Happy New Year. We are searching for a new location in 2021. The Online Store is open for Valentines Business. Ask about local delivery in Santa Fe City Limits. All orders and deliveries will need to be completed by Friday February 12th. We will have a limited supply of Chocolate available until we reopen. Get some and make the people you care about feel better. Thank You for Your Continued Support all along the way!

What is " Bean to Bar Craft Chocolate"?

by Melanie Boudar May 02, 2017

What is " Bean to Bar Craft Chocolate"?

Cacao, the Art of Chocolate is Santa Fe's only Bean to Bar chocolate maker. "Bean to Bar or Craft chocolate "means that the chocolate maker "owns " the entire process of making chocolate- from sourcing and roasting the beans to winnowing, grinding, tempering and molding.  

Most chocolatiers on the other hand buy bulk, pre-made chocolate from a big supplier like Callebaut or Valhrona which are usually blends of beans, then re-melt and fashion the chocolate into whatever products they make.

When we receive a shipment of beans A roast profile is created for each origin bean. It could be light, medium or dark depending on the source or even the cocoa butter or moisture content of a particular bean. The object of course is to express the flavors inherent in each batch of beans. In the grinding process we determine what percentage sweetness to make the chocolate or whether to make milk or dark. This raw material is then used to craft drinking elixirs, truffles or bars with or without other things added to them (called inclusions) . We actually take it a step further- farm to bar , because we have a farm in both Hawaii and Belize so we occasionally get to participate in the harvest , fermentation and drying of the beans. Our most recent was a batch of chocolate we fermented in Maui in January and will be featured along with other Hawaiian origins we've crafted in a special chocolate tasting May 13th.  Please see our booking calendar for details and be sure to wear your Hawaiian shirt to add to the fun. Come experience the difference of Bean to Bar chocolate at Santa Fe's only Craft chocolate maker. And our bars are Certified "NM True".



Melanie Boudar
Melanie Boudar

Author



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