The Bounty of Costa Rica: a cacao expedition.

May 4, 2006

This past weekend Larry returned from Costa Rica after having a real chocolate adventure. Lauren and Larry traveled across the country meeting cacao growers and people in the cocoa industry, from the small plot farmer to the big plantation owner.



A Trinitario cacao tree with a small amount of unripe pods. Each pod contains between 25 and 45 beans.

Compared with countries like Brazil and the Ivory Coast, the cocoa production in Costa Rica is tiny. Also, over the last couple decades, there have been issues with fungus and disease on the trees. But recently, according to several local growers, production has increased as demand for unique, quality cocoa has grown, and farmers plant more trees that are less prone to disease.



Cacao beans on drying/cooling racks after coming off the heated drying tables.

Growing cacao is very tricky for a variety of reasons, and the post-harvest requirements are complex. After a pod had been removed from a tree, it is split open to reveal the seeds, which are piled into large bins and fermented for 4-7 days, depending on the bean type. During the fermentation process, the bitterness of the seed subsides and the chocolate flavor develops. After this process is complete, the beans are dried, either in the sun or on heated drying tables. Only after the moisture content of the bean drops below 8% can they be bagged and sold. Since every farmer does this differently, it is difficult to obtain consistent quality beans.



As a quality control measure, a "cut test" is done to examine the inside of the beans. With this simple test, a buyer can evaluate how well the beans are fermented and dried. They can also see if any beans are diseased or moldy from poor harvesting practices.

More to come...