COCOA BEANS FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Cocoa beans from South America have the most "chocolate" taste with fruity notes. The Criollo variety (which means "noble" in Spanish) is considered the rarest and most sophisticated in the world: its share in the world cocoa bean crop is only 1–2%. Cocoa trees of this variety grow only in the tropics of South America (Peru, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia) and are very whimsical. They are very susceptible to weather conditions and prone to disease. This is what makes Criollo cocoa beans so rare and valuable.