Ajala Ecuador Hacienda Limon

Ajala chocolate is a bean to bar chocolate maker from Czech Republic. Ajala's adventure begins when Martin buys chocolate from Native Americans in Guatemala. Tasting this Mayan chocolate was an incredible experience due to the surprise of discovering an unusual taste, because the chocolate tasted very different from those tasted until then. This experience led to the decision to produce quality chocolate and therefore to found Ajala chocolate. Ajala in the Mayan language means to awaken. Ajala because tasting that chocolate aroused curiosity and the desire to know real chocolate. Ajala was founded with the intention of producing real chocolate made only with fine cocoa beans and cane sugar. Ajala uses fine cocoa beans from Central and South America. Ajala works directly with the growers by paying a fair price for the cocoa. In this way it contributes to improving their quality of life and encourages them to take care of the fine cocoa plantations. The cocoa beans are fermented and dried directly in pinatagione. The real and complex taste of Ajala chocolate is due to the precious ingredients used (cocoa beans and cane sugar) but also to careful craftsmanship. The cocoa beans arrived in the laboratory are inspected by hand to eliminate any impurities and broken or defective beans. It is these details that make the difference between a chocolate and an emotion chocolate. After the inspection, the cocoa beans are gently roasted. A low roasting temperature helps create the best taste experience while preserving as many health benefits as possible. After roasting the beans are crushed and crumbled. After, processing continues with mixing using a melanger. This stage of processing is very delicate for the beans, which are heated only by natural friction. At this stage, Ajala also adds the only other raw material used to make its chocolate: cane sugar. The beans are ground in the melanger for 2-3 days. Once the chocolate is ground, it is left to rest. Then you can finally start transforming the chocolate mass into a bar of chocolate. By tempering the chocolate it is heated, cooled and reheated, making the chocolate wonderfully shiny and crunchy. After tempering, the chocolate is poured into molds and cooled. After cooling, Ajala manually wraps the tablets, first in insulating paper and then in the hand-printed packaging produced by the Calico printing shop. The design is based on historical motifs used during the First Republic, when Czechoslovakia was the third largest cocoa bean processor in the world. It is this tradition that Ajala wants to continue.