:: Chocolate Information Center ::



Cocoa beans are cultivated all around the world under widely ranging conditions, which gives regional cocoas distinctive characters and flavors. For example, chocolate made with Sumatran cocoa will taste very different from a Caribbean blend.

Most chocolate manufacturers blend four or five varieties of cocoa beans from different parts of the world. Following a precise flavor profile, beans are blended to match the desired flavor. The flavor profile is unique to a specific chocolate, and is considered to be the proprietary, secret recipe for the chocolate manufacturer. A number of different chocolates are also used to coat or enrobe, in order to make each product a unique taste experience.

Some smaller chocolate makers have started to produce a single-source chocolate using beans from just one country, region, or even one farm. Borrowing terms from the winemaking industry, these unblended chocolates are referred to as "terroir," French for soil, or "Grand Cru," a designation granted to the very top vineyards.

However, many chocolate connoisseurs, however, prefer balanced blends, because blending results in the most pleasing chocolate flavor.

1) Types of Cacao Trees

2) Where do cocoa beans come from
	Cocoa beans are grown in pods on the cacao tree. The cacao tree is a tropical plant, it thrives in the zones just north and south of the equator:
	- The Tropic of Cancer
	- The Tropic of Capricorn

	Millions of small family farms in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia grow the cocoa beans used to make delicious chocolate around the world.

	West Africa (particularly the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon), is by far the leading cocoa producer, exporting around 70% of the world's supply.

3) What affect the cocoa bean's flavor

>> History >> Cocoa to Chocolate >> Cocoa Beans >> Quality/Taste/Presentation

>> New Trend >> Do you know that…

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws