Los Ríos
A cacao growing region in Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian province the Arriba name refers to, the seat of the national cocoa research programme, and the region where the replacement of Nacional by the CCN-51 cultivar is most visible. Arriba is a trade name derived from a river, not a designation.
Does the name carry a designation?
None. Arriba is a trade name derived from the river route out of Guayaquil and carries no delimitation, register or authority. Ecuadorian fine-flavour cacao is recognised in international trade classifications, which is a separate matter from a geographic designation.
- Country
- Ecuador
- Also known as
- Los Ríos, Los Rios, Arriba, Cacao Arriba, Pichilingue, Quevedo
- Flavour families
- floral, nutty
Terroir
The lowland basin of the Guayas river system, humid and low-altitude, historically reached by boat upriver from Guayaquil — which is where the name comes from: cacao from up the river, cacao de arriba.
Flavour character
Nacional material from the region is described in both trade and review literature as floral and aromatic, and CCN-51 as more acidic, more astringent and less aromatic. The contrast is treated as documented in the review literature; the descriptors themselves remain sensory judgements.
Other regions in Ecuador
Related
Part of
- EcuadorThe Ecuadorian province the Arriba name refers to, the seat of the national cocoa research programme, and the region where the replacement of Nacional by the CCN-51 cultivar is most visible.
Varieties planted here
- NacionalDocumented as planted in this region, though plantings within a region are rarely uniform and material is frequently mixed. Los Ríos — The Ecuadorian province the Arriba name refers to, the seat of the national cocoa research programme, and the region where the replacement of Nacional by the CCN-51 cultivar is most visible.
- CCN-51Documented as planted in this region, though plantings within a region are rarely uniform and material is frequently mixed. Los Ríos — The Ecuadorian province the Arriba name refers to, the seat of the national cocoa research programme, and the region where the replacement of Nacional by the CCN-51 cultivar is most visible.
History and culture
- Cacao in EcuadorOne of the historic Arriba growing areas upriver of Guayaquil.
Sources
- Theobroma cacao L. cultivar CCN 51: a comprehensive review on origin, genetics, sensory properties, production dynamics, and physiological aspects — PeerJ, 2022(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)