In Part 1 of this blog series we provided some background on the highly successful, inextricable link between chocolate and Valentine’s Day.
We also mentioned some cultural information surrounding the growing of theobroma cacao trees around the world.
Finally we included some steps involved in processing cacao beans from grower through manufacturer.
Image courtesy of albion80 at rgbstock.com
Three of the best known categories of cacao beans that may make their way into chocolate worldwide include:
- Criollo which means “native” and this type of cacao bean may be found in Central America, and then in Venezuela in South America and some other locations;
- Forastero which means “foreign” and often this type of cacao bean thrives in the Amazon Basin, as well as in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and other locations. Although most Forastero variety beans have deep, classic cocoa flavor, those from Madagascar might be said to have citrus flavor elements reminiscent of tangerines, while those from São Tomé might be said to have coffee undertones; and
- Trinitario (actually a hybrid of the Criollo and Forastero) which means “sent from heaven” and often this type of cacao bean is grown mainly in the Caribbean, having actually originated in Trinidad. Trinitario cacao trees may still be found growing in Cameroon, Ecuador, the Indonesian island of Java, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, and some still in Venezuela and some other locations.
Most of what is considered to be the bulk chocolate flavor in mainstream chocolate products is contributed from primarily Forastero cacao beans mainly coming out of West Africa & South Africa combined supplying ~70-80% of the world’s cacao crop.
Forastero trees are more disease resistant, which is why that category was introduced into Africa, while over the past hundreds of years since the Spanish first imported Criollo cacao beans from Venezuela, many Criollo trees have been lost to disease.
What are considered to be the flavor note cacao beans are the Criollo cacao beans and Trinitario cacao beans. Today those varieties combined only compromise some 6% of all the cacao beans grown worldwide (~1% for Criollo and ~5% for Trinitario), while a century ago combined they were closer to 50% of all the cacao beans that were grown world wide.
You may be wondering what specific types of flavor notes are considered to be found in the cacao flavor beans currently being grown around the globe.
Since both the Criollo and Trinitario cacao beans contribute flavor notes associated with more upscale rather than mainstream chocolate products, connoisseurs have tried to zero in on the subtle differences between those beans when they are grown in different places with different soils, etc.
Some Places Where the Cacao Flavor Beans for Chocolate Flavor Notes are Grown:
- Brazil (the beans are considered to have complex fruit flavors with subtle fruit notes);
- Columbia (where the beans are considered to have moderate fruitiness);
- Costa Rica (where the beans are considered to have fruity elements);
- Dominican Republic (chocolate product labels may also read Santo Domingo) where beans are said to have delicate red wine and spice flavor notes, or in some cases earthy tones with fragrant tobacco notes;
- Ecuador (more than half of the world’s supply is said to come from there and for those beans to have a jasmine floral quality as well as fruit notes combined with herbal tones to them);
- Grenada (deep flavor with notes reminiscent of fruits and flowers);
- Indonesia (also noted on chocolate product labels as Java) where the beans evidence clean cocoa flavors with balanced acidity;
- Jamaica (beans from there are thought to have flavor notes that are reminiscent of pineapple);
- Mexico (bright acidity considered appealing);
- Panama (along with classic cocoa flavor there may be subtle highlights of fruit and/or roasted nut flavor elements);
- Papau New Guinea (beans have a hint of smoke or peat because of how they are fire dried);
- Tobago (beans are said to have a spicy quality associated with cinnamon, and complex fruity flavor);
- Trinidad (beans from there are said to have a spicy quality associated with cinnamon, and complex fruity flavor that is well-balanced); and
- Venezuela (the beans are considered to have flavor elements of dark cherries and ripe red plums resulting in balanced, complex fruit flavors.
Reportedly supplies of flavor beans also come from elsewhere in Asia, other parts of the Caribbean, additional sites in Latin America, and finally from parts of Oceania.
Keep in mind that not only flavor content, but also antioxidant content of cacao beans depends upon not only the variety of cacao tree and the microclimate growing conditions on any given farm, but also how the beans are handled post-harvesting through fermentation, drying, roasting, and any conching of chocolate liquor. Roasting allows flavor precursors already developed in the beans to become the aldehydes, esters, lactones, pyrazines, and other groups of compounds that in part give chocolate its distinctive aroma and highly desired flavor. Of course, when it comes to actual chocolate manufacturing, still additional substances may be added before specialty chocolate bars, etc., are produced.
Some Lesser Known Information About Cocoa Which Provides Chocolate Flavor
Chocolate typically contains large amounts of cocoa butter as its fat source. Cocoa butter content is why chocolate melts at body temperature and literally melts in your mouth. White and pastel chocolate coatings are called such since they contain cocoa butter, but not cocoa powder.
Image of natural cocoa powder courtesy of kalilo at rgbstock.com
It is estimated that 90% of all available cocoa powder comes from the Forastero cacao beans globally and is considered “bulk production” flavor product, while “finer flavor” cocoa product constitutes the remaining 10% of availability in the marketplace reflecting primarily the Trinitario along with the Criollo varieties still in existence.
Most milk chocolate products in the world are made from Forastero cacao beans.
Note that high quality dark chocolate may contain cacao from the Trinitario beans.
Whenever you see % cacao on a chocolate label, it reflects all cacao content in the product, so both all cocoa powder and all cocoa butter content. When manufacturers are trying to cut costs, they put more cocoa butter into a chocolate product, rather than more high quality cocoa powder as then legally they can still list a higher % cacao on the product label.
Unsweetened natural cocoa powder might contain perhaps 10-12% cocoa butter fat by weight, while other cocoa powders might contain up to 35% cocoa butter fat by weight. What industry dubs as “breakfast cocoa powders” may contain fat content in the range of 22% or more.
While Dutch process cocoa powder is alkalized to a pH typically anywhere between 6.8-8.1, natural cocoa powder is actually acidic having a pH closer to 5.4-5.8. Dutch cocoa powder typically has a more mellow taste (since natural cocoa powder is actually more bitter) and due to being alkalized dissolves more easily in liquids. Alkalized Dutch process cocoa powder can also appear to be darker–anywhere from deep brown to a reddish brown to black in color, while natural cocoa powder will be of a lighter brown color.
We suggest using unsweetened natural cocoa powder rather than Dutch process cocoa powder in baking and cooking. If you desire more intense chocolate flavor to be released from unsweetened natural cocoa powder, you can heat some liquid from the recipe (which is why some recipes call for boiling water). Pour that hot liquid over the unsweetened natural cocoa powder. The hot water will cause the cocoa butter to melt, and will also assist in the dispersion of cocoa particles into the mixture.
Since unsweetened natural cocoa powder is indeed a powder, you need to treat it like flour volume in any baked goods recipe (recipes in the US for consumers typically use volume rather than weight measures). It is important to maintain a proper relationship between flour and liquid in the recipe to prevent having a dry baked good item produced. In other words, if someone is adjusting a recipe to provide chocolate flavor or developing a new recipe they can’t just add x tbsp of unsweetened natural cocoa powder to it. The recipe would need a comparable volume of flour removed or else require additional liquid to compensate for the amount of cocoa powder added if the flour level was kept constant.
Because of its natural acidic pH, unsweetened natural cocoa powder can help proteins to “set” when baking or cooking an item. On the other hand, the alkalinity of Dutch process cocoa powder can interfere in that process, and in some instances lead to disastrous failed recipe baking results, especially if a bit of eggs are involved. Yet another reason why we suggest using unsweetened natural cocoa powder when baking or cooking.
In our Part 3 of 3 blog post we’ll provide some infotainment regarding perceptions of “chocolate cravings” and estimates of potential antioxidant (including flavonoid) health-related attributes of consumption of natural (not alkalized Dutch process) cocoa powder and prudent consumption of true dark chocolate.