Chocolate Bar Manufacturing - Conching & Tempering

Chocolate Bar Manufacturing

Conching & Tempering

Once the beans are processed into chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, the manufacturing of finished products can begin. To make chocolate bars, chocolate liquor and cocoa butter are blended with other ingredients such as sugar, vanilla, and milk (for milk chocolate). These ingredients are then refined. For Equal Exchange chocolate bars, this means the particle size of the ingredients is refined to such a small size that they cannot be felt by the human tongue, giving the chocolate much of its smooth texture. This mixture is then "conched," or mixed and aerated at high temperatures. This process thoroughly blends the ingredients, taking out some of the acidity of the cacao and further developing the flavors that will appear in the final bar.

Traditionally, conching has been an extended process of mixing the ingredients for long periods of time, often for days. It is now common for companies to use soy lecithin, an emulsifier, to help blend the ingredients, allowing them to drastically cut down on conching time and costs. We are proud to say that Equal Exchange does not use soy lecithin in any of our products. Instead, our bars are crafted using extended conching for a period of 24-72 hours depending on the bar. It is our belief that this method creates a superior chocolate that is both incredibly smooth and full of well balanced flavors.

After the conching is complete, the chocolate is then "tempered" through a slow, stepped decrease in temperature. During this process, the chocolate is cooled and then warmed, then cooled further and warmed once again, and so on until it reaches the correct temperature, creating an even crystallization of the ingredients throughout the chocolate. If done well, tempering is what gives the chocolate its smooth texture and snap when broken in two.

Molding After the chocolate is properly tempered, it is ready for additional ingredient inclusions such as almonds, coffee beans, or cocoa nibs. The chocolate is then poured into molds, which form the shape of the bar. The chocolate cools until it becomes solid and is then removed from the molds as chocolate bars.
Labeling Once the bars are cooled, they are wrapped in their inner wrapper to keep the chocolate fresh for 12-24 months. They are then labeled, packed in cases and stacked on pallets ready to be shipped to and to be eaten!

Costa Rican Coffee Types

COSTA RICA COFFEE TYPES

Costa Rican Coffee Types

Not all Costa Rican Coffee is born equal!

Listed in order of coffee quality, the different type of coffee's that are produced in Costa Rica's coffee regions. Our coffee plantation is in the Tarazu region where we select only the finest beans from our organic, shade grown coffee plants. Tarazu is ...recognized world wide as the finest in Costa Rica ( and maybe even the world) and Coffee de Costa Rica is the finest and freshest of Tarazu!

1) - CAFE ATARAZU:
This bean comes from the volcanic mountains of Dota off the Great Mountain Range named "Talamanca" a range with rocky ladders and fertile valleys. This area is known as "Los Santos"(The Saints), where the catholic tradition of the country has obligated its town and cities to adopt biblical names. The devotion of its people to their beliefs, gives the coffee crops they offer, a unique taste of divine inspiration. Its taste in the cup has a very good body, exquisite aroma and excellent acidity. These characteristic are very well liked by Europeans, Americans and Japanese gourmet coffee drinkers.
Zone: Tarrazu
Harvest: November through February.
Type: Strictly Hard Bean(SHB).
Altitude: 1200 - 1750 meters.

2) - CAFE ZURQUI
This coffee is cropped in one of the oldest plantation areas due to kindness of the soil and the excellent bean quality that it produces. On the slopes of the Zurqui Hilla, close to the central Volcano Range, this beautiful, fertile, and quiet province, with a taste of the good old times, is where this unique coffee with high acidity, very good body and aroma, is produced.
Zone: Heredia
Harvest: November through February.
Type: Strictly Hard Bean(SHB).
Altitude: 1200 - 1500 meters.

3) - CAFE LA CARPINTERA:
La Carpintera Hill, resembling and island in the middle of the Central Valley, captures the goodness of the climate from the plateful, with the conditions of the highlands. These characteristic are unique for producing quality coffee. Its soil is extremely fertile. A pleasant climate all the year round with un excellent temperature for the coffee cropping, brings to the cup an exquisite balance between body, aroma and acidity.
Zone: Tres Rios
Harvest: November through February.
Type: Strictly Hard Bean(SHB).
Altitude: 1200 - 1400 meters.

4) - CAFE UJARRACI
This coffee, grown on a beautiful landscape, a fertile valley an a lake with crystal clear waters, near the paradise zone of Cachi in the Reventazon River Basin. All these surroundings give us the feeling of an enormous garden. This fertile land of colonial beauty, offers an exquisite coffee. The influence of the Atlantic's climate and the characteristics of the valley it self make this coffee unique.
Zone: Cachi
Harvest: October through December.
Type: High Grown Atlantic(HGA).
Altitude: 900 - 1200 meters.

5) - CAFE EL GRAN VITO
In 1941. a colony of italian immigrants decide to try and make fortune with their bare hands by colonizing this far land of the country. Today this city still posses the influence of those first settlers and their strong character and appraisal for the goodness of the land. This coffee can be tasted in the coffee cropped by these people, a unique string taste, but at the same time it is light and grateful, like the mountains and forest that surround this city.
Zone: Coto Brus
Harvest: October through December.
Type: Medium Hard Bean(MHB).
Altitude: 800 - 1200 meters.

6) - CAFE BUENA VISTA
An old story tells "...One who drinks the water of the General(General River), stays forever living in the Valle del General(General's River Valley)". This valley is surrounded by the most impressive mountains in Costa Rica. If there is a place in the whole country that symbolizes the exact words of the Costarrican National Anthem, referring to peace and work, it's San Isidro, the main city of the valley. Its coffee invites us to very hard working people. A city developed by very humble, but prideful peasants, has made this place one of the fastest growing in both agricultural productions and economical levels. With an average temperature of 24 centigrade, this last frontier, conquered by barefooted peasants, satisfies us with a coffee with good aroma and body, and a delightful acidity in its cup.
Zone: San Isidro del General
Harvest: October through December.
Type: Medium Hard Bean(MHB).
Altitude: 400 - 1200 meters.

Blending and roasting

Blending and roasting 


Blending
In order to achieve a good espresso, the blending stage is surely of fundamental importance. For a proper blending of coffee, several aspects of the raw material must be taken into account: if we are handling Arabica or Robusta, washed or natural coffees, South American, African or Asian beans, their percentage and obviously the quality of green coffee.


Roasting
 The magical “green gold” is heated inside the roasting machine at a temperature ranging from 200 to 230°C. This must be done in a very consistent way, in order to guarantee a homogenous product.

During the roasting process, the beans lose their weight by 18 to 20%, depending on the coffee origin, and increase their volume by even 60%. There is then the formation of the aromas in the coffee, which are several hundreds. The texture of the bean changes from hard to rather crumbly and oils start to appear on their surface. The colour of the beans can change according to the temperature achieved: the more they are roasted (risking to burn the coffee), the darker they will be and the more bitter they will taste.

The more rapidly the beans are cooled off, the better the aromas will be preserved. The whole process can vary in duration, depending on the kind of roasting chosen. On average, it should last about 15 minutes, although an expert roaster can decide to choose the “right moment” to end the cycle, even by the “music” produced by the beans.