A Guide to
We know chocolate to
be a sweet treat. But
it’s original form was
far from what we
know today.
So
Chocolate
C ACAO T REE | Theobroma Cacao
CACAO TREE | Theobroma Cacao
“Food of the
gods”
Cacahuatl
Nahuatl
The plant was considered as a symbol
of wealth for these civilizations and its beans were
used as currency. Cocoa beans are the main
ingredient for making chocolate.
The original chocolate was a drink
called Xocolatl, it was frothed and
tasted bitter and spicy believed to have
restorative properties. It is derived from
"xococ"
"atl"
The Mayans
and Aztecs
believed it was
a gift from the
feathered
serpent god
Kukulkan or
Quetzalcoatl
Countries Based on the 2022
ICCO Report
Côte d’ Ivoire Brazil
Ghana Indonesia
Ecuador P. New Guinea
Cameroon Peru
Nigeria Colombia
Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana are by far the two largest producers
of cocoa, accounting for over 60% of global cocoa
production, followed by Ecuador with seven percent.
Indonesia is the biggest cocoa producer in Asia.
Cacao
Cacao
growers replaced the criollo
crop
Cacao
Criollo cocoa is often fruit forward,
very aromatic, and has very
little bitterness
Cacao
The
Trinitario being the least pure has the a wide
range of tastes and profiles of any other
variety.
Cacao
Cacao
Cocoa
chocolate liquor
cocoa solids cocoa butter
Cacao
Cacao trees
green, yellow, orange, red, purp,le
or maroon
continuation…
vinegar-fly
Forastero beans require about 5 days
and Criollo beans 2-3 days.
There are two methods for drying beans – sun drying
and artificial drying using wood and fuel dryers.
Winnowing, cracking, fanning and
hulling
Manual or mechanical hulling is utilized
depending on the size of operations.
The nibs are going to be ground into
smaller grains. Nibs are the primary
ingredient to produce chocolate it is
done so by grinding the nibs into a
paste to produce cocoa liquor.
Most traditional chocolates stop at this stage,
it produces a coarse chocolate paste
Continuation…
The name of the
equipment, the conche, is derived from
the Latin word ‘shell’, as the traditional
conche used in chocolate manufacturing
resembled a conch shell.
Continuation…
Conching can take up to 96 hours.
optionally
Common alkaline compounds are potassium
carbonate, calcium carbonate and sodium
hydroxide. The resulting product colour
ranges from light red to charcoal black.
%
Chocolate
Chocolate
100% chocolate has an intense
flavor, as it doesn’t have any
milk or sugar to balance out
the bitterness
It must contain cocoa percentage
anywhere from 66-99%
Because of the higher percentage of
milk and sugar content, milk chocolate
is sweeter than dark chocolate. Good
quality milk chocolate should not
contain vegetable fats such as palm oil.
In the US and EU, a bar of white chocolate
must contain a minimum of 20% cocoa
butter and no more than 55% sugar or
sweeteners. Because of the high cocoa
butter content, white chocolate is smooth
and creamy.
Ruby chocolate is known for its pink
color, which Callebaut claims is all-
natural with no additional flavors or
colors. The flavor has been described as
tasting similar to sour white chocolate.
