Nacional / Arriba Chocolate
Ecuador's floral, jasmine-scented fine-aroma cacao. 108 Nacional / Arriba bars on Chof, from 50 makers, at an average of 71% cocoa.
Chof's Nacional / Arriba bars come mostly from Ecuador, Peru and Tanzania, and every bar lists Nacional / Arriba the way its maker states it, not as a verified fact. Tasting notes that come up most often: floral, honey, citrus, caramel, nuts and nutty.
What is Nacional / Arriba chocolate?
Nacional, also called Arriba, is Ecuador's signature fine-aroma cacao. Its calling card is a floral perfume of jasmine and orange blossom, carried in part by the aroma molecule linalool, alongside fresh fruit and gentle nuttiness. It is one of the clearest cases of genetics you can actually taste.
Nacional is Ecuador's gift to chocolate and the reason the trade coined the word "Arriba" for its lifted, perfumed aroma. Its signature is floral: jasmine and orange blossom, driven in part by a single aroma molecule, linalool, that Nacional trees produce in unusual amounts (Colonges et al., 2021).
Pure Nacional is scarcer than the name suggests. After disease and a century of crossing with introduced cacao, genetic studies of Ecuador's crop (Loor Solorzano et al., 2009, 2012) found that only a small share of trees were still genetically pure, so a lot of what is sold as Nacional today is really a Nacional-influenced hybrid.
The catalog agrees with the science. Among Chof's Nacional bars the flavour notes that rise to the top are floral and perfumed, alongside fresh fruit and berry, in a way no other major variety matches. Most comes from Ecuador, with a growing share from northern Peru, whose fine-aroma cacao carries a strong Nacional background of its own.
How to read a Nacional / Arriba claim
Every Nacional / Arriba bar on Chof shows the variety as its maker lists it, not as an independently verified fact. Of the 108 that name Nacional / Arriba, 17 list it as part of a blend rather than on its own; open any bar to see the full bean line its maker gave.
- A true Nacional or Arriba bar leans floral and bright rather than plain and chocolatey. If it tastes of flowers and fresh fruit, the label and the plant agree.
- Ecuador also grows a lot of the high-yield CCN-51 hybrid, which is bolder and more acidic, so a generic "Ecuador" bar is not necessarily Nacional.
Best Nacional / Arriba bars
Ranked by the Chof Score
- Rank 1:
MaüaEcuador 80%
80%darkEcuador - Rank 2:
Coco CaravanGuayaquil Hacienda Victoria 75%
75%darkEcuador - Rank 3:
SOMAMr. Salazar 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 4:
Goodnow FarmsEsmeraldas Ecuador 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 5:
Lucid ChocolatierMaranon 100%
100%darkPeru - Rank 6:
TosierEcuador 65%
65%milkEcuador - Rank 7:
SOLKIKIEcuador Camino Verde 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 8:
ZOTORugoso 75%
75%darkNicaragua - Rank 9:
Heinde & VerrePearl of Ecuador
71%darkEcuador - Rank 10:
ChokaicoCosta Esmeraldas 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 11:
ChokaicoHacienda San Jose 55%
55%milkEcuador - Rank 12:
SOMAMbingu, Tanzania 70%
70%darkTanzania - Rank 13:
Standout ChocolateLiquorice & Smoked Salt
67%darkEcuador - Rank 14:
Kasama ChocolateCosta Esmeraldas 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 15:
Donna ElviraPeru Fortunato No. 4
70%darkPeru - Rank 16:
CHOCOLATE TREEEsmeraldas 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 17:
ChokaicoHacienda San Jose 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 18:
Lucid ChocolatierYuzu 72% Dark
72%darkPeru - Rank 19:
Barre ClandestineKilombero & Crème de Cajou 60%
60%milkTanzania - Rank 20:
Pump StreetEcuador 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 21:
ChokaicoBourbon Noir 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 22:
ChokaicoCosta Esmeraldas Dark Oat Milk Chocolate
50%milkEcuador - Rank 23:
ChokaicoCosta Esmeraldas 60%
60%darkEcuador - Rank 24:
KAICAO65% Cacao Café arábico y cardamomo
65%darkEcuador - Rank 25:
FossaHacienda Limon 73%
73%darkEcuador - Rank 26:
The Heart of CacaoEcuador 70% Pure
70%darkEcuador - Rank 27:
TosierEcuador 80%
80%darkEcuador - Rank 28:
Friis HolmRugoso 70% Bad Fermentation
70%darkNicaragua - Rank 29:
HerufekDominican Republic 72%
72%darkDominican Republic - Rank 30:
Kasama ChocolateCosta Esmeraldas 88%
88%darkEcuador - Rank 31:
Chocolatoa75% Ecuador Nacional Arriba Tsáchila
75%darkEcuador - Rank 32:
JULAID70% Tanzania
70%darkTanzania - Rank 33:
ZotterLabooko Ecuador 60%
60%darkEcuador - Rank 34:
Huma ChocolateVinces 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 35:
SOLKIKIMarañón Fortunato No. 4
68%darkPeru - Rank 36:
KarunaEdelschwarz Gin Infused 75%
75%darkTanzania
Where Nacional / Arriba grows
Makers working with Nacional / Arriba
Common cocoa percentages
Frequently asked about Nacional / Arriba chocolate
What does Nacional or Arriba chocolate taste like?
Floral and perfumed, with jasmine and orange-blossom notes, fresh fruit and gentle nuttiness, and a soft acidity. The floral character comes largely from the aroma molecule linalool, which Nacional produces in unusual amounts. It is one of the most recognisable flavours in fine chocolate.
How many Nacional / Arriba chocolate bars are on Chof?
Chof lists 108 Nacional / Arriba chocolate bars, from 50 makers, at an average of 71% cocoa.
Which makers work with Nacional / Arriba cacao on Chof?
The most-represented makers using Nacional / Arriba on Chof are Paccari, Chokaico, Mindo Chocolate, Lucid Chocolatier, SOLKIKI. Each bar links to the maker that made it.
Sources and further reading
- Loor Solorzano et al. (2012). Insight into the Wild Origin, Migration and Domestication History of the Fine Flavour Nacional Theobroma cacao L. Variety from Ecuador. PLOS ONE.The wild origin and near-loss of pure Nacional.
- Loor Solorzano et al. (2009). Tracing the native ancestors of the modern Theobroma cacao L. population in Ecuador. Tree Genetics and Genomes.Traces the native ancestry of Ecuador's Nacional cacao.
- Colonges et al. (2021). Two Main Biosynthesis Pathways Involved in the Synthesis of the Floral Aroma of the Nacional Cocoa Variety. Frontiers in Plant Science.The biochemistry of linalool, the molecule behind Nacional's jasmine and orange-blossom perfume.
Related varieties
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