacao from individual estates, defined regions, or selected blends while applying consistent post-harvest standards.

Why We Chose This Source

Exceptional cacao does not end when the pod is opened. Fermentation determines whether the character hidden inside the fruit is preserved, diminished, or transformed into something extraordinary.

We chose Camino Verde because Vicente Norero treats fermentation with the same curiosity and precision that we bring to roasting and chocolate making. His work connects agricultural experience with microbiology, using careful control not to manufacture artificial flavor, but to help the cacao express more of what is already there.

That shared belief matters to us: remarkable ingredients deserve attention at every stage. This cocoa powder begins with Ecuadorian cacao, but its clarity, dependable quality, and distinctive character also reflect the thoughtful work that happens after harvest.