Cacao de El Salvador – Part 3 (JEZ Chocolate)
November 27, 2019
Typically, cacao is grown in one part of the world while chocolate is manufactured and consumed in another. If you live in the United States, chances are the chocolate you’re eating is made from cacao gown in Africa or South America even though it was made in Switzerland or Pennsylvania.
Although it is rare, there are exceptions to this situation. In El Salvador, for example, chocolate shops are crafting chocolate bars, truffles, and hot cocoa drinks from the cacao grown in El Salvador. Sometimes, the business owner grows the cacao too.
During a recent visit to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, I was fortunate to have time to visit a couple of bean-to-bar chocolate shops. JEZ Chocolate is one of them, and it’s located near the Museo Nacional David J. Guzmán. The owner and farmer is Edwardo Zacapa.
From the moment you walk into JEZ you are educated in the ways of chocolate making. Visitors learn by using all their senses; smelling the rich aromas of roasting cacao beans, sipping hot cocoa and eating dark chocolate truffles, touching the dried cocoa pods that have been made into candy dishes, and watching the video demonstrations playing on a TV monitor. Each guest has no choice but to leave with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the traditions and techniques of growing cacao and crafting chocolate.
Sampling the chocolate, of course, is always my preferred method of learning! While drinking a steaming mug of delicious JEZ hot chocolate, I picked out an assortment of dark chocolate truffles and chocolate bars.
JEZ truffles are made from 70% dark chocolate and hand-rolled in nuts, coconut, coffee, spices, and my favorite, Agua de Jamaica sugar crystals.The solid chocolates are seasoned with chili peppers, cardamon, orange peel, and sea salt. I bought multiples of everything! Good thing I did that because the chocolates are absolutely delicious!
The truffles have a slow, even melt that delivers a lot of rich, roasted chocolate flavor and creamy texture in the mouth. The most interesting new flavor experience for me was Jamaica.
I was first introduced to Jamaica as a cold beverage (well-liked in El Salvador). I soon learned that it’s a very popular flavor overall and used in many candies and sweet goods. As a drink, it is made from an infusion of Hibiscus flowers, like a tea, and then sweetened. The color is a beautiful deep reddish-purple and the flavor is tart, like cranberry. Sometimes the tea is evaporated and dried into crystals and looks like colored sugar. Jamaica definitely complements the rich cocoa and floral notes of Salvadoran chocolate.
JEZ Chocolate is on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/JEZChocolate so check it out. And if you find yourself in San Salvador, please pay them a visit. You’ll be a better chocolate lover for it.
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Where can I purchase the JEZ hot chocolate? Is it available in the United States? Absolutely the best hot chocolate I have ever had.
I haven’t heard that you can purchase JEZ hot cocoa in the US. They have a Facebook page and you could ask them!