Our Cacao
There are about 200 cacao trees on Pine Village Small Farm. These colorful and mysterious objects, which are directly attached to the tree trunk, are called “cocoa pods” and contain 40 to 60 cacao fruits inside a very thick skin.
I had thought that there were several kinds of cacao trees on the farm, but I was wrong. Compared to coffee trees, their genetic differences are quite apparent. If there is a tree with slightly round fruit, the tree next to it will have wrinkly elongated pods.
Cacao is the raw material of chocolate that everyone knows, but many processes and special machines are required to make that delicious chocolate.
We split harvested cacao pods into individual pods using a machete (South American Broad Blade).
After fermenting the cacao pods and roughly grinding them, we use a large container to roast them at a low temperature to make cacao nibs.
The nibs are then ground in a special machine for a long time to make a smooth paste, which is then tempered and hardened to make chocolate.
The farm's previous owner had too much work to do to bother with the cacao trees, so we initially thought of them as a "bonus" of the coffee farm. But after several years of trial and error, we finally managed to make our own chocolate.
If you come to the farm, please try our chocolate with a coffee.
- Pine Village Small Farm
Yukio Muramatsu
