How is chocolate made, from the Cacao tree, its pods containing the beans, to roasting.
The process of making cocoa and chocolate involves delicate proportions and accurate timing. Here's how it's done.

The Cacao tree originated in the hot, rainy climate of the Amazon and Orinoco River basins of Equador and Brazil, but is now cultivated in Africa, Hawaii and Indonesia as well. All Cacao is grown within 20° of the equator, and needs 60" of rainfall, fertile soil, the shade of the rain forest canopy, and temperatures above 50° F to thrive. The three main varieties of Cacao trees are the scarce Criollo, which yields the highest-quality bean; the Trinitario, prized for its good flavor; and the Forastero, which grows a more astringent bean and compromises about 90% of the Cacao crop. The best beans come from the Ivory Coast in Africa, and the state of Bahia in Brazil.

Cacao trees can grow to 40 feet high, but are kept trimmed to about 15 feet for ease of harvesting. The Cacao beans grow in large, melon-like pods that sprout from the trunks and large lower branches of the Cacao tree. Each Cacao pod is about 8 inches long and contains about 30 to 60 white or purplish seeds in a white to light green, sweet melon-flavored pulp. The Cacao tree is always in bloom and has fruit ripening all year round, although it has 2 peak harvests called the "main" and "mid" seasons.

Cacao pods are cut from the trees with heavy, pole-mounted, hooked knives. The pods are then collected in the field, split open with machetes, and the pulp and seeds scraped out into baskets to be carried to the village. Once there, the pulp and seeds are heaped onto layers of banana leaves, covered with more leaves, and left for several days to ferment. The fermentation develops the bean's flavor and color. The fermentation process raises the temperature of the beans to about 122°, consuming the pulp, and the exposure to air darkens the once milky-white seeds.

At the end of the fermentation, the Cacao beans are still moist, but free of most of their pulp. The beans are then laid on the ground to dry in the sun. They are raked, or "walked" with bare feet to turn the beans and rub off any remaining pulp. The dried beans are now ready to be stitched into burlap bags for shipping.

When the Cacao beans arrive at the chocolate factory they are inspected for proper fermentation and cleaned to remove dirt, rocks, and other debris that may have collected during the fermentation and drying. The beans are then roasted in large cylindrical ovens for several hours at temperatures 300° to 400° F. The roasting of the Cacao beans imparts the characteristic chocolate color to the bean and develops its "chocolate" aroma. Once roasted, the beans are cracked and winnowed to expose the cocoa nib, or core. Cracking breaks the nib free of the shell and reduces it to small pieces, allowing the winnowing to blow away the hulls with powerful fans.

The roasted and cleaned Cacao (cocoa) nibs, ready to be made into chocolate, are first blended with other cocoa varieties to produce the unique and complex "chocolate recipe" that is the characteristic of each chocolate manufacturer's particular "flavor".

Containing about 45% cocoa solids and 55% fat, or cocoa butter, the nibs are ground by large stone mills into a thick, rich-looking syrup called "chocolate liquor", or unsweetened chocolate. The heat and pressure of the grinding process releases the cocoa fat from the nib, allowing the chocolate to flow. Don't let the name fool you, "chocolate liquor" refers to the "essence" of the chocolate. There is no alcohol content to the product. This is chocolate in its most natural form. If, at this point, it is hardened into bars, it becomes the "baking" or "unsweetened" chocolate found on the grocery shelves. However, if this "chocolate liquor" continues on in the chocolate-making process, it can be made into many different products.
Sugar may be added to the chocolate liquor creating an entire range of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. By adding milk, additional cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla or other flavorings, milk chocolate and other specialty chocolates are made. By processes called "rolling" and "conching" the chocolate develops a high degree of flavor and smoothness that further refines these "eating" chocolates.

The chocolate is refined by passing it through giant steel roller mills that reduce the particle size of the cocoa solids to give it a very fine mouth-feel. Unrefined or partially refined chocolate can have a somewhat gritty feel on the tongue. However, once the liquid chocolate has been refined, it becomes somewhat dry and almost powdery in texture. This is because the now finely ground cocoa solids have a much greater surface area to be covered by the cocoa butter in the chocolate. So additional cocoa butter is blended in with the refined chocolate paste, along with the other ingredients and flavorings, to make the final chocolate product during the conching process.

Conching got its name from the similarity of the early machines to the shape of the seashell. During the conching process, which can take up to 72 hours for a high quality chocolate, the mixture is constantly aerated by stirring to release volatile and off-flavors. Gradually, the bitter taste disappears and the flavor of the chocolate becomes fully developed. Tempering, molding, and hardening remain the final steps before packaging.

Some chocolate liquor may be pumped into special hydraulic presses that extract cocoa butter, the natural fat from the Cacao bean, and drain it off. The remaining compacted cocoa solids are released from the press in the form of a hard cake, which is then broken up and ground to become cocoa powder. Cocoa powder still retains some of the cocoa butter after pressing. Low fat cocoa, the most commonly used, has 10% to 12% fat, medium fat cocoa retains 14% to 16%, and high fat cocoa, sometimes called "breakfast cocoa", has a fat content of 22% to 24%. For many applications, cocoa powder is "Dutch processed", to reduce its natural acidity, and to enhance its color and flavor.

The luxurious, delicious chocolate and cocoa products available today have come a long way from the royal beverage of Montezuma's court. Special processes and careful formulations have improved and smoothed the rough, bitter taste of raw Cacao, and provided a new "treasure" for chocolate lovers to discover!