by Cindy Kessler

Created on: February 13, 2011   Last Updated: December 06, 2011

All chocolate comes from the seeds or beans of the cacoa (kah KOW) tree. These trees grow in warm tropical climates close to the equator. When the seeds are fermented and dried they become the base from which chocolate products are made. It is believed that the cacoa tree originated in the Amazon –Orinoco river basin in South America almost four thousand years ago.

The earliest documented use of chocolate was around 1100 BC by the Mesoamerican people. They made a frothy chocolate beverage the Aztecs called “xocolatl” or bitter waters. The seeds of the cacao tree were fermented to develop this distinct flavor.

The cacao tree can grow to 25 feet. It produces fruit that are red, yellow, pale green or a combination of these colors, in all seasons of the year. The ripe fruit is shaped like a long cantaloupe or pod and contains 20 to 40 almond shaped seeds or beans.

The pods are harvested by cutting them from the branch with a machete or hitting with a long stick. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa.

The fermentation process begins by scooping out the seeds and surrounding pulp into piles or bins and covering them while they ferment. This process is carefully monitored because the beans must be dried and processed at the perfect moment or mold will begin to form. They are dried by spreading them out in the sun for 5 to 7 days.

After the seeds are fermented, dried, cleaned and roasted, the shell is removed and what remains is called “cacao nibs.” The nibs are ground and liquefied producing pure chocolate in fluid form. This is then processed into cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Until the Industrial Age, chocolate was made by hand and was readily available only to the upper classes. A Frenchman named Doret invented a machine to grind the “cacao nibs” into a paste. The result was a granular, oily paste that was usually dissolved in liquids and served as a beverage. Next machines were invented that made it easy to grind huge amounts of a smoother, creamier chocolate. The resulting product was used to provide the bar form of chocolate that we are all so familiar with today.

Because of a mistake in spelling cacao, probably made by English importers many years ago, English speaking countries began using the word cocoa instead of cacao.

Over the years, different manufactures have emerged and developed their own “signature” blend of cocoa solids and butter. The cheaper brands of mass

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