The Quetzal chocolate "factory" gives tours of its facility several times a day, so we caught the last one before heading out of Mindo. The tour lasts a little over an hour and begins and ends at this table.
Giving an introductory overview and a look at some of the items produced at El Quetzal
Our guide was a very entertaining fellow. Here he explains the process of growing cacao from planting to harvest.
Cacao pod
They grow their own chiles also to be mixed with chocolate.
Drying tables
Fermentation boxes
Machine for separating the chaff from the crushed up beans
The chaff corner
Artisans at work
After being guided through the process from tree to chocolate bar, cocoa powder, chocolate tea, etc, we end our tour at the same table where we started for a sampling session.
A tray of chocolate pieces just for us - varying degrees of darkness as well as flavored chocolate
El Quetzal produces chocolate mixed with hot peppers, ginger and macadamia as well as plain chocolate.
Darla's look says it all.
Brownie made from El Quetzal cocoa powder and dark chocolate syrup
The two in our group who DON'T LIKE chocolate
The sampling session was NOT their favorite part of the tour!
Darla, on the other hand.... :-)
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