Q: What is terroir-driven chocolate & why do you release different harvest years?

Terroir The very finest of wines, be they from Bordeaux or Napa or Tokaj, allow us the privilege of tasting the valley in which the grape was grown. To’ak’s Harvest editions offer connoisseurs of dark chocolate this same opportunity—to taste not only the land, but also the characteristics of the particular year in which it was harvested. Similar to viticulturists in Burgundy and Bordeaux, cacao growers in Piedra de Plata practice “dry farming,” as it is known in the wine world. In other words, they do not irrigate their cacao. As a consequence, our harvest is especially expressive of terroir and varies each year according to weather fluctuations. Embracing these idiosyncrasies of land and weather, and likewise engaging their consequences during various phases of the production process, is the art and challenge of tree-to-bar chocolate-making. Further Reading The Main Steps in the Production of To'ak Chocolate The Different Grades of Ecuadorian Cacao More Questions? Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Q: Healthy drinking cacao recipes

Head over to our blog for inspiring recipes Healthy Chocolate Smoothie : with keto, paleo and vegan friendly options Healthy Breakfast Hack : for an alternative to your regular granola Cacao Brew Recipe : traditional recipes from Ecuador with a twist Our favorite ways to enjoy T.cacao : includes a cacao latte, brewed cacao, smoothie or breakfast boost and more. More Questions? Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Question 1

What is terroir-driven chocolate & why do you release different harvest years?

Accepted Answer

Terroir

The very finest of wines, be they from Bordeaux or Napa or Tokaj, allow us the privilege of tasting the valley in which the grape was grown. To’ak’s Harvest editions offer connoisseurs of dark chocolate this same opportunity—to taste not only the land, but also the characteristics of the particular year in which it was harvested.

Similar to viticulturists in Burgundy and Bordeaux, cacao growers in Piedra de Plata practice “dry farming,” as it is known in the wine world. In other words, they do not irrigate their cacao. As a consequence, our harvest is especially expressive of terroir and varies each year according to weather fluctuations. Embracing these idiosyncrasies of land and weather, and likewise engaging their consequences during various phases of the production process, is the art and challenge of tree-to-bar chocolate-making.

Further Reading

The Main Steps in the Production of To'ak Chocolate

The Different Grades of Ecuadorian Cacao

More Questions?

Use a keyword or phrase in the search box above or contact us via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, email or social and we are happy to help.

Question 3

What are the main steps in the production of your chocolate?

Accepted Answer

The Steps to Producing Tree-to-Bar Chocolate

Planting the cacao tree.
Nurturing the cacao tree.
Harvesting cacao pods from the tree.
Removing the wet, fruity cacao seeds (also called “beans) from the pod and placing them into Spanish Elm wood fermentation boxes for 3-6 days.
Drying the cacao beans with nothing but fresh air and sunlight, in a structure that resembles a greenhouse, for roughly two weeks.
Hand-sorting EVERY SINGLE BEAN according to size and shape, and removing any bean that is defective in any way.
Roasting the beans at low temperature, making a point of staying below 100° C (212° F).
Winnowing the beans (i.e., using airflow to separate the nibs from the seed coat).
Grinding the beans into 100% chocolate paste.
If sugar is added to the recipe, this is the moment for that.
The chocolate is then conched. This means that the chocolate, when in liquid form, is mechanically churned at a temperature of about 60° C (140° F), for a period of hours.
Next, the chocolate is tempered. The temperature of the liquid chocolate is brought down to 30.5° C (87° F), which is just above the melting point, and then the chocolate is poured into molds.
The chocolate is left to cool down and solidify, whereupon it is removed from the molds in the form of a bar.
Finally, it’s packaged.

All of the above pertains to our process for producing chocolate bars. In the case of our 100% cacao powder, steps #1-9 are the same. From there on, the production process goes like this:

The chocolate is allowed to cool down and solidify.
The solid chocolate is ground into a powder.
The powder is packaged.

There it is!

What is terroir-driven chocolate & why do you release different harvest years?

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What are the main steps in the production of your chocolate?

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