A little bit on Cacao

...and yes, "cacao". Prioritizing my studies has led me to a two-and-a-half-hour informal research session on chocolate... I consider it time well spent :]

Preface to The Top 10 Facts You Want to Know About Chocolate:

The chocolate as you know it comes from a bean; the bean is the seed of a fruit; and this fruit comes from a tree!

The Top 10 Facts You Want to Know About Chocolate

1. Tree is species = theobroma cacao L.
2. Native to South America (though more than half of the cacao supply today comes from E. Africa now)
3. THREE (3) main varieties = criollo, forrestero, trinitario (see Note 1)
4. Grown at low elevations, usually in riparian zones, where climate is consistent at 70-90F = aka tropical
5. theobroma cacao aka "cocoa butter" is (essentially) an unsaturated fat (like olive oil)
6. cocoa is really just an error in translation. But now, it is often associated with a powder product to make chocolate milk :) For real, it's cacao
7. White chocolate is not chocolate, per-se. Instead, it is mainly cocoa butter, sugar and milk.
8. Please know where your chocolate is from. (see Note 2)
9. Chocolate is incredible with coffee. (see Note 3)
10. It is good for the heart--literally.

Note 1

Criollo is likened to the Arabica coffee varietal; the finer grade. It is usually pleasantly bittersweet, delicate, yet complex. (1-5% of production)

Forestero is similar to the Robusta coffee varietal. It is by far the highest yielding varietal for the reason that it is most resilient to diseases. Very bitter--sometimes overwhelmingly so, characteristically tannic/astringent, with a powerful aroma. (80-90%)

Trinitario is a natural hybrid of the former two. (10-15%)

(?) Arriba (and/or) Nacional. I'll try to write about the dispute over this one later.

Note 2

A large majority of cacao occurs in West Africa. Human trafficking, particularly in the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) is a major problem, with most of the labor exploitation victimizing children. See this entry for more details (FT certification is a whole other topic)

Note 3

Okay, this might be more of an opinion than fact, however! It is very true. As a side note, chocolate and coffee share a lot of issues in terms of the economy, culture, and production process...but are also very unique and distinct produce.

Kpeya Agricultural Enterprise, Sierra Leone (C.2010 transfairusa.org)