Mexican Cacao Beans | Revival Cacao Mexico

Our Mexican Origins

We offer the full range of Mexico’s rich genetic diversity of cacao for specialty chocolate.

Agua Escondida

Tabasco, México

Río Samaria

Tabasco, México.

Sierra Madre

Chiapas, México

Sak Balam

Tabasco & Chiapas, México

Copia de Copia de Criollo cacao_edited.jpg

TABASCO, MÉXICO

Agua Escondida

AGUA ESCONDIDA means concealed or hidden water spring in English. It refers to the name of the farm where Revival Cacao started. This 2-ha cacao orchard is owned by a farmer named Malaquias, who now supervises the entire operation encompassing all neighboring farms.

The name of the estate, in turn, refers to the important freshwater aquifers present throughout Tabasco. This is one of our most exclusive origins and the one with which we showed that, with proper fermentation, cacao from Tabasco can rank among the best in the world.

Agua Escondida

Quality: Premium specialty cacao.
Genetics: Trinitario.
Post-harvest: Centrally fermented by Revival Cacao.
Fermentation style: Linear boxes made of Tabuleia Rosea wood.
Fermentation days: 7 (Seven).
Drying: Cement patios with mesh nets.
Sorting: Mechanical complemented with hand sorting.
Flavor profile: roasted pecan, dark chocolate, fruit (red fruit, plums, citrus), molasses.

Río Samaria

Quality: Premium specialty cacao.
Genetics: Trinitario.
Post-harvest: Centrally fermented by Revival Cacao.
Fermentation style: Linear boxes made of mango wood.
Fermentation days: 7 - 9
Drying: Solar driers with raised beds and cement patios with mesh nets.
Sorting: Mechanical complemented with hand sorting.
Flavor profile: Dried fruits (date, plum), coffee, chocolate, tropical fruits (maracuya, tamarind).

Río Samaria

RÍO SAMARIA is the name we've given to our newest origin from Cunduacán in Tabasco. Crisscrossed by 4 rivers and 3 lagoons, Samaria not only lends its name to the municipality's largest body of water but also to the freshwater aquifer Samaria-Cunduacán.

Revival Cacao leased a fully equipped processing facility in the heartland of one of the most productive cacao growing areas in Mexico. With this enlarged capacity and our year-long expertise in cacao post-harvest processes, we aim to return Tabasco's cacao to its deserved place in the specialty cacao market.

CHIAPAS, MÉXICO

Sierra Madre

Quality: Premium specialty cacao.
Genetics: Trinitario acriollado (mixed of trinitario and criollo).
Post-harvest: Centrally fermented by Revival Cacao’s associate organization “Granos Selectos de la Montaña”.
Fermentation style: Linear boxes made of mango wood.
Fermentation days: 6-7
Drying: Solar driers with raised beds.
Sorting: Hand sorting.
Flavor profile: Brownie, fruit (mango, plum), sugarcane, currant.

Sierra Madre

Our Chiapanecan origin hails from Soconusco, harvested and fermented by a cooperative named Granos Selectos de la Montaña, established in 2021. The core group comprises 12 members located on the border between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and the Pacific Coastal Plain. The founding members aimed to break with the Mexican tradition of not fermenting cacao but rather washing it.

Revival Cacao provides financing and technical assistance but relies on the coop members to manage day-to-day operations. Soconusco’s vast genetic diversity requires meticulous micromanagement as lots are carefully paired for fermentation. Cacao in this region has been grown continuously for millennia, making it one of the world's oldest cacao domestication centers.

SAK BALAM, MÉXICO

Sak Balam (Almendra Blanca)

Quality: Premium specialty cacao.
Genetics: Single-variety criollo "almendra blanca".
Post-harvest: Centrally fermented by Revival Cacao.
Fermentation style: Linear boxes
Fermentation days: 5-6
Drying: Solar driers with raised beds.
Sorting: Hand sorting.
Flavor profile: nut, yellow fruits, tangy.

Sak Balam (Almendra Blanca)

Smallholder cacao farms in Mexico are typically a mix of mostly unknown and uncategorized varieties, largely due to the tradition of propagating cacao trees by seed rather than grafting, along with natural cross-pollination. The almendra blanca 'single-variety' is an exception. Propagated through grafting from a specific range of cultivars, an 'almendra blanca mania' once led to a boom and subsequent bust, spreading a few 'white almond' cacao varieties across Tabasco and Chiapas. While terroir and cross-pollination influence the flavor profile, peanut butter nuttiness, coffee, and citrus notes are consistently present.

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