At Durca, a Grand Cru goes beyond a designation of quality, it is the purest expression of a single land. Each bar carries the climate, soil, and rhythm of its origin, interpreted through the patience of our craft. Within the collection, every Grand Cru bar represents a dialogue between land and artisan, nature and intention.
Before we begin this journey, a small invitation. If you wish to understand where each flavor was born, the landscapes, the forests, the hands that shaped our cacao, we encourage you to visit The Terroirs series. That is the story of land.
Inside the Collection is a descent into the anatomy of a Grand Cru: It is an exploration of how flavor evolves, and how each harvest into a sensory language.
The Three Grand Crus
Quinindé
Appellation Río Blanco, Hacienda Nueva Esperanza
Made from Ecuadorian Nacional cacao fermented for seven days at low altitude, this Grand Cru develops its vibrant character in the tropical forests of Quinindé. The longer fermentation allows native yeasts to build fuller fruit notes, creating a chocolate that carries the unmistakable signature of the tropics.
Through a medium roast that lifts fruit brightness and a two-day conching that aligns texture and acidity, this 70% dark chocolate bar crafted with high-quality cane sugar achieves its balance.
The opening is fresh and bright: notes of banana, guayaba, and melon glide across the palate, followed by a soft, creamy undertone reminiscent of biscuit.
Quinindé is the most extroverted of the collection.
Like all Durca Grand Crus, this bar is entirely plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and free from lecithin.
Mache Chindul
Appellation Esmeraldas, Ecuador
This Grand Cru begins in the silence of the coastal rainforest, where mist drifts through the trees and the air carries traces of salt from the nearby sea, a nuance that later returns in the bar’s subtle saline tone.
The cacao, a selection of Ecuadorian Nacional P14 from the Mache Chindul forest, is fermented for five days to build acidity and sweetness that balance and blend naturally with its subtle salty-umami edge.
Crafted with high-quality cane sugar, a medium roast keeps the cacao’s herbal character alive, while over forty-eight hours of conching create a smooth and steady texture on the bar.
On the palate, macadamia and banana open smoothly, giving way to oolong tea and, as the chocolate melts, the slow rise of cocoa butter and sea salt.
Tasting Mache Chindul, the most adventurous of the collection, is a rich sensory experience.
Napo
Appellation Napo River, Ñuchanchi Llacta, Amazon Ecuador
Sourced from the upper Amazon basin, this Grand Cru carries the character of Napo’s constant humidity. Before fermentation, the Ecuadorian Nacional Kallari cacao has already absorbed the flavor of the wet forest and steady rain that surrounds it.
Fermented for five days and roasted lightly, the most delicate roast of the collection, it preserves the cacao’s natural complexity. This bar develops a structure where flavors of dark cherry, fine wood, and humid earth coexist. Crafted with high-quality cane sugar and refined through an extended conching, it achieves a smooth texture.
Designed for chocolate sommeliers and curious palates. Napo is the most serene of the collection.
Tasting the three Grand Crus side by side is a journey through Ecuador’s finest cacao expressions. Each bar tells its own story, but together they offer an experience of complexity, contrast, and pure pleasure.
© Durca Chocolate