Ocumare 61
FLAVOR PROFILE: low-key chocolate to strong undertones of it; cream, caramel, biscuit & high bright notes (peaches & berries)
CHARACTERISTICS: presence of old Criollo (red pods), high productivity & good defenses against disease… therefore, successfully utilized in grafts for modern plantings which yield overall gentle / light touch with occasional gutsy acid spikes
Ocumare 67
FLAVOR PROFILE: Earthen – nuts (peanut, pecan & cashew), spice like clove / vanilla, occasionally cream
CHARACTERISTICS: darker tone than its sibling, more aggressive & bold (61’s acids stripped away, hence, less fruit) + bigger structure
The “celebrated estate” in Ocumare de la Costa Valley, Aragua State, Venezuela visited by Stahel in 1924 (probably Santa Rosa) possessed a variety of high “repute” & bore some connection to Trinidad in the early 20th century.
It possibly laid the foundation for a ordinal series of hybrid crosses (numbered 1 thru 61 to 67 & up to 100 by order of appearance) made by Manuel Palma during the 1940s in Ocumare, Choroni, & Chuao valleys — all Venezuela.
Presumably a back-cross to Criollo of an Amazon-Criollo hybrid, most accurate to call it a near-Criollo.
Currently growing in Brazil, as well as Ocumare de la Costa Valley, where 99% of the cacáo woods were once, alas no longer, covered with red-fruited Criollo trees. Flavorfully kind & hardy.
