21 Ecuador Chocolate Bars We Tried When Visiting

I really like chocolate.

Ecuadorian chocolate has been enjoying an increase in worldwide popularity over the past few years. If you talk about chocolate with any Ecuadorian worth their salt, they will quickly point out that Pacari, an Ecuadorian chocolate company, has won dozens of international awards over the past two years, beating out traditional European chocolate makers time and time again.

After decades of merely exporting their cacao internationally, entrepreneurs in Ecuador are realizing how good their cacao is and how much pride (and money) can come from producing chocolate bars from their own cacao right here in their own country.

We had to see for ourselves what distinguishes Ecuadorian chocolate from bars processed by the premier chocolatiers around the world.  After a month of traveling around Ecuador, and 21 bars later, we found out.

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The One Reason to Skip Cuenca, Ecuador on Your Next Trip

Overlooking Cuenca from the Inca RuinsWithin moments of arriving in Cuenca, Ecuador, we felt an odd familiarity. 

The city seemed eerily similar to one we had visited a few months prior, down to just about every detail.   The buildings looked identical, the public squares just as pristine, and many of the people wore the same traditional style clothes as we saw during our stay in Sucre, Bolivia.

With our excitement at the highest levels, since Sucre has earned a spot in our Top 10 Favorite Cities anywhere in the world, we were thoroughly prepared to start throwing around the same distinction for Cuenca.

But there was one key difference which brought our whole experience down several notches.

The city is overflowing with expats, and the ones we encountered were all quite rude.

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