Ok, now this is getting ridiculous! We're supposed to be well into the dry season here but it's been overcast almost everyday. And here I was thinking we'd be able to finish up the last bit of this harvest and sun dry the beans and finally learn to 'dance the cocoa' in the old traditional way ... :( *sigh
Anyway, atleast we won't have to sell the beans wet this time thanks to the Montserrat Farmers Association! This is a cocoa farmers co-op that has come together to produce finest grade dry cocoa from the Monserrat Hills - a region which also encompasses our estate! I had the pleasure of meeting with gentleman heading the co-op at the Fine Cocoa Workshop held up at the University of the West Indies. (Which incidentally was so much fun, with so many lovely people passionate about cocoa ... I forgot to take pictures!)
Once a member, they'll be able to dry our beans for us in the nice old fashioned drying houses and I'll actually be able to get them back to start making some chocolate! The really interesting thing about this association, is that, thanks to the high quality of dried beans and the quantity they are able to produce, they qualify for the special export license which would allow them to export out of the country. They're in the market for a foreign chocolate maker to produce a single origin bar... Here's where yours truly comes in *^_^ Something tells me 2011 is gonna be one awesome year!
