More from Mindo

The last place we visited during our trip to Mindo was El Quetzal de Mindo, considered the ultimate destination for cacao and culinary enthusiasts alike.  On our drive over, the road was lined with these thick patches of bamboo.

Here's a shot of the outdoor area at a resort that Michael and Erica stayed at before.  The clouds are coming down the mountain which means only one thing ... the rain, she's a comin'!

One of the cabanas.  Looks awesome, huh?  Well, Michael said it may look really awesom and you may think you're in some tropical paradise, but there's no air conditioning and you swelter and sweat at night. Maybe not so awesome after all?

 This is a photo of the grounds at this picturesque location ... and it was picturesque!

 Malin, taking advantage of the opportunity to relax.

 Thin slice of the pool with cabanas in the background.

 Michael and the girls on the suspension bridge.

 Here's Gary and me on the suspension bridge.

 Sitting on the restaurant's outdoor patio enjoying a bowl of delicious fresh fruit, we were blessed to encounter this toucan in the nearby trees.  Michael said he's never seen one the two other times he's been there.  The owner pointed it out to us.

 How about this beautiful birdie?

Did I mention rain before?  Well, we're really getting ready for the rain now.

 And ... here it is!  We are, after all, in the rainy season so why shouldn't it rain?

Next stop El Quetzal de Mindo, the ultimate destination for cacao and culinary enthusiasts alike.  El Quetzal is nestled in the cloud forest of the Andes Mountains and offers exclusive tours of their bean-to-bar chocolate factory located onsite.  We saw and sampled every step of the chocolate making process and got to try their delightful, fudgy world-famous brownies.

Their in-depth tour starts with a short narration and visual presentation so that you can see their process and learn how chocolate is made.  They first began making chocolate because they couldn't find quality chocolate in and around Mindo.  Since 2008, they've been on a journey to make the best chocolate possible--a long process that starts on local family farms and ends in hand-wrapped bars at El Quetzal.

Ecuador is known for having about the best chocolate around.  The Swiss use only Ecuadorian chocolate nips for making their own chocolate.  So, if you really want GOOD chocolate, you need to make sure the cocoa came from Ecuador!  Below is is a cut-out of a cocoa pod.

 Here's a close-up of inside the pod where you can see the cocoa beans.

Before we started our tour and while we were still learning about the bean-to-bar process, we got to sample the beans at various stages:  first as a bean, second as a nip, and finally as a delectable, rich, fudgy brownie ... wow!

 

While the cocoa tree below is on their property,  El Quetzal actually sources the finest organic Nacional cacao from small family farms outside of Mindo.  They oversee the first critical stages of the process:  fermentation and drying of the cocoa beans. 

 

Here are the beans fermenting.

Here the fermented beans have been laid out for drying.

 These beans have almost finished the drying process.

 After drying, they roast in small batches to release a carmelized, chocolatey flavor to the cocoa beans. A thin husk must be cracked and winnowed from each bean in order to isolate the meaty part of the been known as the "cocoa nib."

  One of their chocolate bars is infused with chile.  Below, they are drying the chiles prior to infusing them into the chocolate.  The combination of chile and chocolate defuses the heat of the chile significantly. 

 Roasted cocoa nibs are then refined and conched by one of two methods:  stone-grinding or ball refining.  Over the course of many hours, the nutty, earthy nibs are refined into a smooth molten chocolate.   

 Finally, they temper, mold and wrap the chocolate by hand.

We didn't buy any chocolate bars from El Quetzal, we did buy a number of chocolate bars as gifts for friends from a different source and they were just as yummy!  We also had lunch in their restaurant.  Here's Gary and Michael enjoying a nice cold one.  Notice the cute little bottle wrap on the neck of the beer bottle?

 

Psalms 72:5-7

Let them fear You while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.  May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.  In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace till the moon is no more.