There is no pure "single bean"chocolate
No chocolate bar is the product of a single production. Large chocolate manufacturers may use dozens of different beans to create the taste they are seeking.
Just as with wine grapes, every "terroir" produces distinctive beans, with unique characteristics determined by plant variety, soil and climate. Every chocolatier is a blender who carefully chooses and mixes from the palette.
*The smokiness of Trinidadian cocoas
*the orange flower taste of equatorial Arriba
*the fruitiness and tobacco notes of Java beans
*the rustic simplicity of African beans
*the fruit, smoke and coconut overtones of Madagascan cocoas
*the bitterness of the High Plateaus, etc.
"We use up to 30 different cocoas in our blend," states Valhrona, "so that the initial impact, bouquet and finish will gradually reveal different flavours, without ever disrupting the overall balance."
