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DECEMBER. 2020 | VOL. 12
How chocolate is made From Bean to Bar
David Greenwood-Haigh, Coeur de That doesn’t mean that blended
Xocolat. chocolates aren’t as good. Blended
chocolate is used by some of the world’s
Three Types of Cocoa Pods finest pastry chefs and chocolatiers.
Criollo For chocolatiers, the alchemy comes in
The “premium” bean, grown in the finding that perfect chocolate to make a
Caribbean and Central America and is less flavour come to life, whether it’s a blend
than 8% of the cacao supply. or single-origin. That’s part of the
challenge and the journey of discovery.
Forestaro
The most common bean, mostly from Africa Step 1: Harvesting
and making up over 80% of world The cacao tree is a very delicate tree and
production. only thrives in tropical regions. 10
degrees either side of the equator. It
Trinitario needs the canopy of taller trees to shade
A hybrid of the other two beans and is it from the harsh sun. Its blossoms are
about 12% of the total supply. not very fragrant so most pollinators
aren't automatically attracted to it, so a
Chocolatiers either use blended chocolate good ground covering of rotting
or “single origin” cacao plantations for their vegetation attracts midges who then
chocolates. pollinate the trees. It should start to bear
fruit in its second or third year of growth.
What is Single-origin chocolate?
It' s chocolate that’s made from one variety First the 400 plus blossoms appear
of cacao harvested in one region. Why does on the trunk.
this matter? Cacao like other varietal plants
take on the characteristics of the region After pollination the blossoms
where it’s grown - its terroir. develop into cacao pods.
When cacao is blended, the effect of terroir A tree bears about 25 to 50 pods and
is lost but that can give a more uniform stays productive for 25 to 30 years.
taste profile.
