Fine cocoa
In the cocoa trade, fermented and dried cocoa are divided into fine cocoa and consumer cocoa according to their origin and flavor properties . The typical cocoa aroma has both consumer and fine cocoa.
Fine cocoa
Fine cocoa differs from consumer cocoa in its characteristic aroma notes, which can be described as fruity, floral or nutty. Chocolatiers and chocolate gourmets use other descriptions that are similar to those of good wines . Fine cocoa from Venezuela, Madagascar or Papua New Guinea are also characterized as raisin-like, earthy, woody or caramel-like.
The Criollo is considered to be the finest among fine cocoa. As a rule, it is not very acidic, hardly bitter and, in addition to a mild cocoa taste, has distinctive secondary aromas. Nacional cocoa from Ecuador and many Trinitarios are also counted among the fine cocoa . Trinitario cocoa can produce a strong taste, a slight acidity and expressive aromas. Since the taste of cocoa does not only depend on the genes of the plants, but also on the soil and climatic conditions, a distinction is made between the numerous cocoa groups and their growing areas in the trade. There is a fine cocoa commercial quality from Java with light-breaking cocoa seeds, "Java-A" cocoa.
As a rule, a significantly higher price (up to ten times) is paid for fine cocoa.
Origin and quantity
According to the current version of the International Cocoa Agreement of 2010, valid since October 1, 2012, fine-flavor cocoa is “cocoa that is valued for its unique taste and color” and is grown in one of the following countries (in each case in brackets: Total exported Cocoa beans in the 2007/2007 harvest year in tonnes) / Share of fine cocoa in the country's cocoa exports in percent:
(Only the figures from those countries that grow fine cocoa are listed below. Those countries that only grow consumer cocoa are not mentioned below.)
Costa Rica (? T, 100%), Dominica (0 t, 100%), Dominican Republic (34,106 t, 40%), Ecuador (115,264 t, 75%), Grenada (214 t, 100%), Indonesia (465,863 t, 1%), Jamaica (? t, 100%), Colombia (? t, 95%), Madagascar (3,609 t, 100%), Papua New Guinea (51,588 t, 90%), Peru (11,178 t, 90 %) %), St. Lucia (? T, 100%), São Tomé and Príncipe (1,500 t, 35%), Trinidad and Tobago (? T, 100%), Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (4,688 t, 95%)
The total amount of fine cocoa is around 175,000 tons. This corresponds to a share of almost 6 percent of the world's cocoa exports of 3,106,938 tons.
Consumer cocoa
In contrast to fine cocoa, most forasteros have a stronger cocoa taste and are less aromatic and sometimes bitter or sour. Nevertheless, due to its robustness and its high yields, the Forastero is of the greatest importance for the world market and is grown in all major producing countries. In the trade, this foraster cocoa is also known as consumer cocoa.
Consumer cocoa represents 95% of the world's annual production, production takes place mainly in West Africa ( Ghana and Ivory Coast ), followed by Southeast Asia.
Differentiation between consumer cocoa and fine cocoa
Consumption cocoa and fine cocoa are only slightly different in their composition, the main difference being in the content of theobromine and caffeine . Fine cocoa contains proportionally more caffeine than theobromine. Mixing it with Criollo cocoa creates different cocoa flavors.
Individual evidence
- ^ Translation of the 2010 International Cocoa Agreement (PDF) , Appendix C, accessed on July 19, 2012.
- ^ Translation of the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 , PDF, Annex A, accessed on July 2, 2014.
- ↑ Recommendations ICCO Ad Hoc Panel 2010 , in English, accessed on July 19, 2013.
- ^ Translation of the International Cocoa Agreement 2010 , PDF, Annex A, accessed on July 2, 2014.
- ↑ a b Markus Fischer, Marcus A. Glomb: Modern Food Chemistry . Behr's Verlag DE, 2015, ISBN 978-3-95468-242-3 , pp. 440–442 ( google.de [accessed October 31, 2018]).