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Chocolate is quite a labor-intensive food, grown mostly on small family farms around the equator.
Tending and harvesting is all done by hand. Workers open pods with a machete and pull out the beans
and pulp.
They pile this under banana leaves or in boxes to ferment for a few days, then dry it in the sun, turning it
often, bringing it in at night or when it rains.
When the beans are dried they are usually shipped from the third world country of origin to somewhere
in Europe or America to be processed further.
The next step is to get rid of the husks in a winnower, then roast the beans in a similar way to coffee
beans.
Grinding the beans turns them into Cacao Nibs.
Further grinding, reduces the beans into paste, and unsweetened, that is called Chocolate Liquor, or
cacao liquor, cacao mass.
Pressing this separates the fat, cacao butter, from the solids, which when powdered becomes cocoa.
This is normally done with lower quality beans. The cocoa butter can go back into chocolate
manufacturing, or it can be used for cosmetics, etc.
The final stage in production is called Conching.
This very secretive process takes up to three days or more, and it develops flavor while rounding off
edges to impart a smooth mouthfeel. The process breaks down the sugar crystals that are added to the
chocolate, and blends in the sugar, vanilla, additional cocoa butter, powdered milk (for milk chocolate)
according to the producer’s formula. The friction and aeration of the paste into a smooth mass also
engenders chemical changes that develop and round out the flavor of the liquid chocolate, eliminate
moisture and acidity, and flush out volatile flavors, unpleasant odors, and bitterness. Conching enables
complete homogenization and emulsion of the cocoa butter into the cocoa paste, producing a velvety
smooth chocolate with no grittiness. The chocolate then goes to the molding room, where the chocolate
is tempered, poured into the molds, passed through a refrigerated tunnel and then unmolded. The
invention of conching machine enabled “modern” chocolate as we know it: smooth, velvety, without
graininess or bitterness.
Dark Chocolate contains just cacao mass, sugar, vanilla, and usually soy lecithin.
Milk Chocolate also has milk solids.
White Chocolate has no cocoa solids, only cacao butter, sugar, milk solids, soy and vanilla.
Tending and harvesting is all done by hand. Workers open pods with a machete and pull out the beans
and pulp.
They pile this under banana leaves or in boxes to ferment for a few days, then dry it in the sun, turning it
often, bringing it in at night or when it rains.
When the beans are dried they are usually shipped from the third world country of origin to somewhere
in Europe or America to be processed further.
The next step is to get rid of the husks in a winnower, then roast the beans in a similar way to coffee
beans.
Grinding the beans turns them into Cacao Nibs.
Further grinding, reduces the beans into paste, and unsweetened, that is called Chocolate Liquor, or
cacao liquor, cacao mass.
Pressing this separates the fat, cacao butter, from the solids, which when powdered becomes cocoa.
This is normally done with lower quality beans. The cocoa butter can go back into chocolate
manufacturing, or it can be used for cosmetics, etc.
The final stage in production is called Conching.
This very secretive process takes up to three days or more, and it develops flavor while rounding off
edges to impart a smooth mouthfeel. The process breaks down the sugar crystals that are added to the
chocolate, and blends in the sugar, vanilla, additional cocoa butter, powdered milk (for milk chocolate)
according to the producer’s formula. The friction and aeration of the paste into a smooth mass also
engenders chemical changes that develop and round out the flavor of the liquid chocolate, eliminate
moisture and acidity, and flush out volatile flavors, unpleasant odors, and bitterness. Conching enables
complete homogenization and emulsion of the cocoa butter into the cocoa paste, producing a velvety
smooth chocolate with no grittiness. The chocolate then goes to the molding room, where the chocolate
is tempered, poured into the molds, passed through a refrigerated tunnel and then unmolded. The
invention of conching machine enabled “modern” chocolate as we know it: smooth, velvety, without
graininess or bitterness.
Dark Chocolate contains just cacao mass, sugar, vanilla, and usually soy lecithin.
Milk Chocolate also has milk solids.
White Chocolate has no cocoa solids, only cacao butter, sugar, milk solids, soy and vanilla.
Theobroma Cacao has three major classifications:
Criollo (meaning born in the New World, the name given by Spaniards.)
This was the only cacao known during the time of Conquest, during which several superior strains were
prized above others. Notable sub-varieties include Carenero Superior. More Criollo trees remain in
Venuela than any other area.
Forestero, (meaning foreign) Forestero beans came onto the market during a time when demand was
increasing greatly, while blights were happening to wipe out areas of cultivation of Criollo trees. Forestero
is an inferior type of chocolate, more bitter and less nuanced that Criollo, but is much hardier and
produces much higher yields than Criollo. It originates in the Amazon basin, and is perhaps the ancestor
of Criollo.
Trinitario is a hybrid between the other two types, was supposedly first hybridized on the island of Trinidad.
It combines the hardiness of Forestero, with similar flavor to Criollo.
Forestero beans make up 80 – 90 % of the worldwide harvest, depending on whom you believe. Trinitario
is most of the rest, and Criollo is a tiny portion of the whole.
Arriba is a superior bean, but classified as a Forestero. Also known as Nacional. Originates in Ecuador.
Chocovic Guaranda
Forastero is the most widely cultivated cocoa (around 80% of all world production). The tree is
characterised as being highly illness-resistant and allows a much higher production than the Criollo. It is
not classified as "Fine-flavoured cocoa" and is used by mixing it as a base alongside other superior types.
However, there is an exception in Ecuador, the Nacional or Arriba cocoa. Excellent and perfumed, its
unquestionable quality makes it considered "Fine-flavoured cocoa", like the Criollos and unlike the rest of
the Forasteros. Since its beginnings the best Ecuadorian cocoa was the Arriba, as this cocoa, only used
for exporting, was the one cultivated in the upper area of the river Guayas (upstream - río arriba). With the
decades, this name became a synonym of quality.
POD: Green or yellow and in a large variety of shapes. Each pod contains between 30 and 40 grains.
GRAIN: Long and flat, dark purple colour.
FERMENTATION AND DRYING: Over one week. Unique case: the fermentation and drying are done
together.
TASTE: A perfumed aroma with floral aromas of acacia honey, dairy tones and exotic woods. A cocoa bean
with an unmistakeable personality. A mildly bitter taste with candied citric tones, floral with a honey
character.
Cacao is an understory plant, that grows well only in hot, humid areas, with protective shade from larger
plants, and within an ecosystem that contains midges for pollination.
“Most cacao ~ as much as 80% worldwide ~ comes from small farms. Because small scale farmers don’t
have the resources to buy chemicals such as fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides, their cacao is organic by
economic necessity.” Scharffen Berger, The Essence of Chocolate
The trees produce year round, and will display blossoms and fruits at all stages, while most of the fruit
does ripen at two times a year.
Fruit grows directly out of the trunk and limbs.
“Each tree bears about twenty four to thirty viable pods a year ~ a dozen or so at each of the twice yearly
harvests, with only a few pods appearing between harvests. Each pod holds about forty seeds, so each
tree produces approximately 1,000 beans per year. It takes 500 beans to produce one pound of
bittersweet chocolate, which means that during a good year, without any hurricanes, pest infestations,
disease or other natural disasters, one tree provides seeds for only two pounds of chocolate. By
comparison, a mature apple tree produces 840 pounds of edible fruit each year.” (SB)
Genebanks: Over the centuries, cacao has been transplanted all over the tropical world, hybridizing in
random ways. Many times older Criollo trees have been pulled out to make room for easier to grow
Foresteros, and so much of the genetically ‘heirloom’ purity is disappearing.
Fortunately, the increased demand for rare, interesting chocolate is driving a resurgence of these beans,
and scientists have been studying and preserving cacao genetics in several genebanks, notably the
International Cacao Genebank in Trinidad.
Criollo (meaning born in the New World, the name given by Spaniards.)
This was the only cacao known during the time of Conquest, during which several superior strains were
prized above others. Notable sub-varieties include Carenero Superior. More Criollo trees remain in
Venuela than any other area.
Forestero, (meaning foreign) Forestero beans came onto the market during a time when demand was
increasing greatly, while blights were happening to wipe out areas of cultivation of Criollo trees. Forestero
is an inferior type of chocolate, more bitter and less nuanced that Criollo, but is much hardier and
produces much higher yields than Criollo. It originates in the Amazon basin, and is perhaps the ancestor
of Criollo.
Trinitario is a hybrid between the other two types, was supposedly first hybridized on the island of Trinidad.
It combines the hardiness of Forestero, with similar flavor to Criollo.
Forestero beans make up 80 – 90 % of the worldwide harvest, depending on whom you believe. Trinitario
is most of the rest, and Criollo is a tiny portion of the whole.
Arriba is a superior bean, but classified as a Forestero. Also known as Nacional. Originates in Ecuador.
Chocovic Guaranda
Forastero is the most widely cultivated cocoa (around 80% of all world production). The tree is
characterised as being highly illness-resistant and allows a much higher production than the Criollo. It is
not classified as "Fine-flavoured cocoa" and is used by mixing it as a base alongside other superior types.
However, there is an exception in Ecuador, the Nacional or Arriba cocoa. Excellent and perfumed, its
unquestionable quality makes it considered "Fine-flavoured cocoa", like the Criollos and unlike the rest of
the Forasteros. Since its beginnings the best Ecuadorian cocoa was the Arriba, as this cocoa, only used
for exporting, was the one cultivated in the upper area of the river Guayas (upstream - río arriba). With the
decades, this name became a synonym of quality.
POD: Green or yellow and in a large variety of shapes. Each pod contains between 30 and 40 grains.
GRAIN: Long and flat, dark purple colour.
FERMENTATION AND DRYING: Over one week. Unique case: the fermentation and drying are done
together.
TASTE: A perfumed aroma with floral aromas of acacia honey, dairy tones and exotic woods. A cocoa bean
with an unmistakeable personality. A mildly bitter taste with candied citric tones, floral with a honey
character.
Cacao is an understory plant, that grows well only in hot, humid areas, with protective shade from larger
plants, and within an ecosystem that contains midges for pollination.
“Most cacao ~ as much as 80% worldwide ~ comes from small farms. Because small scale farmers don’t
have the resources to buy chemicals such as fertilizers, fungicides, or pesticides, their cacao is organic by
economic necessity.” Scharffen Berger, The Essence of Chocolate
The trees produce year round, and will display blossoms and fruits at all stages, while most of the fruit
does ripen at two times a year.
Fruit grows directly out of the trunk and limbs.
“Each tree bears about twenty four to thirty viable pods a year ~ a dozen or so at each of the twice yearly
harvests, with only a few pods appearing between harvests. Each pod holds about forty seeds, so each
tree produces approximately 1,000 beans per year. It takes 500 beans to produce one pound of
bittersweet chocolate, which means that during a good year, without any hurricanes, pest infestations,
disease or other natural disasters, one tree provides seeds for only two pounds of chocolate. By
comparison, a mature apple tree produces 840 pounds of edible fruit each year.” (SB)
Genebanks: Over the centuries, cacao has been transplanted all over the tropical world, hybridizing in
random ways. Many times older Criollo trees have been pulled out to make room for easier to grow
Foresteros, and so much of the genetically ‘heirloom’ purity is disappearing.
Fortunately, the increased demand for rare, interesting chocolate is driving a resurgence of these beans,
and scientists have been studying and preserving cacao genetics in several genebanks, notably the
International Cacao Genebank in Trinidad.
