Sorting
The beans are first sorted to remove any poor-quality cocoa beans that are not meant to make it in our chocolate.
Roasting
The beans are then roasted to develop the flavor profile of the cocoa beans. The temperature and time of the roast can greatly affect the flavor of the finished chocolate.
Cracking
After the beans are cooled from the roasting, they are then cracked to the shell the beans. This prepares the beans for winnowing.
Winnowing
The beans are then winnowed which removes the shell from the actual beans, which will then be in little pieces referred to as the Cacao Nibs.
Grinding & Refining
The cacao nibs are now ready for grinding. Grinding breaks the nibs down in a paste. After a paste has been made, which would also be referred to as both Cacao Mass or Cacao Liquor, we are now ready to add sugar. Refining will take place until the micron size cacao nibs are small enough to be smooth & creamy chocolate.
Conching
This further develops the finished flavor of chocolate. The level of conching will determine how much volatile acids remain in chocolate and can minimize the amount of bitterness chocolate has.
Tempering
Tempering of a chocolate makes the chocolate stable and gives the chocolate the shine that is used to give in a good chocolate.
Pouring & Cooling
Once tempered, the chocolate is poured into our chocolate molds and these molds are then vibrated to remove air bubbles and then cooled thereafter.
