Yupik Organic Raw Cacao Beans, 2.2 lb (35.2 oz), Vegan, GMO-Free, Kosher, Gluten-Free, Dried Beans, Fermented, Unroasted, No Sugar Added, Source of Fiber & Iron, Ideal for Baking & Chocolate Making

. . . preserves the odor and the pleasantly piquant taste and keeping qualities of cacao beans that have been fermented to just the right extent. This grinds to powder in your bladed coffee grinder or a blender easily and that homemade powder tastes vastly fresher and better than store bought powder. Homemade cacao powder mixed with peanut or any nut butter and natural sweetener, like green stevia, makes a fantastic substitute for junk spreads such as Nutella.

Tasty beans not bitter. I eat them for nutritional snack. Will buy more soon. I’m eating a couple of handfuls per day.

I like it too much

I really like this beans. The beans were of really high quality. I have to say that I bought them with the intention of eating it plain like I read some people wrote on their reviews do. But oh my gosh! Eating them plain is a torture! They taste awful! Só now I add them to my oats pancakes and to my protein shake. I ordered another bag today and I was shocked on how much they are costing now! I bought them last December and I paid less than $20, today they are costing $36,99! I would like to know what caused such an increase on the price!

I don't have anything to which compare these beans, but I enjoyed using them to make crio bru as well as homemade chocolate. Both were delicious. I did find it difficult to winnow. I came back two years later to buy more and it has gone from $20 to $55. Not going to buy more, but for those who want to post that much, it's a good product.

I first tried cacao nibs at a plantation on Sao Tome off the coast of Africa. Fresh-roasted and delicious! After I eventually consumed the small supply I was able to bring back home with me I have searched for a suitable supply. Yupik is the third brand I've tried and I don't need to look any further. The cacao beans are excellent. I would even say "juicy". Of course there isn't any actual juice, but they _taste_ juicy to me. Each seed is still covered by a skin something like a bean seed, but with a sweet remnant of the cacao fruit. The skin gradually softens and is easily removed leaving the inside seed to savor. The seeds are slightly bitter, slightly acidic with a taste of roast cocoa-nut. I love them. They probably carry a decent charge of theobromine (relative of caffeine) so careful how many you eat at a sitting. I nibble on a tablespoon working at my desk. A delicious low calorie snack.

THE COCOA BEANS ARE NOT RAW; THEY ARE ROASTED! Multiple times I have made my own chocolate from cocoa pods into chocolate, fermenting, roasting, and grinding them myself. These beans are not raw, they are already roasted and, contrary to the yeasty smell the fermented beans smell like, these smell like vinegar which, has effected some of the beans I tasted. Raw beans/seeds, even after fermentation, are soft, a light brownish or tanish color and not dry. They are also not easy to peel. Again, these beans are roasted and if you roast them yourselves, you will end up with a burnt tasting chocolates. Especially if you have a small business and want to try these out for your chocolates, don’t. The quality of these are terrible. Photos: the image displaying a large amount of beans on a tray are this product right out of the bag. I have also shared what beans should look like when I do the process from cocoa pod to roasting on my own. First photo is this product. Third is 7 day fermented beans, those beans post roast (a little too crisp…lost track of time) and then shelled roasted beans from pervious three pictures. The difference is shocking.

I've been baking professionally for quite a while now, and tend to shy away from using cacao as an ingredient due to previous experiences. These exceeded even my greatest. For $20! Whole beans, fresh, good flavor profiles, and besides using them as an ingredient in a cacao brittle and as a garnish, they are an excellent fidget snack. I sort them by how loose the skins are. The ones that are harder to peel intact are for snacking. You can tell when they won't crackle if you roll one between thumb and forefinger. You gotta work for it, but it's worth it! The ones that DO have a dry, crackling peel tend to be best for desserts or candy, not due to a quality issue, but ease of preparation. It's easier to peel the drier ones without them falling apart. 5/5 overall.

Satisfied