1People have been eating chocolate as early as 1750 BC.
2In fact, ancient humans were so fond of chocolate that they were using it as medicine and even in religious rituals.
3Today, this delicacy is available everywhere on the planet,
4with companies shipping out as much as 3 million tons of it every year.
5So, how did they do it?
6Our journey starts all the way in Africa,
7previously home to the Mayans,
8who were the first people to discover the secrets of the cacao tree.
9But it had less to do with their detective abilities than their geographical location.
10You see, the cacao tree needs incredibly specific conditions to grow,
11like a temperature of 25 degrees
12and a humidity of 80% or above,
13conditions only met by certain locations along the Equator of the Earth,
14one of which the Mayans occupied.
15To this day, a majority of the world's cacao supply comes from this region,
16and the way cacao is harvested hasn't changed much since the age of the Mayans either.
17This is mainly because cacao trees are incredibly delicate,
18and the cacao pods don't just simply fall to the ground.
19For this reason, they're cut off manually, one by one.
20This can be grueling work,
21and it doesn't get much easier later on
22because the beans need to be taken out manually as well.
23This means each worker has to sit down and channel their inner Fruit Ninja to secure the beans,
24which at this point are covered by a sticky white pulp.
25If you think that doesn't look anything like chocolate, you'd be right.
26The cacao beans have yet to go through a crucial process for their look and smell.
27The beans and the pulp are placed in special fermentation boxes covered by banana leaves,
28where they're kept for 3 to 9 days.
29This process is important
30because not only does it kill bacteria and get rid of the white pulp,
31but also gives the beans their signature brown color and taste.
32The fermented beans are ready to be placed in the sun for drying.
33This is mainly done to remove moisture and to inhibit the growth of fungi, bacteria, or mold,
34but it has the added benefit of developing the flavor of the beans.
35Once this is done, the beans are ready for their journey to factories across the world.
36After they arrive at the factory,
37the beans are inspected by a team of quality assurance officers.
38This process consists of cutting the beans to ensure they're the right color
39and have the required consistency.
40Once they're approved by the QA team,
41the beans are off to a specialized processing plant where they're roasted,
42first on screens and then in revolving cylinders, through which heated air is blown
43over a period of 30 minutes to 2 hours.
44The moisture in the beans is reduced from about 7% to about 1%.
45The roasting process also triggers a browning reaction
46in which more than 300 different chemicals present in the cacao beans interact.
47The beans now begin to develop the rich flavor we associate with chocolate.
48Now that the roasting is done,
49the cacao meat, or nib, should separate easily from the shell,
50which is called the husk.
51Industries do this in a machine called the winnower.
52Inside the machine, vibrating shelves separate the nibs from the husks,
53which are then blown away by a fan,
54leaving the precious nibs ready for the next stage.
55The nibs are then ground into a deep, dark brown paste,
56and this is where things begin to really kick into gear.
57The process changes the composition of the chocolate
58so that it comes out of the grinder looking like a really thick syrup.
59This syrup actually smells a lot like alcohol,
60and so is called chocolate liquor.
61If the purpose is to make cocoa powder,
62the liquor may be treated with an alkaline solution.
63What this does is darken the color of the cocoa,
64rendering its flavor milder while also reducing the tendency of the nibs to form clumps.
65The alkaline chocolate liquor is now defatted,
66as large amounts of fat, or chocolate butter, are removed from it.
67The resulting solid material, commonly called pressed cake,
68is then broken, chopped, or crushed before being sifted to produce cocoa powder.
69You remember the removed cocoa butter from before?
70Well, it's not a throwaway item but a crucial component in creating chocolate candy.
71It's mixed with chocolate liquor in a process called conching,
72which gives the chocolate its smooth texture and consistency.
73Other items like powdered milk, sugar, or vanilla may be added depending on the type of chocolate that's being made.
74The practice was actually coined by the Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter in 1875
75when he invented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henry Nestlé with the liquor.
76Now that the texture is there, it's time to give the chocolate its patented snap.
77This is done through a process called tempering,
78in which the chocolate is slowly heated and cooled.
79What this does is alter the crystals within,
80giving the chocolate a uniform composition throughout.
81Once the chocolate is tempered,
82it's ready to be poured into molds to make bars of chocolate.
83A final check is done to ensure there are no air bubbles and the chocolate is pristine.
84It's then wrapped in foil or paper packaging to keep it fresh.