We do TWO things differently:
FLAVOUR & ETHICS
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FLAVOUR
Chachalate is made with only two ingredients: cocoa beans & organic cane sugar. That's it.
All the flavour comes from the cacao (the seed of a fruit!).
It is bold, fruity, and flavourful unlike any other chocolate.
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ETHICS
We source our cacao as directly with the farmers as possible, and pay 3-5x MORE than the Fair Trade prices.
This allows the expert farmers an actual liveable rate.
They can then focus on quality rather than quantity.
how we make chachalate
We source the best cocoa beans from around the world.
Before they arrive at our factory, a lot of work has been done already at the origin.
The cocoa beans are processed slightly differently depending on the specific farms, but in general, they follow three steps.
HARVEST
The expert farmers carefully cut the cocoa pods off the tree one-by-one.
They split the pods open, and collect the placenta: the cocoa beans and the sweet white pulp surrounding them.
image cc USAID U.S. Agency for International Development
FERMENTATION
The cocoa beans are collected and fermented for up to a week.
Fermentation is arguably the most important step to develop the flavors.
The natural sugars in the white pulp fuel this process, along with the diverse microbial environment unique to each region.
DRYING
After fermentation, the beans are dried. Sometimes on concrete patios under the sun, sometimes on raised wooden beds, sometimes over a fire.
Once they're dried, the beans are shipped off!
SORTING
We take the dried cocoa beans and sort out any undesirable ones that snuck in there.
ROASTING
We delicately roast the cocoa beans to preserve and develop the cacao's naturally fruity flavors.
WINNOWING
After they’ve cooled off, we crack open the shells and sort them away from the nib using an air current.
The shells are much lighter than the cocoa nibs, so they fly off, leaving the delicious nibs behind.
GRINDING
The cocoa nibs are ground up into tiny particles that give your chocolate that super smooth mouthfeel.
At this point, we also add organic cane sugar and any other ingredient to mix in.
We grind continuously for two to three days!
AGING
The finished liquid chocolate is poured out and solidified into blocks, then aged for up to a month. Similar to a wine!
This time develops and deepens the chocolate flavours.
TEMPERING
Finally, we remelt the aged chocolate, temper it, and pour it into our molds to give a chachalate bar with a beautiful shine and snap.
