Everyone knows that chocolate comes from cacao. That’s like saying steak comes from cattle. How exactly?
Theo (the name refers to the cacao tree) is a small chocolate factory in the Fremont neighborhood. The tour was educational and entertaining. The cocoa beans first go through a fermentation process, in their own pulp, after harvest. This critical process changes the color of the beans and makes them more chocolate in flavor. When sacks of beans arrive at the factory, they go through a pretty standard cleaning, sorting, and roasting process. Then the beans are smashed open to separate the husks and nibs (the inside of the cacao beans). Finally, there is the process of grinding down the nibs and mixing them with sugar and other ingredients to make chocolate.
The best part of the tour is after the ending. The retail store allows sampling and we duly tasted pretty much every flavor. I concluded that Orange Dark Chocolate is my favorite. With many repetitions and serious experiment, I also concluded that 80% chocolate is probably my upper limit and 70% is my most comfortable range. Milk chocolate (typically 25%) masks too much chocolate flavor and becomes plain candy.
Of course Theo makes ganache and of course we also sampled them (duh). I couldn’t resist the Single Malt Scotch Ganache and bought the box of with four different scotches. Theo also makes very unusual flavors like spicy chile (that I don’t like). There is Chipotle Spice sipping chocolate that needs to be mixed with warm milk that I do like. The flavor is quite “adult” in the sense of having a bit of spicy heat and a strong spice aroma. The drink, that Kids made according to the recipe, was thick, strongly chocolate, and flavorful.
Of course I ignored the calories count. Silly.