Flavor Notes:
The aroma is bold out of the gate with heady florals, chocolate and dried fig.  The immediate flavor is thick chocolate and molasses.  It is earthy, rich and succulent.  The acidity is present and melds delightfully with dried fruit leather notes (red fruit and fig) and this interesting tang that when coupled with that succulent note made one taster call out 'kelp'.  I know that might sound odd but it fits and they are not wrong and I want to say, kelp is not fishy, it is umami.  There is lots of chocolate to go around and the flavor is long and deep.  I get dates, deep earth, this hint of resiny pine and toasted pecan.  The acidity and bitterness accent each other perfectly and there is astringency enough for a lovely structure. At the 75% we evaluate at the balance is right on the edge but fine.  Slightly sweeter you might not be able to stop eating it.  The bold chocolate makes an incredible milk chocolate.

Revival Cacao:
Alejandro Zamorano Escriche is the head of Revival Cacao. Years ago, Alejandro attended our Profile Roasting Seminar — and that started a relationship we feel truly blessed to carry forward each time we get to offer his beautiful beans. About Agua Escondida Agua Escondida means "hidden water spring" — named for the farm where Revival Cacao began. This 2-hectare cacao orchard is owned by a farmer named Malaquias, who now supervises the entire operation across all neighboring farms. The estate name refers to the important freshwater aquifers found throughout Tabasco. This is one of Revival's most exclusive origins, and the one that proved that with proper fermentation, cacao from Tabasco can rank among the finest in the world. Post-Harvest Details Fermentation: Centrally fermented by Revival Cacao Fermentation Vessel: Linear boxes made of Tabebuia Rosea wood Fermentation Duration: 7 days Drying: Gas-assisted artificial drying (1–2 days) + cement patios with mesh nets Sorting: Mechanical + hand sorting Farm Details Complementary Crops: Banana, plantain, pepper, hibiscus, lime Shade Cover: Under 40%

Roasting Notes:
Profile Drum Roasting:  The profile I used for this is 12:30/14:30/17:20 @ 260 F.  You are welcomed to take a strong hand on this roast. The abundant chocolate will benefit.  2 minutes in the development phase to bring out the chocolate and fruit flavors.  After that, you want to turn the roast down a little, only slowing it as you note non-vinegar sharpness in the nose.  Feel free to stretch out the Finishing phase to 5 minutes.  If you are a fan of brightness, the upper 240s and lower 250s are really going to sing sing more as the sweetness will be lower. Behmor:  Due to the cold start of the the Behmor, you can just set it on the 1 lb setting with 2.5 lb of cocoa and go.  When you begin getting aromatic notes, somewhere around 4 minutes left (14 minutes elapsed of the 18 minute start) drop the power to P4 (75% power) and continue roasting for about another 6-8 minutes, waiting for the aroma to either decrease or get sharp.  This is all of course if you don't have a thermocouple in the beans ( Modifying your Behmor ) If you have that you can follow the profiles above.
Oven Roasting: You will need an IR thermometer.  Roast 2 lb of beans.  Preheat your over to 325-350 F.  Place your cocoa beans in a single layer on a baking sheet and into the oven. Stir the beans at 5 minutes and check the temperature.  Continue roasting until the surface temperature reads 205-215 F (it may well vary across the beans).  At that point, turn your oven down 10-15 F above your target EOR, in this case 260 + ~15 = 275 and continue to roast, stirring every 5 minutes until approximately 260 F. There will be variation but the beauty of this method is having turned the oven down it is difficult to over roast.  The important part here is to get good momentum going in a hot oven and then basically coasting to finish.  You may not get much chocolate or brownie aroma with this one.