Our Chocolate is Cold Pressed
Most chocolate is prepared at high temperatures, but not ours.
Our beans are cold pressed to separate the oils, and all our production is completed using steam heating below 42C.
We do this to preserve the micronutrients, retaining greater, longer lasting flavours.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
High temperatures do help in cooking, to bring together ingredients and infuse flavours, but high temperatures will also break down the effectiveness of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fibres: all the long-term benefits.
We want the benefits of high nutrient food in our diet, particularly those found in cacao. Especially, we want magnesium which helps turn the food we eat into energy, but is particularly susceptible to heat, and is damaged easily; And for that reason magnesium is deficient in Western diets. Because raw cacao has more magnesium than any other plant, raw/cold pressed chocolate is a great opportunity to benefit from this in our daily diet.
We also want clean, natural, vibrant flavours. Those that are not complicated with artificial additives. The sort that linger on our palates long after we’ve eaten, and satisfy with their richness. And to have these we must control the cooking temperatures, exposing our ingredients to minimal heat so as not to damage them. The natural flavour of a food, and the benefits it can be provide are, in this way, closely linked.
3 GREAT FACTS
#1 Cold pressing beans is the traditional method used to this day by Andean locals in Peru and Ecuador. They see cacao as a health food, and like us they don’t add dairy or refined sugars to their chocolate.
#2 Our ingredients are never heated above 42C whilst they are being produced for use: yacon, cacao, lucuma, maca: are all prepared at low temperatures, giving us wholefoods to work with before they go into the mix.
#3 We don’t temper our chocolate as it can impact the nutrients. Once we have finished mixing we simply pour into trays and refrigerate. The end result is a texture which is unique to us. That’s the way we like it.
