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Cocoa & Cacao Story

You must hear cocoa. But what is cacao? 

You're probably more familiar with cocoa powder, as it's commonly used for chocolate treats, beverages, and desserts. But cacao is rising in popularity as people begin to shift towards more natural and vegan diets. 

Cocoa powder and cacao powder are very similar, the only difference being that cocoa is processed at a much higher temperature, and widely packaged cocoa contains added sugar and dairy. Both start out as beans from the cacao plant , which are separated from the fat part known as cocoa butter. bulk natural cocoa butter has a pale yellowish or slight brown color and has the typical chocolate odor normally associated with cocoa butter. At harvest, cacao beans are fermented to develop flavor and texture.

So, cacao powder is made from fermented beans that have not been roasted. They are processed at low temperatures and then milled into a powder. The result is a powder that's bitter in taste and higher in nutritional content. Cocoa powder on the other hand is made from beans that are both fermented and roasted, and then processed at a much higher temperature. The result is a less bitter, slightly darker powder that has lost some of its nutritional value.

Cacao powder is often packaged as vegan, as it has been minimally processed with no additives. And we can't forget about cacao nibs — the dried and fermented pieces of cacao beans that are often used as a topping for baked goods.

Where is Cocoa Powder from? 

First, we need to know THEOBROMA CACAO. And people usually called the bean as cocoa bean. Cocoa powder is produced from the slabs of roasted cocoa bean particles left behind when cocoa butter is extracted. As the pressing does not remove all the cocoa butter, so the particles remain coated with a thin layer of cocoa butter, all in all fat content of cocoa powder varies from 8% to 26%. These solid particles (the cocoa powder) are the basis of chocolate's flavor . As a result, cocoa powder is the most concentrated version of chocolate there is. It is also very common used in both cooking and chocolate making. Sometimes (especially in Europe and the United States), cocoa beans are treated, either before or after roasting, with an alkaline substance like potassium carbonate after which they are ground into cocoa powder. This treatment is sometimes called “dutching” . 

Cocoa Mass, also called cocoa liquor is 100% pure cocoa, made from roasted beans, and ground into a smooth and homogeneous

liquor.This unsweetened soul of chocolate is great for tuning and intensifying the flavour of your chocolates. It can be easily mixed with chocolate to achieve a more intense taste and colour or to create your signature chocolate recipe.

The dutch process effectively raises the cocoa's pH to between 7 and 8. The result is reducing the levels of astringent, bitter, milder in flavor and darker in color than traditional cocoa powder. “Dutched” cocoa can come in shades ranging from light brown to near black each with their own mild flavor profiles.