CacaoThe cacao bean is a small, tropical plant that is native to South America. The plant is distinguished by its large leaves and small pink flowers on the tree trunk and branches of the tree. The Mayans, Olmec, and Aztecs of Mesoamerica used to worship cacao, and thought of the hot, thick drink they made as the "drink of the gods." Cacao was also used as the currency for Mesoamericans.
There are three types of cacao beans that we use in chocolate, and they are:
- Criollo
- Forastero
- Trinitario
Criollo is the most expensive cacao bean out of the three. It is native to South and Central America. Because of its low vulnerability to disease and its low efficiency, it is also the rarest cacao bean and it makes-up only 10% of the world's production of cacao beans.
Forastero is the most common type of cacao bean. It is disease-resistant, unlike the Criollo Bean, which is why it makes up most of the cacao beans cultivated. This bean is native to Africa and South America, which were once connected in the super-continent, Pangaea
Trinitario is a cross mixture of the Criollo and Forastero cacao bean. Although it resembles the Criollo bean physically, it tastes like the Forastero bean. It is common in most chocolate, and is native to Trinidad.
