{"id":3793,"date":"2017-07-07T14:25:44","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T14:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/77.104.138.207\/~mahogan9\/internationalcoffeefarms.com\/?p=3793"},"modified":"2017-07-07T14:25:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T14:25:44","slug":"evaluate-cacao-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cuatrocaminoscoffee.com\/fr\/evaluate-cacao-chocolate\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment \u00e9valuer le cacao et le chocolat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CAFE & COFFEE OWNER<\/a><\/span>COFFEE CULTURE<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

How to Evaluate Cacao & Chocolate<\/h1>\n
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Home<\/a> <\/i> Cafe & Coffee Owner<\/a> <\/i> How to Evaluate Cacao & Chocolate<\/a><\/div>\n
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Looking to improve your understanding of cacao and chocolate? This delicious food increases our happiness, is a common gift on dates, and was famously used as currency by the Aztecs.<\/p>\n

The US spent $18 billion on retail chocolate in 2015 \u2013 and while much of it may be poor-quality, there\u2019s a growing interest in high-quality cacao. So if you appreciate cacao and chocolate as much as you do coffee, there\u2019s no better time to start learning about it.<\/p>\n

Dr Carla Martin, Founder and Executive Director of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute (FCCI), agreed to talk to us about how the institute grades cacao and chocolate. Here\u2019s what we learnt.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO:\u00a0How to Cup Cascara & Evaluate Quality<\/a><\/b><\/big><\/big><\/p>\n

\"Cacao\"A producer harvests cacao. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

What Is Fine Cacao & Chocolate?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Specialty coffee is clearly defined: it is 80+ points, as graded by a qualified Q Grader<\/a> in a rigorously controlled setting. Those 80 points can further be broken down into different categories.<\/p>\n

Fine cacao and chocolate, on the other hand, lack definitions. \u201cAt this point in time, the categories of fine cacao and chocolate are ill-defined,\u201d Dr Martin tells me. \u201cThere have been attempts at definitions from a variety of angles, though these have yet to be adopted widely by the specialty sector. As a scholar who studies the history and culture of fine cacao, I could go on at length about the influence of politics and power on these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she tells me that there is some consensus over which bean qualities are good and bad.\u00a0\u201cFor example, there are widely agreed-upon attributes of bean quality, such as external and flavor defects in cacao, that impact the quality of final chocolate products,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, while the lack of clear definitions may make it hard to discuss quality \u2013 and therefore pricing \u2013 it also offers an opportunity. At this point in time, stakeholders can decide how they want to define fine cacao and chocolate.<\/p>\n

\u201cCacao producers have been central to the development of our sampling protocol and curriculum,\u201d Dr Martin tells me, \u201cespecially through interviews and research exploring their wants and needs. This is not a system based simply on communication of industry needs, though that is still important; it is a system based on the needs of all stakeholders. Ultimately, our course is about imparting knowledge and promoting wisdom and critical thinking, and about allowing everyone in the supply chain to become a part of conversations on the future of fine cacao and fine chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to interviewing producers, the FCCI also worked with the SCA and Q graders.<\/p>\n

\"cacao\"A bag of Criollo cacao ready for export.<\/i><\/p>\n

What Do The FCCI Believe Cacao Graders Should Know?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The FCCI runs a three-day training course, the Cacao Grader Intensive course. This is not currently graded, although Dr Martin tells me the FCCI \u201ceventually plan to offer a certification course, in some ways modeled after the Q certification process in coffee\u201d.<\/p>\n

Describing the current course as an \u201cintroductory\u201d one, she tells me it includes lectures on the history and culture of fine cacao and chocolate, the factors that affect quality (genetics and agronomy, post-harvest processing, storage and transport, chocolate-making), the science of flavour and sensory analysis, the supply chain, and ethics and transparency.<\/p>\n

It also involves hands-on training for:<\/p>\n