Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

CHAPTER XI THE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE (CONCLUDED) OPERATIONS PECULIAR TO CHOCOLATE Chocolate is made for eating and drinking. It will be remembered that the author uses the word cocoa solely for cocoa powder (Cacao en poudre, French ; Kakaopulver, German ; Cacao en polvo, Sp. ; Cacau em po, Port. ; Cacaopoeder, Dutch). As there is no legal standard for, or definition of, chocolate, it may be well to explain how the word is used here. In general, chocolate is any preparation of roasted cacao beans without the abstrac-tion of butter. High dass chocolate contains no other ingredients than cacao nibs, sugar and cacao butter, save the small quantity of substances added as flavour-ing. Whereas chocolate for eating generally contains 50 to 55 per cent of sugar, chocolate powders for pre-paring the beverage may contain up to 75 per cent. Since the introduction of cocoa, drinking-chocolate has declined, and eating-chocolate has risen in importance. The latter will be mainly considered here. Since “ nature’s confectioner, the bee,” set the pace by making honey, human creatures have striven to produce things both sweet and delectable, and chocolate is one of man’s masterpieces. The manufacturer in seeking to establish a brand aims at producing an unchanging product of marked individuality. To do this he uses a particular blend of beans, and prepares them in a definite way to develop a characteristic flavour. He may intensify the individuality of the flavour by adding a small quantity of coffee or roasted 125