My own Bean-to-Bar chocolate making experience

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Finally my own  bean-to-bar chocolate experience was such a fulfilling experience. I am so thankful to Ms. Mely for the cacao from Aurora Province.

I have posted here my very first time of  tasting raw cacao last August.
http://pinoychocophile.blogspot.com/2013/08/taste-of-raw-cacao-from-aurora_17.html#.UpGKytJkPsY

Then my experiment of fermenting with the post below:
http://pinoychocophile.blogspot.com/2013/08/fermenting-cacao-at-home.html#.UpGKxNJkPsY

As well as growing cacao seedling from the beans being fermented:
http://pinoychocophile.blogspot.com/2013/09/growing-cacao-seedling.html#.UpGMxNJkPsY

Some of the seedlings were brought to Ilocos already, hoping some of them survive, grow and bear fruits, after two - three years.

Well, the fermented and dried beans would be categorized slaty or moldy since it was my first time to experiment fermenting at home. Fotos shown below of cacao beans exposed for drying after a week of fermenting.

But I am happy with the turn out. The aroma when it was baked and roasted was wonderful, my nieces and nephew thought it was coffee, indeed there was a resemblance of  a coffee smell.

Blend/grind brown sugar until it became powdery and then mixed with the roasted cacao nibs until the cocoa butter started to appear. Well the blender was not up to making it more fluid. So with the still granulated mixture we made our chocolate drink. With boiled water, evaporated milk and some more sugar - a chocolate drink that everyone enjoyed!

baked to remove the skin and then toasted

first grinding

2nd-3rd grinding of cacao

with sugar mix, notice cacao butter in the mix

final output

hot choco from the pan, cocoa butter on top

nephew enjoying a cup of his choco drink

nieces enjoying a sip of hot choco drink 

Home made chocolate bar

Fermenting cacao at home

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The last remaining batch of cacao with origin from Aurora served as my breakfast today. After having nibbled and spat the raw cacao beans I made a new batch for fermentation.

There were 2 kinds of pods - one was a rugby size pod, greenish in color with soft and almost even surface while the other two pods regular size with golden orange color with defined ridges or uneven rugged surface.

I observed that the the beans of the rugby size pod have bigger beans as well that has darker brownish color while the regular size pod  has whitish/pale color smaller beans. Total number of beans from the former were 44 good beans and 5 fleshy but empty beans. The other two pods contain 48 and 49 good beans.


Rugby size cacao pod

 Regular size cacao pod

This is how the bean look like when cut lengthwise:

 Cacao beans - Left - whitish/pale color and Right - brownish bean (rugby size)

I will be doing 10 days fermentation and this is the look of my fermentation box:
(The cover is leaves of home grown sweet potato from our balcony.)