When you eat chocolates, have you wondered why different chocolates taste different? Every step from growing the cacao to making the finished product can affect the underlying flavour of the chocolate ultimately:

Terroir

As cacao is a plant, therefore it is not surprising that cacao beans from different parts of the world will have different flavour characteristics, due to variation in soil composition, climate, local geography etc.

For example, although our 65% dark chocolate and 85% dark chocolate both come from Colombia, they are grown in different regions (even though the two regions are only a few hundred miles apart) and you will notice that they have very different flavour characteristics:

Our 85% dark chocolate comes from a small area between the Pacific coast and the tropical forest and jungles in the Narino department in Colombia. It has a warm humid climate.

Our 65% dark chocolate comes from the Huila department in Colombia, which is a drier region with the Magdalena River flowing through the department. Apart from cacao, this region is also suitable for growing coffee beans.

Good Practice & Agroforestry

The skills of the cacao farmers and their farming practices also play an important part in the yield and quality of the cacao. Every step from planting the tree through maintenance of the plantation (regular pruning, looking out for pests and diseases on the cacao trees) to harvesting the mature cacao pods is vital.

To improve the amount of cacao grown in an area, it’s not a matter of planting the cacao trees as closely as possible and in the maximum number you can squeeze in. For Criollo and Trinitario, the trees prefer to have shades, and so it is important to take into consideration how to plant other taller trees amongst cacao trees in order to protect the cacao from wind and strong sun. How to fertilise the soil and replenish its nutrients also plays a crucial role in ensuring high quality cacao.

Post-Harvesting: Fermentation

Once the cacao pod is harvested, the cacao beans are removed from its pod together with its pulp by the farmer. They are then placed in wooden boxes and exposed to micro-organisms naturally present in the environment. These micro-organisms decompose the pulp – and it is this fermentation process that sets off a whole chain of biochemical and physical processes that develop the precursors of the aromas and flavours found in chocolate.

The duration of fermentation is important because under-fermented beans will not have the full aroma and flavour potential to be developed, while over-fermented beans would introduce unpleasant acidic taste. The local climate and weather (eg temperature, humidity) can affect the duration of fermentation also, and so it’s only through skills and experience, will the farmers know how long the beans need to be fermented in order to reach their full flavour potential.

Post-Harvesting: Drying

This step is also undertaken by the cacao farmers. After fermentation, the beans are then exposed to sunlight for several days, in order to reduce the water content and to eliminate some of the acids that are present in the cacao naturally. 

It is essential to get this step correct, if mould and fungus are to be avoided, and to guarantee a good flavour. 

After drying, the beans are then usually stored before transporting them to the production plants for the final steps to turn these beans into chocolates. Therefore it is important that the mould doesn’t develop during storage or transportation, otherwise the final product will be spoiled.

Roasting

When the beans arrive at the production plant, they are first cleaned, and then they are roasted. The cacao nibs are exposed to very high temperatures – this step is where the aroma and flavour of the final chocolate product finally comes together from the precursors that have developed during the fermentation process.

Conching

This is the final step in the production plant, and it provides the finishing touch to the flavour and texture of the chocolate. A very smooth texture in the chocolate is often due to a longer duration of conching. Acids that are still present are eliminated. 

The roasting and conching processes go hand-in-hand, as different combinations will affect the final flavour of the chocolate. Also these are not one-size-fits-all for all beans – the roasting and conching will need to be adjusted accordingly depending on the beans.

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All these steps occur before we, as chocolatiers, use the chocolate to make them into various products. Hats off to the cacao farmers especially – without their dedication and hard work in growing the cacao and processing the beans post-harvest, there will be no materials to turn them into delicious chocolates in the first place!