Masaya, Nicaragua

— Softness in taste and effect, Masaya is a treat from the first to the last sip.

Masaya is born out of a connection between Vai’s founders and some board members of La Campesina, the cooperative supplying the beans, back in 2014.

Five years later, the former decided to sublimate the great work and energy that is put into those fine quality beans.

Discover its terroir below, and go through our tasting notes and effects feedback to learn more about this beautiful cacao!

Cacao Guide

Vai Cacao

"« Smooth» was a really recurring word to characterize Masaya during our tasting. Most of the aromas we could spot triggered the back of our mouths, leaving a delicate vegetal/herbal feeling"

N.B. : This article contains an affiliate link and a 10% discount code available for a first purchase. These advantages are here to compensate the time and work we put in our project. Yet, we’re dedicated to staying objective in our analyses.
Enjoy them if you want to try new cacaos while supporting us 🙂

Terroir

ORIGIN COUNTRY

NICARAGUA

AREAS / DEPARTMENT

MATIGUAS, RIO BLANCO& MUY MUY / MATAGALPA

COOP & POST-HARVEST HANDLER

LA CAMPESINA

HARVEST YEAR

2021

BEANS VARIETY

[Mix] TRINITARIO & CREOLE

STORY & INFORMATION

Beans used in the making of Masaya are taken care and harvested by smallholder farmers, belonging to the cooperative La Campesina. More than 400 small farms are part of it, dispersed in 37 rural communities accross the department of Matagalpa.

La Campesina takes care of buying wet beans — freshly harvested and extracted from the pods, still enveloped in the fruit’s flesh — directly to each farmers, through 10 decentralized collection centers. Those beans are then channeled to the cooperative’s post-harvest facility, where fermentation and drying takes place. They’ve been running on this model for more than 20 years and have become a reference in Nicaragua when talking about local fine cacao.

More than taking care of the beans, they also support farmer’s development in providing agricultural assistance, support and training.

Once the beans are dried, they’re ready to be packed and shipped to Vai’s manufactory in Sardinia. Once they reach this beautiful Italian island, they’ll pass through a minimal and artisanal making process, meaning they’ll first be lightly roasted, before being winnowed. Winnowing is a gentle process that removes the beans’ husk. Then beans are crunched — broken into nibs — and ready to enter the last transformation step : stone-grinding.

This kind of grinding technique allows for a lower friction heat increase, and a rougher texture, both very important in keeping the maximum compounds cacao has to offer unbroke.

It also allows for a different flavor-development than the classic technique, which implies a harsher grinding + conching. And that’s it for the making process, no conching, no tempering, the cacao paste is kept as pure as possible. The cacao then dries and solidifies at room temperature in a cubic shape, ready to be chopped and transformed into a potent drink.

Details

IN HANDS

COLOR – Dark Brown
SMELL – Minty and floral notes, chocolate mousse, mango
SHAPE – Blocks

IN CUPS

COLOR – Deep brown
SMELL – Floral, Vanilla, Chilli, Portobello
FOAM – Light brown

Tasting notes

Aromas:

Wet forest/vegetal notes, unripe blackberry, woody, orangette.

Remarks:

We were surprised with the contrast that occured between smelling and tasting!

Bearing a rather vegetal smell, our taste buds were waiting for quite a full-bodied taste, yet they were met with a gentle experience.

« Smooth» was a really recurring word to characterize Masaya during our tasting. Most of the aromas we could spot triggered the back of our mouths, leaving a delicate vegetal/herbal feeling. No tanginess to stimulate the tip of our tongues, no bitterness to activate the sides. In the end an accessible taste of pure cacao that ranges among the vegetal kind. The end of our cups, where was sitting a small residue, was actually hiding delicate notes of flower and orangettes.

Effects experienced

→ Soft | Sparkling | Intuitive

Masaya embarked us on a soft journey. We could feel it settle in our heads from the end of our cup, and the mood it brought didn’t leave us for the whole experience.

It was a very gentle yet sparkling energy, that made us want to wander in the streets of the village where we stayed and just be open to what might come. It didn’t carry any heaviness, we felt present enough not to feel disconnected from anything we might want to experience. Coupled to this was a will to explore, to be slightly active that evolved into a push for creativity.

A good setup in which we envisionned ourselves using it purposefully was when connecting with friends, wandering instinctly, or expressing intuitively our creativity (dancing, painting…)

We hope you enjoyed this content! If you’d like to try Masaya, feel free to use our 10% discount code: CACAOINSIGHTS, available on your first order.