• Real Chocolate
• The Secret of Chocolate
• What is Couverture?
• From Bean to Bar
• Why Spanish Couverture?
• Chocolate Compendium

From little things, big delicious things grow, and the magic cocoa bean is the very epitome of making something incredible from something seemingly innocuous. How's it done? We thought you'd never ask...

FROM STARDUST TO HARVEST

The ‘beans’ from which chocolate is made, grow in the plump pods of the small cacao tree, which produces flowers and fruit all year round. The fruit of the tree are huge melon-shaped pods, containing 30 to 40 seeds. When ripe, the pods turn from yellow to golden red, to brown, and are harvested by hand so as not to damage the surrounding flowering buds. The pods are broken open to release the cacao beans and the inside pulp is scooped out. They then undergo a fermentation process to reduce their natural bitterness and to develop their complex chocolatey flavour. Then they’re sun-dried at the plantation, sorted by size and quality, bagged and sold.

SELECT AND REJECT

Manufacturers of couverture chocolate barter for the better beans, and then clean and roast them, using their own unique, secret recipes to further develop the bean’s natural flavour. Beans are culled again, with only the very best making the final cut.

CRACK AND GRIND

Whilst roasting, the shell of the cocoa bean separates from the bean kernel (or the nib). The bean is then cracked (but not crushed) to remove the shell and extract the nib. The nibs are then ground and refined in a lengthy and highly skilled process that determines the quality of the final chocolate produced.

The grinding process liquefies the cocoa nibs removing some of the natural fat – or the cocoa butter – to produce a thick, dark and bitter paste known as the ‘cocoa liquor’. The cocoa liquor is then further refined to develop a smooth and creamy texture, and other ingredients like sugar, vanilla and additional cocoa butter and emulsifying agents are added to produce the various types of chocolate.

TRANSFER AND STIR

The chocolate mass is then placed in a container called a conch, that’s filled with metal beads which act as grinders, and is continuously stirred for up to three days. This helps develop the flavour of the chocolate, aerating the mass and releasing some of the bitterness inherent in the cocoa liquor. This process is crucial to the smoothness and characteristics of the chocolate. As a general rule, the longer the chocolate mass is conched, the better the finished product.

TEMPER AND TRANSFORM

Finally the chocolate mass is tempered to ensure controlled crystallisation of the cocoa butter. The resulting uniform crystals produce a refined couverture chocolate that has a uniform sheen that snaps, rather than crumbles when broken. The tempered chocolate is then moulded into bars, transforming the liquid or semi-liquid chocolate into a solid.

These nuggets of nirvana are then shipped from Spain, straight to San Churro – a consignment of pure pleasure, awaiting to be devoured by our loyal chocolate devotees!