Raw Organic Criollo Cacao Beans, 16 Oz, Raw Chocolate Goodness for Baking, Snacking, and Homemade Chocolate Creations

I’ve been looking for raw cacao beans for a while now, and these were harder to find than I expected at a very reasonable price. I thought the quality was fantastic. They come fermented, but not cooked. I did try a bean out of the bag uncooked, and could tell right away that they were fermented (because they were a little sour, and I’m very sensitive to that). I did cook them at about 200°- 250° for 1 hour, and that made a world of difference! As a nice fringe benefit, the house had that nice chocolate-y smell. I grind a couple of the cacao beans with my coffee beans, so I get the chocolate flavor with no sugar, and you can’t get the type of rich flavor the beans offer with processed/powdered chocolate. I’ve also used ground beans when making Mole sauce and chili; it adds a depth of flavor that’s hard to get otherwise. If you’re expecting a snack that you can eat out of a bag, this probably isn’t it. Some people do, but in my opinion, it’s like eating coffee beans expecting them to taste like your favorite caramel macchiato- it won’t. Good product at a fair price.

Love cacao! not by themselves tho. Way to bitter. I use them with bananas, strawberries, gojis, etc. This is a good deal, the beans are good, fresh. Let them soak in some almond milk seems to add the sweetness found in chocolate. They really need to be hidden from kids. Once they taste the out of the bag bitter, it's over. Grind them and hide them in ice cream or other sweeter dishes. The skin is on, but i do not peel them. They grind up just fine and are unnoticeable. I buy the whole bean so i get a product less messed with. More pure. I've purchased a 20$/lb bags, and these for 2 for 20$, both the same taste, freshness. These are a good deal. Start here. If you don't like them there is another bag to give to friends or family.

Looks good as far as I can tell....won't actually be using them for a few weeks. Will be grinding them into 'nibs' for use in candies, etc I'll let you know if I have any problem with them at that time, but the package is intact and they arrived pretty fast (in the mailbox for some reason).

These are really fresh, and delightfully crunchy...then suddenly you wish you didn't have a mouth for how bitter it gets! I'm not sensitive to bitterness, and even I find these unbearably inedible. The solution? Eat it with powdered sugar! They're very edible with sugar on them. Candy them if you're feeling up to it, but I just scoop up some powdered sugar with the bean. (I eat them in 2 bites to make sure it has enough sugar with each bite) Like...really SCOOP it. A little dab of sugar won't balance that bitterness. Once you do that they taste like a nice earthy, crunchy, cocoa powder type of taste. So, don't waste your perfectly good cocoa beans! 😊

First time trying cocao beans, so didn't know what to expect. Read some of the negative reviews and was concerned about the product. However, the bean arrived and they taste alright. Slightly bitter, very slightly acidic. Overall pleased with the product. Has a crunch and good mouth feel.

Starting on the bright side: most beans are good. They are signifcantly less bitter that cacao paste I have tried and once peeled, I quite enjoy them. Unfortunately, some are clearly moldy! As the major reason for eating these are the supposed health benefits, mold is a complete no-no. Would not have bought these if I knew there is mold inside. Update: I am changing this to one star. In addition to mold issue, some of the beans are very bitter (not as in good chocolate, but as in spoiled bitter way), and at least one had very strange smell and taste which I for some reason associated with manure.

Delicious. Nice crunch. Nice Cocao flavor. Organic don't panic. I've tried a few different brands. I really like these. They have a nice crispness. Some other brands seem a bit more dried out. Don't know if that is a freshness thing but these are crunchy but not too hard and still have a creaminess in flavor to them with a nice prominent cocao note. They are kind of addicting. But in a good way! Love that they are USDA organic. This will be my new go to brand for cocao beans.

Updated: Second bag was not nearly as good as the first bag. Not sure what happened but the beans look different, smell different and taste different. Maybe the company switched suppliers/roasters? Pretty disappointed. Changing my original 5 star review to a 3 star review for inconsistentcy and I’m going to try another brand. Where have these been all my life? I’ve become totally hooked on eating these Cocoa Beans with raw unfiltered honey that I buy from the Farmers Market, it’s the greateste sunrise treat I’ve ever had. I also like to brew the beans in a french press with my morning tea for an awesome mix of healthy energy. It doesn’t give me any jitters like coffee and it curbs my appetite so I can start the day with a great bit of intermittent fasting. Good taste, good energy, food of the gods indeed.