Nacional / Arriba Chocolate
Ecuador's floral, jasmine-scented fine-aroma cacao. 152 Nacional / Arriba bars on Chof, from 68 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, caramel, citrus, floral and fruity.
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 152 that name Nacional / Arriba, 18 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 73:
Cárdenas ChocolateAndean Fruits 72%
72%darkEcuador - Rank 74:
Cárdenas ChocolateJipijapa Coffee 72%
72%darkEcuador - Rank 75:
Chocolatoa75% Ecuador Nacional Arriba Tsáchila
75%darkEcuador - Rank 76:
Green Bean to Bar ChocolateNativo Blanco - Peru - 73%
73%darkPeru - Rank 77:
Green Bean to Bar ChocolateFortunato No.4
75%darkPeru - Rank 78:
Piety and Desire ChocolateMarañón Canyon 55%
55%milkPeru - Rank 79:
Mindo ChocolateSea Salt 67%
67%darkEcuador - Rank 80:
Seahorse ChocolateCamino Verde 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 81:
Beskid ChocolateEarl Grey 70%
70%darkEcuador - Rank 82:
Mindo Chocolate70% Rustic
70%darkEcuador - Rank 83:
Martin Mayer SchokoladenLas Peñas 90%
90%darkEcuador - Rank 84:
Lucid ChocolatierTonka 48% Milk
48%milkPeru - Rank 85:
SabadiPalermo
60%darkEcuador - Rank 86:
kamm100 x 100
85%darkEcuador - Rank 87:
Superfood CocoaKilombero Valley 83%
83%darkTanzania - Rank 88:
Monsieur TxokolaPérou 70%
70%darkPeru - Rank 89:
mashPiCacao Pulp 65%
65%darkEcuador - Rank 90:
Hoja Verde72%
72%darkEcuador - Rank 91:
Hoja Verde80%
80%darkEcuador - Rank 92:
Hoja Verde100%
100%darkEcuador - Rank 93:
LABYsSan José 73%
73%darkEcuador - Rank 94:
ShoukaEcuador Équateur 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 95:
Essenzo CacaoHacienda Victoria 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 96:
PaccariRaw 100% Cacao + Trozos de Cacao
100%darkEcuador - Rank 97:
Pump StreetSourdough & Sea Salt 66%
66%darkEcuador - Rank 98:
Bahen & CoEcuador 75%
75%darkEcuador - Rank 99:
Lady MerveillesEquateur 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 100:
AWKIPurity Bar 50g
100%darkEcuador - Rank 101:
HogarthEcuador 85%
85%darkEcuador - Rank 102:
HogarthPiña Colada 72%
72%darkEcuador - Rank 103:
KarunaEcuador 75% Volgger Whisky Nibs
75%darkEcuador - Rank 104:
Original BeansEsmeraldas 50%
50%darkEcuador - Rank 105:
Heinde & VerreDutch Original Milk 52%
52%milkDominican Republic, Ecuador & Indonesia - Rank 106:
SOLKIKICosta Esmeraldas 100+0
100%darkEcuador & Peru - Rank 107:
HÖGANÄS70% Dark Chocolate Los Ríos - Ecuador
70%darkEcuador - Rank 108:
PaccariGuayas 75% Cacao
75%darkEcuador
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 152 Nacional / Arriba chocolate bars, from 68 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, Cárdenas Chocolate, Hogarth. 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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