Ecuadorian Truly Raw Whole Cacao Beans, Organic, 16oz - Pacari

These beans are in great shape (very whole, look good) and are vacuum-packed really well. I have had other cacao beans (from Trader Joes) that were very dry, and I THINK a bit easier to eat because they were more crunchy/crackley where as these are a bit fresher, with a hair more moisture in them so you taste the bean more -- at least it seemed that way to me.I think that means these are fresher, but really, everything else about "should I get these" boils down to your ability to eat cacao beans.The taste is not for the unprepared.If you have some bakers chocolate laying around, go try that to get the idea. There is nothing "chocolate" about these (for folks that aren't familiar with cacao beans). These taste a lot like eating giant, burned, acidic, coffee beans. The taste is sharp and I find it pretty unpleasant.I do have friends that eat raw cacao a lot (health nuts) and think it's a "good" taste.If you are already familiar with cacao and are trying to decide on a bean, I'd recommend these. As state the beans are in great shape, very whole, well packaged and seem to be quite fresh. No stale/dried out taste.I personally wouldn't get these again just because I think I hate cacao beans, not because there is anything wrong with these beans.

Although raw cacao is an acquired taste in general, this brand makes it very easy to enjoy. Nice flavor and freshness and packaging. My only issue is that the skins are pretty inedible and very tricky to remove quickly.

Just buy dark chocolate. It tastes better and it is less costly. You get a caffeine kick from this, however.

Chocolate has a benefical effect in many ways because of its abundance of antioxidants. In particular it seems to favor elasticity of arteries, improving blood flow.These beans are the best variety (there are apparently three) and they are fermented (to improve flavor) and not cooked (? better for you).They have no sugar but there is fat so they do have calories (about 8 per bean I think).They taste bitter and a little sour--a unique taste for a snack.One or two of these seems to satisfy my hunger ( the fat?) so they are great for dieting.I'm glad that I was introduced to them.

The product pictured on Amazon is shown packaged in a Pacari bag. What I received was a generic white bag with a small sticker from Gone Green (the vendor) that said Pacari Ecuadorian Cacao beans. But I have no idea if that's true. It's annoying as I paid about a 50% premium to get "real" Pacari beans, having had them before while in Ecuador.Also, I can't say I'm really fond of the taste of these. I picked up a pound of cacao beans from another vendor on Amazon for considerably less money (and with Prime) to sample, and I find I much prefer those. Given the inflated price, the fact they may or may not be Pacari and the taste, I won't be buying these again.

This is NOT the Pacari cacao I've bought for the last several years. Pacari comes in a vacuumed packed bag with their official label, not loosely packed in plastic and put in a lunch bag with the sellers label saying it's Pacari. The reason I like the actual Pacari brand is for their quality as well as their vacuumed packing that keeps the beans moist and fresh.

I purchased these beans a few months ago, and only decided to try roasting the on Friday; they have an excellent strong flavor, which the average chocolate consumer will likely not enjoy - but I am not the average consumer! I ended up making homemade chocolate banana ice cream with these beans, and am making a homemade mocha latte in the morning. These, however, can be enjoyed by the non-connoisseur, so long as they are roasted properly.I am a person who loves to utilize creativity in the kitchen, so roasting my own beans has been a wonderful experience. I am (at this moment) putting in another order for a bag of beans so that I may resume my experimentation!Wonderful product - 5 stars!

My whole family loves those cocoa beans; in fact, I am going to order 2 more packages of those once I finish typing this review, because they didn't even last for a week because they ate them all, not leaving me enough to enjoy them. I love chocolate, but having the processed chocolate, even the extra dark one, leaves me feeling guilty, and, I am not a sugar fan: yes, the dark chocolate bar does still contain sugar. I am used to the cocoa bean taste, since I have had them before, and I used to get them from a chinese store, but, they were packaged in South America. Now they closed the store and they opened Fresh and Easy store instead, but, they don't carry them. It is best consumed with almonds and walnuts. But, whoever did not have the cocoa beans, need to get used to them first.They were shipped very fast, and were nicely packaged. The beans were whole and fresh; that is the main reason that I am ordering from this vender again, plus they were not so expensive, although in the Chinese store it cost $2.99 for 9 ounces of cocoa beans. Still, it is a good buy if I can't find them in the local stores.I would recommend those beans to anyone who has tried cocoa beans before, or, if you are new to those, why not try the best and the freshest. I will also try to add a video response next time; I don't have any more cocoa beans to record now.