Bean to Bar Chocolate and Flavour

At COCOAFAIR, we make chocolate from bean to bar. 

What does this mean?

One of the base ingredients for making chocolate is cocoa mass/paste. Cocoa mass is cocoa beans that have most likely been roasted, cracked, and the husks removed and ground into a paste. 

While some chocolate makers buy finished chocolate or cocoa mass to make their creations, bean-to-bar chocolate makers buy cocoa beans and make cocoa mass. 

Although making chocolate this way is more involved, it allows chocolate makers more control of the final product. This control stems from the fact that we source our beans and have them fermented to our specifications. We can determine the best roasting and refining profiles to suit our needs. 

Our philosophy is to take what nature has given us and bring out the best. We don't alkalise or add any funny stuff when we make chocolate to change the flavour. 

Several factors determine the flavor of the final product. These include (but are not limited to):

1. The type of bean
2. The area and season (very similar to the terroir of wine)
3. The fermentation process
4. The roasting and curing process
5. The refining process
6. Other ingredients and flavourings added

Since seasonality influences the flavor, it is possible to taste this subtle impact in our chocolate. The flavour will differ from one harvest to the next. 

For now, the COCOAFAIR-specific list looks like this:

1. We use Trinitario Beans
2. Our beans come from Panama (specifically the area of Bocas)
3. The fermentation process is temperature and time controlled
4. Roasting and curing are done for each specific harvest to bring out the best flavor
5. The time and temperature we refine at help release unwanted volatile flavors
6. We don't add any vanilla, alkaliser, or other ingredients to change the taste of the base chocolate

In future posts, we will explore the process we follow in more detail. 

We offer factory tours (booking is essential) where you can learn more about the process. 

For now, it's time for us to get back to making some chocolate.