Is your chocolate raw?

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Accepted Answer

We have produced some raw batches in the past, with very good results, and we plan to make that a bigger part of our production style going forward. Our current editions cannot qualify as “raw” because they were roasted, albeit at the relatively low temperature range of 80-100° C (176-212° F). Compare this to conventional roasting temperatures, which reach a whopping 160° C (320° F).

A Closer Look at Roasting and Polyphenol Content

Are you asking about this because you’re concerned that roasted chocolate has less health benefits than unroasted chocolate? If so, have a look at this study conducted by researchers at Penn State. The health benefits of unroasted cacao is not necessarily superior to roasted cacao.

Manipulating the temperature and the length of time under which cocoa beans are roasted can simultaneously preserve and even boost the potency of some bioactive and antioxidant compounds while protecting desired sensory aspects of chocolate, according to Penn State researchers. That finding flies in the face of previous studies that indicate that roasting always results in a reduction in the polyphenol content in the beans.

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