Cacao and Coffee - the Commonalities
Cacao and coffee share many commonalities, not least their impressive flavour profiles! I have been doing some research into coffee after starting to work with some sustainably sourced coffee beans as an inclusion in my chocolate. The similarities in ethical sourcing practices between cacao and coffee got me wondering what else was similar, and I discovered that there were many things I didn’t know about coffee… much like at the beginning of my chocolate journey.
Cacao and coffee share many commonalities, not least their impressive flavour profiles! I have been doing some research into coffee after starting to work with some sustainably sourced coffee beans as an inclusion in my chocolate. The similarities in ethical sourcing practices between cacao and coffee got me wondering what else was similar, and I discovered that there were many things I didn’t know about coffee… much like at the beginning of my chocolate journey.
Here are a few of the commonalities that I have discovered in simple bullet points:
Both cocoa and coffee beans are the seeds of a fruit - the cocoa pod and the coffee cherry. The cocoa pod contains around 40-60 seeds, and the coffee cherry has two seeds per cherry.
Different varietals offer different flavour profiles and unique characteristics (size, appearance). For example, in cacao we have Trinitario, Criollo etc. In coffee there is Robusta, Arabica and so on.
Both cacao and coffee have to be manually harvested by hand, as they ripen on the tree at different times.
The impressive flavour profiles I mentioned… cacao has over 600 aromatic compounds, coffee over 1000!
The roasting process in fine chocolate and fine coffee has the aim of bringing out and enhancing the natural, inherent flavour profile of the beans.
‘Dark’ in chocolate refers to the amount of cocoa solids in the recipe, whereas in coffee ‘dark’ is referring to the length of the roast.
Both act as stimulants; cacao has theobromine and coffee has caffeine.
It is well known that chocolate and coffee are a match made in heaven, and when you consider the similarities between the two it’s easy to see why. So why is fine coffee so far ahead of chocolate when it comes to recognition as a fine product when it’s been consumed as a drink for over 4,000 years? Well, the answer to that one is long and complex and involves a deep dive into the history of chocolate. I’ll save that for another post!
Hello and welcome!
Hello and welcome to Exe Chocolate!
Hello, and welcome to Exe Chocolate. Thanks for stopping by! This is my first blog post (of many I hope), and it seems fitting to introduce myself and the concept behind my little business in more detail.
My name is Nicola Knight, I make chocolate bars in small batches from incredible cacao beans in my kitchen in Exeter.
I started my business in May 2022, solely because I could no longer justify buying multiple kilos of cocoa beans and turning it into delicious chocolate which I would then proceed to eat all by myself!
I started to dabble with chocolate making around 2017, at around the time I started my sensory chocolate tasting journey with the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting. Since then I have certified as a Level 1 and 2 Chocolate Taster, and am currently studying for my Level 3. I have also taken lots of other courses in Cacao Evaluation and Sourcing and the bug for chocolate knowledge and information keeps growing!
I am a teacher, and I love to teach in schools about where chocolate comes from and how chocolate is made. If you’d like to know more about this side of my business you can visit my other website www.celebratecacao.co.uk.
I made many many batches of awful, inedible chocolate along the way. Chocolate making isn’t easy and the only way to really learn is to just do it, over and over again! Eventually I started to get it right, and from there I started to focus on finding the best origins that offer amazing flavour potential that I could develop and create my own range.
My products will always come from a place of outstanding flavour first and foremost. And of equal importance (although secondary in my sourcing decisions) comes the provenance of the beans. I only buy beans from a specialty cacao importer, so I know without question that they have been ethically sourced and traded with respect for the growers and their livelihoods.
I very much hope that you will enjoy my chocolate. Chocolate making is a real passion project for me, it gives me purpose, a sense of calm in my busy family life, and every sale gives me great joy!