Chocolate Trees

-At maturity a cultivated cacao tree measures 15 to 25 feet tall, but a wild tree may reach 60 feet or more.
-Some cacao trees are known to be over 200 years old — but in 25 years the economic usefulness is at an end.
-Cacao trees don’t bear fruit (cocoa beans) until the fifth year of growth and the tree is an evergreen.
-The fruits of the cacao tree are very colorful from bright red, lemon yellow, golden, pale green or a combination of all these colors.
-Approximately 400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate.
-Steps in processing cacao seeds include: cleaning, roasting, hulling, blending and grinding.
-Cocoa powder is made by removing some cocoa butter, eating chocolate is made by adding cocoa butter.
-Great chocolate manufacturers choose their beans in the same way as a wine maker chooses their grape varieties.
-Chocolate liquor does not refer to alcohol, it simply means liquid.