Step 1: Growing and Harvesting

Dark chocolate begins as a cocoa bean. The beans grow best under the canopy of tropical rain forests typically located within 20 degrees of the equator. Once the pod containing the bean ripens, they are harvested by hand. They are then split open and the beans are removed from the fruit.

Step 2: Fermentation and Drying

Fermentation is a critical step in developing the full flavor of the cocoa bean. Immediately after harvesting, the beans are fermented and the pulp is liquefied during this process. Fermentation lasts five to seven days, and then the beans are dried in the sun or by specialized driers to stabilize them and prevent mold growth.
Step 3: Roasting

Once the beans are dry, they are roasted in ovens at temperatures between 105 degrees and 150 degrees Celsius (221 and 302 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20-30 minutes.

Step 4: Winnowing, Grinding, Milling and Refining

After the beans are roasted, a winnowing machine cracks the shells and leaves pieces of the inner bean called “nibs.” The nibs are then ground, resulting in chocolate liquor: small particles of nibs suspended in oil. At this point, the liquor may be mixed with other ingredients such as cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla or milk. For instance, if milk is added the product will result in milk chocolate. If just cocoa butter is added the product will result in white chocolate.

Step 5: Alkalization

Alkalization includes treating cocoa nibs or cocoa liquor with a mild alkali-solution in order to raise the pH. This can improve the taste by reducing bitterness, increasing solubility and creating a brown / red color.

Step 6: Conching

A conch is a surface scraping mixer and agitator that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate, which helps develop the flavor. The conching process can take anywhere from four hours to three days.

Step 7: Tempering

Tempering is important to control the crystallization of the cocoa butter and allows the crystals to pack tightly together. During tempering, chocolate is first heated to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) to melt any fat crystals. Then it is cooled to about 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) to allow two different fat crystals to form. Then, the chocolate is reheated to 31 degrees to remove one type of fat crystal, but leaves the other intact.

Step 8: Forming into Final Products

After tempering, the dark chocolate is ready to be molded into its final product form.