The Making of Milk Chocolate and Premium Dark Chocolate
To achieve the exquisite nuances of premium dark chocolate, the cacao must be of the highest grade. The cacao beans must be roasted to perfection. And the finest ingredients must be artfully blended. From bean to bar, sumptuous premium dark chocolate is created by a process as complex as the flavors hidden within.From Tree to Bean
CACAO RESERVE BY HERSHEY’S milk and premium chocolate originates from the tropical cacao tree grown in Central America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Africa. Cacao trees flourish in the warm temperatures and moist soils of the tropics. These fragile trees, known as Theobroma Cacao (“Food of the Gods”), produce football-shaped pods with delicate light purple seeds that will become the main ingredient in chocolate. Fermentation turns the seeds dark brown, and begins the development of chocolate flavor.
From Bean to Liquor
In a process that has been repeated for thousands of years, dried cacao beans are cleaned, roasted and shelled to release the magical aroma of chocolate. The “nib,” the precious meat inside the cocoa bean, contains intense chocolate flavor. This is the soul of chocolate. Nibs are ground into a flowing brown liquid called chocolate liquor.
From Liquor to Bar
Chocolate liquor is combined with sugar and milk to make a coarse brown powder called "chocolate crumb". This mixture travels through special steel rolls which grind it into fine particles. This step is referred to as “refining”. This material and cocoa butter are then poured into large intensive mixers referred to as “conches”. Conching completes the flavor development and converts the refined material into velvety smooth liquid milk chocolate.Dark chocolates are made in much the same way but without milk. Finally, the milk and dark chocolates are “tempered”, i.e. cooled in a controlled manner to the right texture and consistency, poured into moulds, carefully cooled into solid chocolate bars, and wrapped.
