Theobroma cacao – “Food of the Gods”
Cacao grows in warm, humid areas usually located within 20 degrees north or south of the equator. Genetics plays a major role in hardiness, harvest yields, and flavor. Many large chocolate companies choose higher yields over flavor. Craft chocolate focuses on fine flavor cacao.
Harvesting
Cacao trees produce many small blooms that develop into pods all over the trunk and branches. Once ripe, pods are removed and split open. The seeds, or cacao beans, inside are covered in a white, fruity-tasting pulp.
Fermentation and Drying
These wet beans are piled into large bins and are covered. Microorganisms begin the fermentation process, which includes several days of sitting and turning/stirring. The white fruit “sweats off” and leaves the cocoa bean behind. They are then left out to dry before being bagged and shipped.
Sorting and Roasting
Once we receive the cocoa, we remove any debris and sort out poor-quality beans. We then roast the beans using specific roasting profiles that complement each origin’s unique flavors.
Cracking and winnowing
The beans are then broken into shells and nibs. Nibs are the broken-up portions of the bean. This mix of shells and nibs is run through our winnower—a device that uses airflow to remove the lighter shells from the heavier nib.
Refining and Tempering
Next, we run the ingredients through our melanger—a machine that crushes and liquefies the cocoa nibs and other ingredients to the desired particle size. The melanger usually runs for 24+ hours per batch. The Chocolate is then ready to be tempered. Tempering helps properly align the cocoa butter particles as they crystallize. This gives the chocolate a nice snap, a proper sheen, and raises the melting temperature. It is now ready to be poured and packaged.