1 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: To get to Vulcan Lehman's compound in the Amazon kept 2 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: really want together there. For me, that involved a red 3 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: eye from Miami to Santa Cruz, Olivia's biggest city, then 4 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: a puddle jumper to a town called Trinidad, a sweaty 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: night there, and then nine grueling hours in a collectivo 6 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: taxi squeeze between farm hands and crying babies, hammering over 7 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: washboard rows at thirty miles per hour, which is about 8 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: twenty miles per hour too fast. At last, I got 9 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:50,160 Speaker 1: dropped off at Vulkar's place. Hello. Hello, it's changed since 10 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: my visit twelve years ago. For our river trip. Folcus 11 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: built himself a crazy new house, all screen, no walls. 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: A few feet away, there's an out house with tree 13 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: frogs in the toilet, a workshop with a generator, and 14 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,559 Speaker 1: a big greenhouse for fermenting cacao. There's papayetrees and bananas, 15 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: and a tiny white local chili called goose anita. It 16 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,639 Speaker 1: looks like little worms. They're brutally hot. The vulgar munches 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: them like popcorn. Surrounding it all, of course, are the cocaudries, 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: acres of them. Poker calls the place tranquila DoD. It 19 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: means tranquility in Spanish, and most of the time the 20 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: name fits most of the time. So um, if you can, 21 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: you runt down all the things to watch out for. 22 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: I'm wandering around. I always tell the people when they come, 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: please don't touch anything. I think National Geographic and all 24 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: Animal planet they give a false perspective. There are people, 25 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: you know, gripping crocodiles and snakes and whatnot, and so 26 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: don't touch the crocodiles or the snakes. Is in general, 27 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: there's actually a lot of crocodiles, not a touch. The 28 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: place is filled with them. Technically, the ones in the 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: Amazon are called caymans, not crocodiles, but I know a 30 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: crocodile smile when I see one. The big ones in 31 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: Bolivia can be more than twelve ft long, and Folkers 32 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: says to stay away from them because they like to 33 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: charge people. But the smaller ones, well, he's caught a 34 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: five footer in honor of our reunion, and now he's 35 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: prepping it for dinner. We have like rips and tail. 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: The tail will eat raw with lime juice like svich. 37 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: The ribs get fried not too long, so it stays 38 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: juicy inside, its wanderful. When you're talking about wild chocolate. 39 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: This is ground zero. Tranquilidad is where the movement was born. 40 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: The beans from these trees produced the first run of 41 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: Cruise Savage and set off the gold rush to find 42 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: more last ca cow with wicked new flavors. I've come 43 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: to work the harvest, to learn the arts of picking 44 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: and fermenting, to understand on a deeper level, where great 45 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: chocolate comes from. The Last time I was here a 46 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: dozen years ago, the trip had gone from bad to absurd, 47 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: but it ended well. Volker lined up lots of new 48 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: sources of cacao. Cruise Evage was a hit, and Volker 49 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: became a legend in the fine chocolate community. And then 50 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: something went terribly wrong. I've only heard the details from 51 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: a distance, but just like those golden pods, were cursed. Yeah. 52 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: I had no intention to dig into this jungle. Actually, 53 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: I I fell into the trap. It was just looking 54 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: for some stupid kaka in the forest. I wasn't even 55 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: planning on this. Yeah, well you'll see what happened. For 56 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: thirty years, has been chasing that grail, always believing it 57 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: was one step away, always believing that with just a 58 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: little more organization, the Amazon would fall into place. And 59 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: of course he was just the latest in a long 60 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: line of outsiders to believe that he could make sense 61 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: of the chaos, from the Spanish gold hunters and the Jesuits, 62 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: to the rubber barons of the eight hundreds and they 63 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in Still Seeking the Lost 64 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: City of z And to the characters in Werner Herzog's 65 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: Amazon films, and even Herzog himself, who seems to have 66 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: gone at least partially insane trying to make those movies. 67 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: What are your plans when this movie is all over? 68 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: What are you gonna be doing? I shouldn't make movies anymore. 69 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: Should go to a lunatic asylum right away. These dreamers 70 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: always think they're close, and every time the same thing 71 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: happens there, attempts to make it work on their terms fail. 72 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: From Kaleidoscope and I Heeart podcasts. This is Obsessions, Wild Chocolate. 73 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: I'm Roman Jacobson, Chapter two, Olivia for Dummies. Long before 74 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 1: he ever saw a cowpot, Volker Lehman was a little 75 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: boy in Berlin with a green thumb. His father was 76 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: an army veteran and a coal miner battling exhaustion and PTSD. 77 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: So he came from work and then he went for 78 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: one or two hours into the garden. Yeah, and that 79 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: helped him also to maybe forget a little about about 80 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: the harsh conditions in the coal mine. By the time 81 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: he was five, Folker was gardening right alongside him. I 82 00:05:56,279 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: had to pull out the weeds and well, sometimes I 83 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: missed and put on the carrots. Education, but he never 84 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: much liked the German climate. After high school, he took 85 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: a trip to Latin America and compared to the gray 86 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: horizons of post war Germany, it was like stepping into 87 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: a technicolor wonderland. I was intrigued by the climb, at 88 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: the music, the food. It's like you feel friendly. But 89 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,679 Speaker 1: it wasn't just the culture around farming. Volka was amazed 90 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: by the power of tropical plants, the way they grew 91 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: so ferociously, and the incredible amount of food and medicine 92 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: they could produce. One he decided to devote his life 93 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: to them. He knocked around the tropics for a few 94 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: years doing development work, and by the nineties he'd found 95 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: his way to Bolivia. The German government had a program 96 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: to try to get Bolivia's farmers to switch from coca 97 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: to less controversial crops, and Vulgar's job was to teach 98 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: the farmers how to work with the new ones. Bolivians 99 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: consider coca their most sacred plant. The leaves are chewed 100 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,159 Speaker 1: daily for stamina and stimulation, but they're also the source 101 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: of cocaine. And the ninety nineties Olivia was awash and 102 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: the stuff. Folker told me about those strange days as 103 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: we sat in his jungle home. No, but Santa Cruz 104 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: was like Carnival in real seven actually on Bolivia, and 105 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:26,559 Speaker 1: Santa Cruz was the expansion project from the Colombians because 106 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: they needed more for you, you know that is you 107 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: being meat being America. They needed more cocaine to feed 108 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: our insatiable appetite, more than they could produce in Columbia, right, right, 109 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: So first they moved into Peru, and then that wasn't enough. 110 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: Then they moved over and to to Bolivia. People are 111 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: coming from Columbia by plane, small planes, bringing even their 112 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: bands with bringing the band. Yeah, yes, you heard that right. 113 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: If you're a Colombian drug hiller on the Bolivian range, 114 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: how do you party without your local tunes. There was 115 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: a small town, Santa Ananda, Yukuma, which was then the 116 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: hot spot. And did you ever have to worry about 117 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: crossing those guys? So sometimes you sit next to one 118 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: and he would not he would invite you. Oh you're American, 119 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: you know where you come from. He wants to know 120 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: where we are if you're not from d A right right, 121 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: And then he he puts a bottle of whiskey into you. 122 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: And then you start singing, you know, and and then 123 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,199 Speaker 1: he he says, oh, this this guy is harmless. So 124 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: as Volker continued his work, he found himself caught between 125 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: his new friends, the farmers and the d e a. 126 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: Santa ana was known as a ranching town, but it 127 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,439 Speaker 1: was also the heart of Olivia's cocaine network, because, as 128 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: it turned out, the ranchers and the traffickers could be 129 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: one and the same. Because when you have a farm, 130 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,439 Speaker 1: when you have a farm here, you don't have a plane, 131 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: yeah normally and now to over watch anty hectares and 132 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: and you have to travel no roads. The natural thing 133 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: is to buy yourself as cessna. Then the pilot can 134 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: transport some some packages. You know what means, you know, 135 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: makes some side business, and of course that side business 136 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: turned out to be a lot more lucrative than cattle. 137 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,239 Speaker 1: Soon Bolivia's ranchers were saddle deep in the drug business, 138 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,439 Speaker 1: and everyone knew it. On the night of June, the 139 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: d e A took action. Dozens of helicopters carrying hundreds 140 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: of anti drug agents from Bolivia and the United States 141 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: swooped down on Santana. According to the d e A, 142 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: agents destroyed fifteen cocaine labs hidden in the little town 143 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: and confiscated dozens of planes along with hundreds of kilos 144 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: of coke. But they met stiff resistance from the townspeople, 145 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: who stormed the airport and surrounded the helicopters, chanting kill 146 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,559 Speaker 1: the Yankees, leaving no uncertainty as to where their loyalties lay. 147 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: Vulgar tried hard to persuade farmers to switch crops, but 148 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: eventually he burned out bananas, pineapple, hearts of palm. None 149 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: of the alternative crops could ever compete with cocamine. He 150 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: felt useless, so he went back to his original obsession, 151 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: studying the local plants, and before long he was searching 152 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: the rainforest for the next big thing, a plant with 153 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: global appeal, Like a vegetal talent scout. He needed a 154 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: buzzy new client, and he found one. But it wasn't cocao, 155 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: not yet. It was brazil nuts, one of the great 156 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: treats of the Amazon. The territory of Bolivia was always 157 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: the main source of the main spot of the brazil nuts. 158 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: Always because Brazil chopped theres down or even before no, 159 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: it's yeah and um. The nuts were always sold through 160 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: Brazil and this is why they called brazil nuts. But 161 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: they always came from Bolivia. Bolivia nuts really yeah. Brazil 162 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 1: Nut trees are these giants of the rainforest, towering over 163 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: the rest of the canopy. They have these little coconuts 164 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: the size of bocci balls clinging to their trunks, and 165 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: each one is filled with delicious nuts. The trees are 166 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: kind of perfect for developing a rainforest economy, wild, sustainable, delicious, 167 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: but on their own they aren't exactly a big ticket item. 168 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: Bulker needed a sex air product, and he thought he 169 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: might have the perfect candidate, a lady from the Chimana tribe. 170 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: She showed me in the wild cacao. A few years earlier. 171 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: Bulker had been exploring the jungle for valuable new plants. 172 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: The natural people to ask where the Shimani, a group 173 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: of hunter gatherers who still lived off the wild, and 174 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,079 Speaker 1: one old Shimani woman in particular, was known for her expertise. 175 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: That friend introduced me. Ah, he said, I I know 176 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,599 Speaker 1: Chimana and they have some cacaw that might be of 177 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: your interest. Let's go, and not just any cacao, wild cacao, 178 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: something Vulka had never come across in his development work. 179 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: So they went to the forest and found the old woman. 180 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: She lived in intent made from sticks and palm thatch, 181 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: and she knew all the useful plants in the forest. 182 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: They still can see her, you know, she was really tiny. 183 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: They asked if she could show them the wild cocow 184 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: and she said sure, and she led them down a 185 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: footpath into the forest. So we were walking and I 186 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: was behind her sawing. I saw her hair like a nest, 187 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: and her hair was a little monkey. It was a 188 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: little pet monkey. And Falker could not stop looking at it. 189 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: There are tiny monkeys her right, and she got one, 190 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: and I was following her and looking at the monkey 191 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: all the time, and all of a sudden, she she 192 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: stopped and showed me a cow tree. And here it 193 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: is the argent moment of the man who's going to 194 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: make wild chocolate famous. In the Hollywood version of this tale, 195 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: the wise woman hands him the yellow pod and he 196 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: stares transfixed, like Indiana Jones gazing at the golden idol. 197 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: Here is the answer. He seeks, the thing that is 198 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: going to bring sustainable agriculture to the Amazon and transform 199 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: the world of chocolate. Does he break open the pod, 200 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: sniff the fragrant seeds, and hold it up like the 201 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: Holy Grail. I wasn't really interested in the tree much, really, 202 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: so oh, yeah, I see colcohol. Okay, Nope. All he 203 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: could think about was the monkey. And then my friend said, yeah, 204 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 1: do you think this is something? I said, I have 205 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 1: no idea, But he tucked the experience away in the 206 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: back of his mind, and when he was searching for 207 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,560 Speaker 1: a sexy partner to inrobe his Brazilian nuts, he unpacked it. 208 00:13:50,400 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: And we will too after the break, Welcome back to 209 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: wild Chocolate. So we we put this Oh what oh 210 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: you call this? What's what's greater? Greater? Yeah? In La 211 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: Paz and Santa Cruz and the other cities of Bolivia. 212 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: You see rustic chocolate for sale in the markets, grainy 213 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: brown patties shaped my hand, just like he'saly in Mexico. 214 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: It's an old tradition in Bolivia, and they used stone 215 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: on stone blinders. Yeah, so that's how it's still done here. 216 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: This is the same, maybe fifty years ago. Amazing. But 217 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: if you bite into one of these patties by itself, 218 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: you're in for a bad time. Some of it tastes burnt, 219 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: some tastes like blue cheese, and it all crumbles like dirt. 220 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: For the locals, that doesn't really matter because it all 221 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: gets drunk. Is hot chocolate with enough sugar to cover 222 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: up any off flavors. For Vulcan, though, this chocolate wouldn't 223 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: cut it. There was no way he could cut his 224 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: precious brazil nuts and this stuff and pass it off 225 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: as a gourmet item. He needed better chocolate, but he 226 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: couldn't find any. He considered giving up on the whole idea, 227 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: but then he found a tiny, run down chocolate shop 228 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,560 Speaker 1: in a back alley of Lapase. The proprietor was an 229 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: eighty five year old Jewish man who could escape the 230 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: Warsaw Ghetto during World War two. And he he was 231 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: like a very traditional chocolate lover and had a small 232 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: um choco factory. Jewish artisans have been at the heart 233 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: of Europ's chocolate making tradition since the days of the 234 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: Spanish court, and this old guy knew the traditional well. 235 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: When Vulgar tasted his chocolate, he could not believe his 236 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: daste buds. It was not terrible, but why Vulker put 237 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: the questions to him, and it turned out the guy 238 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: was doing what European chocolate makers have always done when 239 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: stuck with funky beans. They beat the warm coco mass 240 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,960 Speaker 1: for hour after hour in a machine to blow off 241 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: as much of the off flavors as possible. It wasn't perfect, 242 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 1: but it was enough for Vulca to get his first 243 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 1: real sense of the beans behind the funk, and he 244 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: liked what he sensed. Behind the char and the cheese, 245 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: there was something beautiful at heart. Vulcan is an engineer. 246 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: When he sees a system, he thinks he's running poorly, 247 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: that could be so much better with just a few tweaks. 248 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: He can't resist. So now he couldn't help wonder if 249 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: the funk was built into the beans, or if there 250 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: was a way to get the beauty without the beast, 251 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: And there was only one way to answer that. He 252 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: had to go to the source, and that meant a 253 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: scruffy town called Trinidad, where everything the jungle produced, from 254 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: cocaw to cocaine could be found for sale. Tread is 255 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: Uh is the center of trade, and then people running 256 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: up and down the river with and and doing batta 257 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: batta business. Traders would spend weeks in the jungle and 258 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: then paddle into Trinidad to so other goods like the 259 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: rice and and everything you need because there's no there's 260 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,120 Speaker 1: no money system. No, it was easier. It was easier 261 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 1: than you know. Give me, would give me bananas, give 262 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: me cocoa and and or whatever you have, and what 263 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: the market accepts then turn into money. Cacao is money basically. 264 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 1: So Volka flew to Trinidad. He started hanging out, getting 265 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: another locals asking questions, but how do you how do 266 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 1: you even do that? No, you just ask around. I 267 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: was talking to more elderly people because they were telling 268 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: me better the story. So I was sitting with them 269 00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: having tea and chats. Yeah, and then a little by 270 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: little I got the picture. Most of the cacao was 271 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,439 Speaker 1: coming from a town called Ballets. Barrets was truly at 272 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: the end of the earth, days from Trinidad by river, 273 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,360 Speaker 1: but of course, like every other town in the Cocaine 274 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: So lowlands, it had an airstrip. So Volka hired a 275 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: plane and headed for it, never guessing how much his 276 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: life was about to change. There was no route, no electricity, nothing, no, no, 277 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: not even for nothing. We were talking on on on 278 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: shortwave radio. As he got to do the people in Bowrets, 279 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: the picture got even clearer. And that picture, well, he 280 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: almost had to pinch himself. The cocat was coming from 281 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,960 Speaker 1: islands of high grounds scattered across the wetlands, natural terraces 282 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,400 Speaker 1: that didn't get drowned during the four months rainy seasons. 283 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: The locals called these forest islands Chocolatales. It was always 284 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: harvested and used for local chocolate in Yeah, but on 285 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: a very very low price, and during the wet season 286 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: when the cacao was ripe, families would travel to the 287 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: chocolate tales by canoe. The journey alone could take days. 288 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,360 Speaker 1: Then they camp in the forest for months, picking the pods, 289 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 1: opening them and drawing the beans on mats in the sun. 290 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: Then they'd sell the beans back in town, But the 291 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,479 Speaker 1: tradition was dying in Bolivious cities. People were switching over 292 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 1: to powdered cocoa mix, which was easier to use. Prices 293 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: for the wild cacao were too low to justify the work. 294 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: The kids were less interested, so the people were starting 295 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: to give up on the yearly trips. Many of the 296 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: chocolate tallies had been abandoned, a few had been cut 297 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,240 Speaker 1: down for cattle grazing. It didn't take long for Volker 298 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: to understand why the quality was bad. Two essential steps 299 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,239 Speaker 1: to making great beans are pretty darn hard to do 300 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: in the Amazon. Drawing beans in the rainforest without a 301 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: shelter of any kind is impossible. Many of the beans 302 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: were moldy, and even the ones that weren't moldy had 303 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: very little chocolate flavor. Fresh cacao beans are naturally bitter 304 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: and a stringer. They have to be heaped together with 305 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,640 Speaker 1: their sugary pulp for days and fermented to transform those 306 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: nasty flavors into chocolate ones. Unfortunately, most of the people 307 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: in the world harvest in cacao don't have the time, expertise, 308 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: or facilities to do it. Properly, and that was the 309 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: case in Bolivia, and that spoke to Vulcar's engineer Soul. 310 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: A little training and infrastructure, a micro dose of good 311 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: old German organization could make all the difference. All he 312 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: needed was to see just how much cacao was out 313 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: there and if it was at all feasible to improve 314 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: the fermenting and drying. But getting around the roadless jungle 315 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: was brutal. There were certain islands I wanted to go to, 316 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,920 Speaker 1: so I had to find a horse and a guide. 317 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: Set on the horse. After two hours, I couldn't I 318 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: couldn't feel my legs anymore. And and after six hours 319 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: I couldn't feel anything anymore. You know, I was like 320 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: I was in full pain. Days on the range in 321 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: the sun, battling heat and bugs the horses they attract 322 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: also all kinds of flies that sting and suck your blood, 323 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: and so you're fighting with the horse together. You're no 324 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: not not to leave too much blood every day, you know, 325 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: when you're there, I were seeing all kinds of things 326 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: on the horizon from from the heat. What kind of 327 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: things do you say when you look at the horizon, 328 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 1: Then you see water? And then I saw all kinds 329 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: of animals, and there wasn't anything. But finally they made 330 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: it to the forest island and the shade of the 331 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: chocolate all we went forward with the machetta and in 332 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,959 Speaker 1: the inner part it lifted up, and it was like 333 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: the trees were standing in a nice distance to each 334 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: other and in harmony somehow, at which point he was like, 335 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: fuck the brazil nuts. I want to make this cacao famous. 336 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: He wondered if he was staring at the greatest development 337 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,479 Speaker 1: opportunity of his career. If the international market got excited 338 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: about wild cacao, the beans would command much more money, 339 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: the pickers could make a living, the tradition would survive, 340 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: and the chocolate tales could be preserved. He couldn't quite 341 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: see how the numbers were going to work, but he 342 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: knew it was an hour never. As Volker continued to 343 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: explore the region by foot, boat and horseback, he fell 344 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: under its spell. Vast wetlands with hundred mile views, lush 345 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: rain for us, more wildlife than he'd ever seen, McCaw's cappa, 346 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 1: bara's weaver birds, jaguars, and tons of cacao just waiting 347 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: to be properly fermented. And then came the moment that 348 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: whipped the trajectory of his life in a new and 349 00:22:54,520 --> 00:23:00,120 Speaker 1: unexpected direction. Somebody said, hey, there's a place on say 350 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:07,479 Speaker 1: are you interested? Actually, it hit a long term wish 351 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: you not to by by peaceful land. Yeah, to have 352 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: my own farm maybe and in and maybe have a 353 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: succure place when the world goes to hell. You know, 354 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 1: well it didn't go to hell, but eventually it will tranquility. 355 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: After the break, I want to taste of some of 356 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: this god level chocolate we got you covered. Kaleidoscope has 357 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: joined forces with Louise Abram and Statler's Chocolate to make 358 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 1: a special box to go along with the very podcast. 359 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,199 Speaker 1: Now you could sample of flavors from the banks of 360 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: the Amazon without having to fight off jaguars and Anagonda's. 361 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: Just visit www. Dot Stetler Dash Chocolate dot com to 362 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: order your Wild Chocolate today. Check the link in the 363 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:25,320 Speaker 1: show notes. You're listening to Wild Chocolate. I think that's it. 364 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 1: That's yeah. We stopped because we can get lost. Bulker 365 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 1: and I are walking in tranquily Dot in the chocolate 366 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: hall he bought all those years ago. It's shady and 367 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 1: warm and still the ground is smooth with waxy leaves. 368 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:45,040 Speaker 1: The trunks of the co cow trees are spaced evenly apart, 369 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: like the columns of some temple. There's one, two, three, four, 370 00:24:54,560 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: five or whatever. Yeah, amazing, Yeah, and spacing. It looks 371 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: like that somebody you know measured the spacing. You could 372 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: actually think about, Hey, somebody planted these trees. You know 373 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: they are in a room. No, it's just just a 374 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: natural pattern. So not planted, but maybe not entirely natural, 375 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: depending on how you define natural. Bulker has a theory. 376 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 1: I say there was a hunter and he had a 377 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: coco pot, and he was sucking on the beans, and 378 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: every ten steps he spit out the beans and sucks 379 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: a dam. And ten steps later and he sucked and 380 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: he spit out the dam. This is what you always 381 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: do when you walk through a chocolate holl You absolut 382 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: mindedly grab a pod, split it open, and scoop a 383 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: goopy handful of white palpon's ease into your mouth. Yeah, 384 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: as you walk, you suck the juice off the sea eats. 385 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: The flavor is sweet and tart, deliciously refreshing in the 386 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: heat of the jungle. Then you spit out the seeds 387 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: and grab another pod, and your walk gets a little 388 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: bit nicer. People have been making that beautiful sound for 389 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,439 Speaker 1: ten thousand years, and wherever you hear it, a baby 390 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: cocou try is born. No bulker paid a visit to 391 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: the chocolates hall that was for sale. It was huge, magical. 392 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: He followed footpaths through the woods where generations of people 393 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: had picked cocao. He opened a pod and tasted the juice. 394 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 1: Monkeys chattered at him from the trees. The ground was 395 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: nice and high, unlikely to flood. He knew if he 396 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,439 Speaker 1: didn't buy it, the next buyer would probably clear the forest. 397 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: And something tugged at him. So he came up with 398 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,960 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars and bought it on the spot. And 399 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,239 Speaker 1: then it was time to test his theory of these 400 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: beans really make great chocolate. He picks some pods for 401 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: many of the beans as well as he knew how, 402 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: and made them into chocolate. It has almost no bitterness. 403 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: It's it has a sweetness um somehow between floral and 404 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: and dark dark of fruits and and it and it 405 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: goes back and forth. There's nothing really that compares the 406 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: the overall flavors and the spectrum of different flavors during 407 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: the time you have it in your mouth. There's nothing 408 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: you know that, there's nothing like this. The rest seemed simple. 409 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: He'd make the world's most beautiful beans and bring the 410 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: chocolate industry to Bolivia's doorstep. And you live right here. 411 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: And here's where things get a little bit cosmic. As 412 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: he cleared a patch of ground to build a house 413 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 1: out of the red earth, gave a clay pot, and 414 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: then another and another. They were beautiful, with fluted necks 415 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: and intricate etched patterns, and they were a thousand years old. 416 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: As Bulker kept digging, the treasures kept coming. One day 417 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 1: at tranquiladd he showed them to me. They saw, volunteer, 418 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: there's an X, two different xes. That's a beauty. Yeah, 419 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: they have strings attached, and then we're hanging. This is 420 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: actually a toy. It was a doll, probably for a 421 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: kid to play with. Amazing. The artifacts were the remnants 422 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: of an ancient settlement. Soon archaeologists visited. Chocolatelles were part 423 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: of a massive network of earthen platforms, terraces, pyramids, causeways 424 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: and canals. This network stretched across thousands of square aisles. 425 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: So this part of the Amazon wasn't just primorial wilderness. 426 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: It was the overgrown orchards and plazas and streets of 427 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: a sophisticated culture known as the Casarabe, and a thousand 428 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: years ago their civilization was hopping, probably a couple of 429 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: million people living here um pre Columbia. I think the 430 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: largest community of native people in the Amazon were in 431 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: this part of Olivia and Brazil. This may have been 432 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: the source of rumors about the lost city of z 433 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: The Casarabe civilization disappeared around the year four for unknown reasons, 434 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: but one thing we know about them is that they 435 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: loved cacao. The reason Tranquilidad and the other chocolate till 436 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: lives are filled with coco trees is because for hundreds 437 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: of years the people who lived there were eating cacao 438 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,880 Speaker 1: and spitting out the seats. Some of the trees today 439 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: are the same tree as the Casarabe used. Jean Kiladad was, 440 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: in a sense a ghost island of ancient beings for 441 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: the entire ecosystem. It's it's a very very valuable tree. 442 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: It doesn't die, it survives droughts, flooding, and on top 443 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 1: of it brings us the foot of the gods. H 444 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: He set up the artifacts on a little altar in 445 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: the corner of his house, and he began thinking of 446 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: himself as just a small part of a larger story. 447 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: The place was talent. He basically, I see it not 448 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: as an owner. I see it as a piece of 449 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: land that nature gives it to me for a certain 450 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: certain amount of time. But I would leave it as 451 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: as fast as a cat. Vulker needed the partner with 452 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: a chocolate maker, so he began taking the beans to 453 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: trade shows. But every buyer he met looked at him 454 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,640 Speaker 1: like he was crazy. I said, I have wild cocol 455 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: and they said, there's not such a thing. And I said, 456 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: there is wild coco in the Amazon. No, no coco 457 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:18,479 Speaker 1: comes from Micador. Okay. And they were not alone, right, 458 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: I assume no that everybody. Everybody was ignorant. Everybody. He 459 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: finally got the attention of felsh Lean, a famous old 460 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: Swiss chocolate house. Felsh Len was competing with the top 461 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: French companies in the gourmet chocolate world, and it was 462 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: always on the hunt for something that would set it 463 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: apart from its rivals. The buyer asked for a sample 464 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: of the beans to test in their lab in Switzerland. 465 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: So Volcas sent off the beans right away, that thing 466 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: he'd been chasing for years. He could almost taste it. 467 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: But what if he was wrong? What if the beans 468 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: weren't a special at He thought, No on that point, 469 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: he drushed it himself and he was right. Soon felsh 470 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: Lean asked for another four d key Lows so they 471 00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: could run some test batches on the big equipment. Oh yeah, 472 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: as he said, no problem, absolutely. Then he walked outside 473 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: and stared into his chocolates hall and wondered how the 474 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: hell he was going to do that. He spent two 475 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:14,080 Speaker 1: sweaty months in the jungle, picking by hand. He worked 476 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: on the dusk until he personally harvested a ton of 477 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: fresh decao. Then he fermented it and dried it as 478 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: best he could and sent it to Switzerland. Then he 479 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 1: crossed his fingers and waited and waited, and finally the 480 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: call came, could he please come to Switzerland for a meeting. 481 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: So he cleaned himself up and crossed the Atlantic and 482 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: they were like, yeah, we want this. It was smooth 483 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: and rich and it's very distinct. And this is also 484 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: something fresh Lean told told me. The chocolate is clearly 485 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: distinct and this is what we are interested, don't know. 486 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: And then came the big question, how many talks and 487 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: and then I was like, um, I don't know. He 488 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: really didn't know. He had no clue how much he 489 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: could get his hands on and ferment properly but fecially, 490 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 1: and said, get us as much as you can. We 491 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 1: want it all. They had big plans for this Cacao. 492 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: They wanted to make a whole new bar, unlike any 493 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: that had been made before the world's first wild bar. 494 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: They already had a name for it, Crew Savage. That 495 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: bar was going to blow the staid world of chocolate 496 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: wide open, and it would take Vulgar Layman on a 497 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 1: wild ride. It would make him famous, but it would 498 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: also nearly destroy him. That's still to come. I'll always 499 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: remember something Vulgar said to me when he was recounting 500 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: the parade of dreamers who had marched into the Amazon 501 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: over the centuries seeking gold and glory. There's no Olivia 502 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: for dummies, he said, many people will have lost their 503 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: fortunes here. Well, he couldn't have known when he said 504 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: it was that he was going to be next. Look 505 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 1: on the phase of your wife saying there's no money. 506 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: What do you mean by there's no money? There was 507 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,160 Speaker 1: the oldest money, yeah, but now there's no more money. Man. 508 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: You must have been furious at a lot of people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 509 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: yeah No with a gun in my hand that would 510 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: have killed some people. Maybe, yeah. Yeah. On the next 511 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: episode of Wild Chocolate, I could feel myself falling down 512 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: Mr rabbit Hole. Sometimes I talked about chocolate like music 513 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: and this was like you classic symphony orchestra, justst beautiful, 514 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 1: the Vatican of Chocolate. I got five fifty bars on 515 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: the shelf modeling. These young Italians show up and we've 516 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: heard all sorts of things that you know, somebody got 517 00:34:54,520 --> 00:35:00,320 Speaker 1: shot over this and d Wild Chock It is a 518 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: Kaleidoscope production with I Heart Podcasts, hosted and reported by 519 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,319 Speaker 1: me Rowan Jacobson and produced by Shane McKeon at Nice 520 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: Mormaint Media, Edited by Kate Osborne and mangesh Hada Kudor, 521 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: Sound design and mixing by Soundboard. Original music composition by 522 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: Spencer Stevenson, a k. A. Botany production help from Baheeny 523 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,800 Speaker 1: Shorty from My Heart. Our executive producers are Katrina Norvell 524 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: and Nikki Etor. Special thanks to Laura Mayor, Costaslinos Oswalash 525 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,760 Speaker 1: and Aaron Coffman, Will Pearson, codel Burn, Bob Pittman, Daria 526 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: Daniel and the team at Stetler who are helping us 527 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,719 Speaker 1: make a very special chocolate of our own. That's right, 528 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,960 Speaker 1: We're working with Louisa at others to protect the rainforest 529 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:46,279 Speaker 1: and make delicious Amazonian chocolate. Visit www dot Stetler dash 530 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,439 Speaker 1: Chocolate dot com to taste it for yourself. That's www 531 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 1: dot Stetler dash Chocolate dot com. And if you want 532 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: to hear more of this type of content, nothing is 533 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: more important to the creators here a Kaleidoscope than subscriber 534 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:03,799 Speaker 1: ratings and reviews. Please spread the lave wherever you listen. 535 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:16,719 Speaker 1: M