Origin Introduction Origin Study, 17 Jul 2026, Lima

Origin: Peru Chuncho – classroom study, Lima, Peru

Fifteen years ago, Chuncho cacao was almost unknown, even in Peru. Now, it’s one of the most exciting cacaos available, popular with craft chocolate makers around the world. Explore the history and flavor of Chuncho in this online tasting course and learn about Chuncho cacao, which may well be the descendant from some of the first cacao to be domesticated by humans.

Chuncho was an almost forgotten cacao, growing in remote Upper Amazon valleys such as the upper Urubamba. Because of the area’s inaccessibility, the difficult conditions and the delicate nature of Chuncho cacao, with some types having very small fruits and beans, it was not considered commercially viable. When it was traded, it was often mixed with general ‘Peru’ origin cacao, causing both its distinctive flavour and its heritage to be overlooked.

As part of the US ‘war on drugs’, US AID helped introduce the more productive CCN-51 clonal cacao to the region, which is not native to Peru and generally considered not to have fine flavor, but this did help to open up trade and create an interest in the local cacao. When the craft chocolate movement began to take off in Peru, beginning with Shattel Chocolate and Cacaosuyo in Lima, there was a new interest in cacao from the Amazon, coinciding with Peru’s world-renowned culinary scene exploring Amazonian cuisine for the first time.

When these pioneer chocolate makers started to buy pure Chuncho cacao not mixed with other cacao, the world experienced the completely new and never before experience flavor notes of Chuncho for the first time. Soon bars made with Chuncho were winning first local, then regional, then world prizes, helping to establish Chuncho as one of the most popular new cacaos.

The story doesn’t end there though, Peru has now become one of the leading craft chocolate making countries in the world, exploring and developing the extraordinary depth of its ancient cacaos. We see this especially in the farms and settlements towns around Quillabamba, where a new generation of traditional farming families have created their own boutique chocolate brands and are now at the cutting edge of Chuncho flavour, varieties and fermentation.

This course will be taught in English and Spanish in one extended classroom day, including an evening session, followed by an online exam session with a short answer exam and an origin identification blind tasting test.

The course will include:

Your chocolate samples will include:

Study format

The course will be taught in an intensive 1-day format. The day will be extended into the evening to complete the course in a single day. Lunch will be provided. The course will introduce the origin and include group tasting and profiling using the IICCT flavour profiling system.

Exams

The course will be examined with an online short answer exam and blind tasting of chocolate samples and will be moderated by our Institute assessors to our usual standards as an accredited FDQ Learning Centre. The course fee includes the cost of the exam registration. The short answer part of the exam may be completed in a separate online session if the teaching part of the course extends too long during the day. No reduction is offered in the event of not passing the course and retakes will be charged at 100€ (incl. VAT).