Our Chiapas cacao has crossed into the US
Friday was a great day all around for us & the cacao growers of Xoconusco, Chiapas as we got 2 pieces of good news: our shipment of cacao has finally crossed the US-Mexico border into Laredo, Texas on its epic journey, and we got this great video postcard below from the cacao grower Don Isidro recorded by our friend Cyrus & Kerstin from Kerstin's Chocolates in Edmonton, Canada. Cyrus & Kerstin are exploring many cacao origins around the world, from Vietnam to Madagascar in between moving their chocolate shop from Canada to Germany. Since they were going down to Chiapas, we put them in touch with Don Isidro and the CASFA cacoa coop there, and after being envious of all their posts on delicious churros in Mexico City, we got this message from them that they had met Don Isidro, helped with the cacao harvest & ferment, had a wonderful fish dinner with him and his family, and recorded this video postcard from Don Isidro to us expressing his well wishes in sending his cacao to us in Hawaii.
If this wasn't enough excitement for one day, we got word from our shipper that our cacao shipment had been escorted across the US border into Laredo where it has cleared FDA approval and is now awaiting customs release. This is very encouraging since we had heard the cacao was languishing in a warehouse in Mexico City for over a month due to some shipper misinformation. At one point we even thought it was not accepted by our shipper in Mexico City and was heading back to Chiapas! But luckily it was still on its inexorable albeit slow march NW to us. Now we just need to figure out a way to get labels sewn onto the 10 or so sacks so it can clear customs. Anyone have a friend in Laredo or San Antonio who can do a quick sewing job in exchange for some delicious hand crafted chocolate? If so please send us a kickstarter message. We gotta keep this puppy moving and get you your chocolate bars before summer hits!
Once the cacao gets out of customs, we expect it's trip to us to be much quicker, but we don't really want to expect anything quite yet, so we're surprised when a palate full of heirloom aromatic cacao shows up on our doorstep ready to make into tasty chocolate.
We'll update you if we hear anything more. Meanwhile, mobilize your troops in Texas with needles & threads!
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Aug 14, 2011
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- Website: madrechocolate.com
Pledge $20 or more
50 backers Limited (10 of 60 left)
A bar of stone ground, organic dark chocolate crafted from aromatic cacao beans grown by a coop of small farmers in Chiapas, Mexico.
Estimated delivery: Oct 2011Pledge $35 or more
50 backers Limited (10 of 60 left)
A bar of our organic, Chiapas dark chocolate plus a bar made with these aromatic cacao beans and traditional Mayan chocolate ingredients such as chili, allspice, rosita de cacao, orijuelas, or sapayul.
Estimated delivery: Oct 2011Pledge $60 or more
24 backers Limited (36 of 60 left)
One of our new beta flavors (well before the rest of the public has a chance to taste it)! Plus a bar of our organic, Chiapas dark chocolate and a bar made with these aromatic cacao beans and traditional Mayan chocolate ingredients such as chili, allspice, rosita de cacao, orijuelas, or sapayul.
Estimated delivery: Oct 2011Pledge $100 or more
37 backers Limited (8 of 45 left)
A one-of-a-kind jaguar cacao chocolate (made with patashte, the sister plant of cacao). Plus a bar each of organic, Chiapas dark chocolate, a chocolate with a traditional Mayan ingredient, and one of our new beta flavors (well before the rest of the public has a chance to taste it)!
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We will create a delicious bar to your specifications, either dark, milk, or flavored with your favorite ingredient, and send you 5 of these personalized bars.
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We'll bring you into our chocolate shop in Hawaii for a day to learn how to make chocolate. If you can't make it to Hawaii, we'll send you an entire chocolate-making class kit complete with all the ingredients, chocolate tasting samples, and clear recipes. Plus we'll send you all of the rewards listed above!
Pledge $5,000 or more
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We will send you all the above special and personalized chocolate bars, and we'lll invite you to accompany us to southern Mexico or Central America on one of our cacao explorations to see first hand where chocolate was invented, and learn how the ancient and modern Mesoamericans make their delicious chocolate drinks and foods with beautiful aromatic flowers and spices (airline tickets not included).
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