Harvesting the cocoa beans

Cocoa trees naturally grow up to 12 m high, but are continuously pruned to a height of 4 - 5 meters for easier access during harvesting.

Each of the oval cocoa fruits, which weigh around 500 g, contains 25 to 50 cocoa beans, which are embedded in longitudinal rows in the fruit pulp. Many steps are required to extract cocoa from these cocoa tree seeds, which have a high content of bitter substances and do not taste a bit like chocolate:

• The fruits, which grow directly on the trunk of the cocoa tree, are harvested manually without damaging the tree bark.
• The harvested fruit is then broken open with machetes and spread out on banana leaves. The white, sugary pulp, the fruit pulp, then begins to ferment very quickly and develops temperatures of up to 40°C without external heating.
• The incipient germination of the seeds is stopped by the alcohol produced during fermentation and the beans lose some of their bitter substances. During this process (fermentation), which lasts around 10 days, they develop their typical flavors and aromas as well as their color.
• Our cocoa beans are traditionally dried using sun and wind. Drying in conventional drying ovens is controversial, as the resulting smoky taste can render the beans unusable.

After drying, the cocoa beans are only around 50% of their original size and are vacuum-packed directly on site.

No further treatment (fumigation, irradiation, etc.) is carried out on our cocoa beans!

This is known as a fat bloom. It can be recognized by a very thin layer of fat crystals on the surface of the cocoa beans or on finished chocolates. The fat bloom is caused by the recrystallization of fats and the movement of fatty ingredients from the beans to the surface. The quality and taste are not affected by this. Fat bloom is often confused with mold, but has nothing to do with it.

Cocoa beans contain a variety of different and sometimes valuable ingredients (approx. 300 different substances).

The most important are: Arginine, dopamine (neurotransmitter, happiness hormone), epicatechin (important phytonutrient, flavonoid, peroxynitrite antagonist), histamine, magnesium, serotonin (neurotransmitter, happiness hormone), tryptophan (serves the body as a precursor for serotonin, among other things), theobromine, phenylethylamine (stimulates the release of dopamine), polyphenols as well as many other flavonoids and more...

The special properties of epicatechin are the subject of intensive research. According to Professor Dr. Norman Hollenberg from Harvard Medical School, four of the five most common diseases of civilization occur significantly less frequently in areas where people consume a lot of epicatechin in their diet.

Ingredients:

• 54.0 % cocoa butter (of which approx. 40 % unsaturated fatty acids, contains β-sitosterol)
• 11.5 % protein
• 9.0 % cellulose
• 7.5 % starch and pentosans
• 5.0 % water
• 2.6 % minerals and salts
• 2.0 % natural flavors
• 1.2 % theobromine
• 1.0 % various sugars
• 0.2 % caffeine

Origin, cultivation, harvest

Our cocoa trees grow wild in the mountainous jungles of Bali, where they thrive among coconut palms, banana trees, rubber, avocado and mango trees in a natural environment.

It is the local families and small farmers who know the trees from an early age and harvest the fruit for us. After harvesting, they bring them fresh and directly to the drying station, where they are gently dried and fermented.

The cocoa tree, a long, thin undergrowth tree with smooth, sword-like leaves, was named "Theobroma - food of the gods" by the botanist Carl von Linné.

Whether he was referring to the role of cocoa in Aztec culture or the aphrodisiac properties it is said to have is not known. One thing is certain: cocoa really does have divine properties!
Cocoa trees were originally native to the Amazon region, but are now grown in many tropical areas up to around 20 degrees north and south latitude.

Only in this narrow geographical area is the climate sufficiently warm and humid, providing the cocoa trees with everything they urgently need to thrive.

In addition to sufficiently high temperatures and sufficient humidity, the cacao tree also needs enough shade, as the trees do not like permanent, direct sunlight.

In a natural association with other native plants and trees, this need can easily be met - whereas growing on a plantation with monoculture and row planting can offer little protection from blazing sun.

Under the most favorable conditions, the evergreen cocoa tree flowers all year round and therefore also bears ripe fruit all year round. The fruits are pollinated by small midges.

A cocoa tree bears its first blossom at the age of five to six years. The ripe fruits, which vary in color from greenish-yellow to red depending on the variety, can be up to 30 cm long and weigh up to 500 grams.

These fruits contain up to 50 seeds embedded in the pulp, the valuable cocoa beans.
From year to year, the young tree can develop more of these seeds and from its twelfth year of life, it is fully in its prime.

Although the cocoa plant probably originates from South America, the history of its cultivation begins in Central America. Finds of vessels with deposits of theobromine suggest that the plant was used from around 1100 BC. Remains of such vessels were found near the town of Puerto Escondido in Honduras. However, it was not the cocoa bean that was used, but the sugary pulp, which was fermented into an alcoholic drink.

The Aztecs had known about the plant since the 14th century. It was considered sacred and was regarded and worshipped as a gift from the god Quetzalcoatl. The beans extracted from the fruit were not only used as an offering, but also as a means of payment and to prepare a bitter spice drink, which is very different in taste to the cocoa drink that is widely available today.

The name cocoa is derived from the god Xocóatl. The spice drink was a mixture of water, cocoa, corn, vanilla, cayenne pepper and a little salt.

When the Spanish conquistadores conquered Mexico in 1519 and subjugated the Aztecs, they very quickly discovered that "brown gold" had fallen into their hands. With the spread of cocoa consumption in Europe, the cocoa cultivation area also expanded.