How are chocolate bars made?

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of observing a cacao bean, you’re probably aware that it’s not quite the chocolate bar you’re used to. But the cacao bean is one of the most important parts of a chocolate bar. It provides the depth, flavor, and chocolatey essence we all crave. 

For any true chocolate fanatic, it’s worth understanding how a cacao bean gets transformed into the treat we all know and love. The process will make you realize just how much effort is expended to achieve pure bliss - and why some chocolate bars don’t measure up. Without further ado, let’s begin our journey from cacao bean to chocolate bar.

Harvesting

Ask any chocolatier and they’ll tell you that their product is only as good as the cacao bean they use. In fact, that’s what we say. But it’s not easy to create the right conditions for this seed to thrive. 

The cacao bean comes from the cacao tree, and how it’s harvested influences the character and the quality of the fruit. Just think of all the house plants that have died under your care and required almost no maintenance. Cacao trees are much more demanding and much less forgiving. They need the right amount of shade to thrive and they have to be protected from the elements. They do best in tropical climates, especially rainforests where the canopy provides a natural layer of protection.

Cacao seeds are found within the fruit from the tree, called a cacao pod. Each fruit contains dozens of seeds, and you can already start to smell the characteristics of the chocolate when you open one up.

Fermenting

Once you have your beans harvested, it’s time to ferment them. This has a huge effect on the eventual taste of the chocolate. It gets rid of a lot of the inherent acidity of the cacao bean, while developing the chocolatey flavors we crave. 

Cacao beans sit in the sun for several days, getting the occasional stir. During this time, the white coating that surrounds the bean will come off, leaving the bean in its natural exposed state. After fermenting, the beans are dried out for a couple of weeks. At this point, the bean has the brown color of our beloved chocolate bar. Now, it’s time to develop the flavors.

Roasting

Cacao beans are now ready to be manufactured. That means we’re one giant step closer to the chocolate bar. The beans are roasted at certain temperatures. How they get roasted impacts the eventual flavor, so this part is an exact science. Even though the growing method introduces a lot of flavor initially, the roasting process also has a big say in the overall effect.

Grinding

Then, beans need to be broken down to cacao nibs. That requires separating the husk from the shell. Once you’ve cracked it open, you break it into tiny fragments called nibs. These nibs are what gets ground up to make a thick dark paste, and you can separate out the cocoa butter from it. When you have the butter separated, you can start to add the pure cane sugar and other ingredients, forming the foundation of the chocolate bar.

Tempering

Finally, we come to the tempering of the chocolate - the last step in the process. If you’ve ever seen a baking show before, you might have seen someone trying to temper some chocolate. The reason is that tempered chocolate is more visually appealing, allowing for a smooth surface, and causes the chocolate to snap instead of crumble when you break a square off.

And there you have it. You’re ready to take a gigantic bite out of your chocolate bar. The process of making chocolate is extensive and even arduous. This is why so many consider chocolate-making a true art form. It requires thoughtfulness and mastery of the craft. But the results speak for themselves. Next time you bite into your Chocolate Cascadian Mint Bar, you can admire all the work that brought it to it’s delicious final form.