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Single Origin

Small-Batch

Bean to Bar

PURE EXPRESSIONS

Bolivia

Alto Beni

(Palos Blancos)

70% Dark Chocolate

Unlike more forceful origins, this 70% dark chocolate is delicate, nuanced and wonderfully unconventional. Notes of ripe cherimoya lead into cinnamon and warm spice, followed by a dry, oak-like woodiness reminiscent of chocolate aged in a barrel.

The cacao comes from smallholder farming communities across Bolivia’s Alto Beni region. The dominant wild criollo beans, farmed on boats in the river, creates a restrained but deeply distinctive expression made for anyone who enjoys discovering chocolate’s more unexpected side.

$7.50

Country

Bolivia

Region

Alto BeniPalos Blancos and Buena Vista

Elevation

500 m · Andean–Amazon foothills

Cacao Identity

Mixed / Documented GeneticsWild Criollo & Trinitario

Harvest

2023

Fermentation

Wooden-Box Fermentation

Fresh cacao collected from Alto Beni’s smallholder network was fermented in wooden boxes for approximately 5–6 days through the project’s centralized post-harvest system.

Centralized fermentation allows small harvests from many farms to form batches large enough for more consistent processing. Detailed records covering box dimensions, turning intervals, temperature development, and individual farm contributions were not retained for this lot.

Drying

Sun-Dried on Platforms

Following fermentation, the cacao was sun-dried on raised platforms equipped with rain covers. This system provides airflow around the cacao while allowing the drying team to protect it during Alto Beni’s wet tropical weather.

Exact drying duration, turning schedule, weather conditions, and final moisture targets were not retained for this lot.

Certifications

USDA Organic

Producer

Alto Beni Cacao Company smallholder networkSourced with Chocolate Alchemy

Roast

Light

Genetics / Pedigree

Wild Criollo & Trinitario Heritage

Retained sourcing documentation identifies this lot as a mixture of Criollo and Trinitario cacao, with Wesley’s historical record describing the population as predominantly wild Criollo.

Cacao from Alto Beni includes material cultivated on small farms as well as trees associated with riverbanks and forest margins. No lot-specific DNA analysis or documented percentage breakdown was provided, so the identity reflects the supplier’s trade description rather than a verified genetic composition.

Producer Profile

The Alto Beni Cacao Company works with smallholder cacao-growing families throughout Alto Beni. Rather than asking each farm to manage very small fermentations independently, the company purchases fresh cacao and places post-harvest processing in the hands of a trained local team.

Wooden-box fermentation, controlled sun drying, producer training, and shared quality standards allow cacao from many small farms to become more consistent specialty lots. The Walikeewa project also supports organic certification and creates a more direct route between Alto Beni’s farming communities and international chocolate makers.

Why We Chose This Source

Alto Beni cacao does not need overwhelming intensity to be memorable. Its character is quieter and more unusual: cherimoya and melon deepen into cinnamon, toasted nut, and dry oak, creating a chocolate that invites attention rather than demanding it.

We also chose this source because improved post-harvest processing can materially change what is possible for small producers. Centralized fermentation and drying give farming families access to skills, equipment, consistency, and markets that would be difficult for each farm to develop alone.

Walikeewa represents the kind of progress we want our purchases to encourage—better cacao created alongside stronger opportunity for the people who grow it.

Flavor of Place

Between the Andes and the Amazon

At approximately 500 meters above sea level, Alto Beni lies where Bolivia’s Andean foothills descend toward the upper Amazon Basin. Rivers move through warm, humid valleys surrounded by tropical forest, small farms, and the dramatic rise of the mountains beyond.

This meeting of landscapes produces a quieter and more contemplative expression of cacao. Ripe cherimoya and melon bring rounded fruit, followed by cinnamon-like warmth and a restrained, dry woodiness reminiscent of oak. Rather than overwhelming with intensity, the chocolate reveals itself gradually—delicate, balanced, and shaped by the convergence of mountain and rainforest.

Between the Andes and the Amazon — The Andean–Amazon foothills surrounding Bolivia’s Alto Beni region.

Cacao of the River Forest

Wild Character, Cultivated Expression

Alto Beni is known for cacao populations described in retained sourcing records as wild Criollo and Trinitario. Some cacao is gathered from trees growing near rivers and forest margins, with harvests moved by boat through a landscape where waterways remain essential to daily life.

The 2023 Walikeewa lot is more restrained than some earlier Alto Beni harvests. Its character leans toward browned fruit and wood: dried cherimoya, soft cinnamon, toasted Brazil nut, and an oak-like dryness that gives the chocolate structure.

These flavors demonstrate how genetics are only part of an origin’s story. Cultivation, harvest conditions, fermentation, drying, and crop year can produce meaningfully different expressions even among cacao drawn from related regional populations.

Wild Character, Cultivated Expression — Cacao harvested within the river-fed forests and farms of Alto Beni.

People & Provenance

Better Processing, Stronger Opportunity

For years, many of Alto Beni’s smallholder families fermented and dried cacao independently, often with little equipment and inconsistent methods. Quality varied considerably, making it difficult for growers to reach the international specialty market.

The Walikeewa project began changing that system in 2009. Bolivian brothers Jorge and Nelson Valverde worked with chocolate maker Alex Whitmore to develop a new market for Alto Beni cacao. A centralized fermentation facility later brought wooden-box fermentation, controlled sun drying, farmer training, and quality standards into the hands of a dedicated local team.

Today, the Alto Beni Cacao Company purchases fresh cacao and manages post-harvest processing for a network of smallholder producers. Walikeewa—an Aymara word meaning “improved”—captures the project’s purpose: better processing, greater consistency, and a more direct connection between farming families and specialty chocolate makers.