Rainforest
Cacao Trees grow in rainforest regions twenty degrees either side of the Equator – our cocoa beans come from Peru
Tree
Theobroma cacao is a tropical evergreen tree typically about 3-4metres high.
Pod
Cocoa pods grow directly from the trunk of the tree and protect the precious beans with a fleshy cocoon. When ripe the flesh is sweet and fruity!
Bean
Inside the pod we find the seeds (beans) from which chocolate is made.
Ferment
Beans are taken out of the pods and fermented in sweatboxes following harvest to provide body and richness to the final chocolate, it also helps remove tannins.
Roast
Our beans are then roasted to an exacting roasting profile to remove moisture. It makes the bean easier to crack & winnow. It also helps to sterilize the bean whilst developing flavour.
Winnow
This is the process of removing the outer husk of the bean which is discarded from the inner nib which we use.
Nib
We use the nib part of the bean to produce chocolate – it contains cocoa solids and also cocoa butter.
Melange
Our spinning machine contains two granite wheels and a granite base which grinds the nibs with sugar to transform them into a cocoa liquid.
Conche
Next our conching machine circulates the warmed cocoa liquid shearing the fats and blowing away the volatiles and acids to develop the chocolate flavour.
Temper
This is the process of heating and cooling – Tempering prevents the dull grayish colour and waxy texture that happens when the cocoa fat separates out. Tempered chocolate produces a crisp, satisfying snap when you bite into it.
Mould
It just wouldn’t be Salcombe Dairy without our trademark Yawl – We mould our bars into fine 80g shapes prior to cooling.
Pack
Nimble fingers make this look easier than it actually is – but in ours and many other small factories the manual wrapping of chocolate is in itself an artform.
Munch
Over to you to taste and enjoy The Bar chocolate, made made by our chocolatiers in Salcombe just for you.
