Cocoa Powder: How It’s Made
YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN. Exceptional cocoa powder isn’t complicated, it simply requires the finest QUALITY cocoa beans and care in the process. Here’s how we make ours.
1. roasting
Cocoa is roasted to develop the flavour profile of the beans. Using such high quality cocoa, we adapt the roast depending on the types of beans we use. In the case of our Dominican Republic cocoa powder, we do a mid-light roast to allow the woody, rich, and slightly fruity flavours to shine.
2. Winnowing
Once roasted, the beans are then winnowed. This consists of breaking the beans down to nibs and separating them from the outer shell.
3. PRESSING
This thick paste is then put through a cocoa press. Here immense pressure is gradually pressed onto the paste to extract the fat (cocoa butter) from the cocoa solids. Once the desired amount of fat has been extracted (this varies depending on cocoa type and intended use of cocoa powder), a ‘cocoa cake’ of solids is left. This is then pulverised to create a powder.
HOW OUR POWDER IS DIFFERENT
Crucially, our cocoa powders are NOT Dutched. Dutching or Alkalization is common place in cocoa powder production. It is a means of reducing the acidity of the cocoa, creating a darker cocoa powder and a more uniform flavour. In order to do this, the cocoa must be washed with an alkalising solution such as potassium carbonate.
We chose not to Dutch our cocoa. Such care has been taken in the sourcing, farming and fermenting of our cocoa to create the highest quality, fine flavour beans. We want to retain as much of this flavour as possible and value the natural, flavourful acidity.
