World of chocolate is very unique. You would have seen different chocolate-based products in market. Some of them use Ghana chocolate, or some sell Belgian chocolate. Madagascar chocolate products and Ecuador chocolates also has importance in market. If you notice, every chocolate tastes different. It’s obvious that different processing methods will affect the taste of the chocolate but what if we give same processing to every origin chocolate?
Well, the taste will be different that’s why we have given importance to the origin of chocolate. Depending upon the origin, chocolate have different taste profile and texture. But what’s the reason behind this? How origin of chocolate affects its flavor profile? And how to decide which origin chocolate we should use in our product for desired taste?
The first thing which affects the taste of the chocolate is the genetics of the cacao and its precursors which are translated into organic compounds during processing and giving a distinct taste. Genetics of the cacao trees vary from region to region which has a remarkable impact on the taste of the final cocoa mass.
Furthermore, similar to grapes and its wines, the taste of the chocolates depends on the environmental conditions in which cacao tree grows. Soil, landscape, water, and climate, all affects the taste of the cocoa beans. It is also termed as terroir (includes soil, landscape, microorganisms and environment) so you can say that all the fruity notes or nutty notes in particular origin chocolate is because of its terroir up to some extent.
How exactly terroir affects the taste of the chocolate? To understand this concept, we should first understand the processing of cocoa beans. When cocoa beans are matured, they are plucked from the trees, cut-open, and the pulp is kept for the fermentation process. During this fermentation, wild yeast and bacteria act upon the pulp and cause breakdown of the complex polysaccharides and other compounds. Due to this breakdown, there are various small organic compounds produced which gives taste to the cocoa beans. Since the soil of different regions contain different strains of yeast and bacteria, the organic compounds produced during fermentation are different which directly affects the taste profile of the cocoa beans.
Beyond this, the traditional processing for the bean to bar conversation is quite different in different regions. Ripened condition of cacao pods, pre-fermentation conditions, fermentation time, temperature, and method, all these factors vary from one region to another, henceforth, brings difference in taste profile. Change in weather affects the harvest dates and ripening time which ultimately brings different taste profile. Moreover, the regions which receives higher rainfall have different taste profile than ones with lower rainfall. The reason behind this is the drying conditions where cocoa can be easily sun-dried in lower rainfall regions but requires fire-drying in high rainfall region, which brings difference in taste profile.
So now, the question is, how much different is the taste profile? How can we describe it?
Well, there are many sensory experts who have described the minute notes of flavor in different cocoa profiles. Some of which are:
Madagascar: High in acidity, floral-citrus, dried fruit, and honey-floral flavor
Ghana: Creamy and fruity, creamy-sour and musty –woody flavor profile
Peru: Smoky bean, woody and sour flavor
Ecuador: Known for its superior quality. Well mix of roasted, cocoa flavor with floral-earthy and floral-winey taste profile, along with burnt smoky flavor.
Java: Smokey profile (due to fire-based drying)
If you want to go and taste how these different origin's chocolates tastes, you are lucky as you can find single-origin chocolates in Indian Market to taste and analyze the profile difference. One of the brands, Amul has launched a wide range of single origin chocolates, ranging from Peru, Ecuador, Tanzania, India, Venezuela etc.
So, whenever you are formulating any chocolate-based product, first decide which type of flavor direction you want. Accordingly suitable cocoa can be chosen, and desired profile can be bought in the product. You can try out combination of cocoa beans from different origin to formulate a chocolate of particular flavor direction, exclusively for you.
What are your views on this? Which profile do you prefer?
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