Chocolate and coffee go together like two peas in a pod (or beans in a pod, if you will).  Although we regularly use the terms coffee beans and cacao beans, neither are actually beans. Coffee beans are the pits/seeds of bright red berries, and cacao beans are seeds from the cacao pod. Both are derived from the seeds of a fruit, both are fermented, dried, and then roasted. This similarity in processing is why both coffee and chocolate can have a diverse variety of flavour characteristics depending on the genetics of beans used, the fermentation and drying process, and the degree of roasting.

Although they are two different items, coffee and chocolate have more in common than meets the eye. This similarity is even greater when talking about Bean to Bar- or Specialty Chocolate and Specialty Coffee.

Farming | Cacao & Coffee are two evergreens with similar stories

Both cacao and coffee plants are evergreen trees growing in the tropics, 20°N and S of the equator. While Arabica coffee prefers altitude, Robusta coffee and Cacao prefer tropical lowlands. Cacao is a low-yield crop, relative to other fruit products. Cacao farmers are paid by weight of dry beans and it takes 16 kg of cacao pods to produce 1 kg of dried cacao beans –needed to produce about 1kg of 70% dark chocolate*. An average subsistence farm (two hectares) will produce 600 to 800 kg of cacao beans per year.

It is the coffee beans that farmers prepare and export, these are contained within the coffee berry. After 3 to 7 years of growth, coffee cherries are harvested and processed before being shipped abroad (primarily to the US and Europe) to be prepared for consumption. Each coffee cherry contains two beans and an average cup of coffee contains 70 roasted beans. These 70 beans produce around 8 grams of coffee.**

Like cacao, coffee is also meant to be grown in the shade of agroforestry, but demands for higher yields have led to mechanised farming with a unfavourable impact on the environment.

One of the biggest current challenge for both industries is the climate change. Coffee and cacao crops are sensitive to climate conditions, and climate change poses significant challenges to their cultivation. Rising temperatures and unpredictable water supply can directly impact crop quality. Producers have to focus more and more on sustainable practices to build resilience to climate change, such as implementing agroforestry systems, implementing water conservation practices, and adopting climate-smart agricultural techniques. But most of the time this requires big investments that can’t be achieved by the producers alone, this is why stable prices, trading with ethics and community development practices are getting unavoidable.

Sustainable Sourcing | Purposeful Purchasing

Quality | What’s special about ‘specialty cacao’ & ‘specialty coffee’?

While a strict protocol is applied to the quality evaluation of Specialty Coffee, no formal quality evaluation process is applied to Specialty Cacao. By definition, specialty coffee is a coffee that has achieved a score of 80+ on the official SCA scale for sensory analysis and has a limited number of defects (clearly defined in categories by SCA). For Specialty Cacao, however, there are different quality standards, but there is currently no industry-wide accepted protocol.

Just  like speciality coffee, the quality evaluation of specialty cacao is based on both physical and sensory analysis. Defects can be detected and a fermentation check can be done by means of a ‘cutting test‘. By cutting the cacao bean into two halves, the cacao specialist can detect problems such as pests, mold, germination or other defects. Fermentation and drying can be checked visually by the colour*** and fisuring of the beans. It’s best to track down the problem as soon as possible so you can separate and isolate the ‘problem batch’ and make sure it’s not mixed with a fine-flavored cacao batch.

On the other hand, through sensory analysis (examination of texture, flavour, taste, appearance and smell by using the senses sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing) of the raw beans, cacao liqueurs or chocolate, the distinctive flavour characteristics and uniqueness of the cacao are defined.

Roasting Beans | Unlocking Flavours

Roasting is a crucial step in both the coffee-making  & chocolate creating process that  is essential for the final flavours in chocolate and coffee. For this purpose, both coffee roasters and chocolate makers develop special roasting profiles, depending on which flavours they want to enhance or unlock in the beans.

The mechanics of roasting coffee and cacao are quite similar on the surface. Both benefit from the even heat of a rotary drum roaster (or possibly oven-roast for cacao) , where the beans are in constant motion, but that’s where the similarities end. The intensity, duration and chemical processes differ. Coffee likes a hot and fast approach, while cacao needs less heat and more time. This is partly due to the size of the beans. Cacao weighs on average 10 times that of a coffee bean. Flavour development for both begins the moment moisture loss occurs. The higher bean temperature required for coffee (over 200°C / 400°F) results in caramelisation of sugars, and for darker roasts, pyrolysis – thermal decomposition which can also be described as controlled combustion. As they roast, coffee beans expand, turn from green to brown, and crack audibly (“first” and “second” **** crack mark notable points in the development of the roast). With the momentum of the high heat, the flavours of coffee beans develop quickly and the profile can change dramatically in a matter of seconds.

By contrast, cacao beans are treated in a comparatively low-and-slow manner. Flavour development during roasting is largely based on chemical precursors formed during the post-harvest process. Proteins, or amino acids, and “reducing” sugars react with heat to produce Maillard reactions and Strecker degradation. While Maillard reactions usually lead to browning of food, in the case of cacao, the browning process begins earlier in the origin, right after harvest. Thus, the original colour of chocolate is largely due to the fermentation process, although roasting may contribute to this.
In contrast to the high temperatures associated with coffee, the final bean temperature might range from 120°C / 250°F for light roasts to 135°C / 275°F for the deepest roasts. In cacao, there is also a subtractive element to roasting; volatile and vinegary acetic acid resulting from fermentation is driven off.

High-quality beans of both cacao and coffee generally tend to reveal subtle nuances and complexity when roasted on the lighter side. With experience and control of the many variables, roasters can pinpoint the ideal parameters for beans of specific origins, genetics and processing.

At the end of roasting, coffee and cacao both need to be quickly cooled or quenched to stop the process. Both lose a significant amount of weight during the burn, mainly due to water evaporation. In addition to moisture loss, coffee also releases “chaff” – the wafer-thin husk – during roasting. Cacao’s more substantial husk requires additional processing (winnowing) to remove. The transformation into finished chocolate requires several steps after roasting; and while coffee brewing is an art and science in itself, roasting -with all its subtleties- is the primary processing step.

By the way: while one speaks of ‘dark’ for both chocolate and coffee, two very different aspects are responsible for this. While a ‘dark’, heavy roast for coffee means that ‘dark’ flavours were created during the roasting process -like caramel, roasty, smoky-, dark chocolate is ‘dark’ when its cacao content is high. In this case, the roasting has no effect on the ‘darkness’ in the chocolate, only an increasing cacao content. Even dark chocolate can taste mild, depending on the type and processing…

Ambassadorship | Passionate Professionals

Bartenders and baristas (like some wine sommeliers) are ambassadors for craft drinks. They educate consumers about flavour notes, provenance, and wider issues like sustainability by talking about what they’re serving. Most people come into contact with coffee specialties and craft spirits for the first time in a coffee shop or bar. Having an approachable expert can take the risk out of trying new products. Instead of investing in an entire bottle of new wine or buying a full pour over kit, consumers can ask for help and guidance. After trying different brews or cocktails, they gain confidence and can invest in craft products for home use. Chocolate is not set up in the same way – there are no artisanal chocolate tasting rooms on every corner like coffee shops or bars. It’s really hard to convey the full story of a chocolate bar through a label and most people don’t want to sit at home studying flavour notes. So it is a real challenge to make consumers aware of the great taste discovery of specialty chocolate.

Pursuing high-quality coffee and cacao beans is a passion, dedication, and expertise journey. From the farms in the world’s best coffee-growing regions to the masterful roasting techniques, every step contributes to the final, exquisite cup of coffee or piece of craft chocolate. By understanding and appreciating the complexities behind high-quality beans, coffee lovers and chocolate aficionados can elevate their daily ritual to an immersive, sensory experience that tantalises the taste buds and awakens the senses.

A nice illustration of combining these 2 speciality worlds is 'Cafés et Chocolats Shoukâ' in Chamonix. Shoukâ has been roasting specialty coffee and specialty cacao since 2021.

"With 'specialty' we can distinguish ourselves and propose something different. Both products have many similarities in origin, process, fermentation, craftsmanship and consumption. Two products with strong terroirs and great diversity that lead to different organoleptic profiles, personalized chocolate recipes, roasting profiles or brewing methods…”