moonbean chocolate

growing moonbean chocolate

moonbean chocolate started with one modest ambition - to make chocolate from bean-to-bar using ingredients we could find readily available in East Africa. James was working as social responsibility manager for a large cocoa exporter at the time, and based in Bundibugyo, the most productive cacao growing region in Uganda.

After researching the basics of chocolate making online we felt confident we could tackle most of the steps in the process - pan or oven roasting the beans, cracking and winnowing by hand, then grinding them into chocolate liquor and adding sugar. Getting smooth, melt-in-the-mouth chocolate, however, we knew would be a bit trickier - we lacked a method of refining our chocolate paste. This is Africa though, and we have become used to improvisation and making-do. So it was that our first batch of chocolate was refined using multiple passes through a meat grinder!

With the help of Irene, a good friend and colleague, we fed the chocolate paste through the hand-cranked device over and over, checking the incremental improvement in mouth-feel. After twenty or so cycles we lost count, and there didn’t seem to be any significant improvement anyway. We tempered the chocolate, and moulded it into rudimentary bars, before inviting farmers and staff at the cocoa factory to try it with us. The meat grinder had done little to improve the texture of the chocolate, but what impressed everyone was the taste - rich, fruity and unmistakably chocolate - it left us thinking we really CAN do this!

The idea developed quickly from that revelation. We would invest in the minimum specialist equipment required to make premium quality chocolate in Uganda, and offer cocoa farmers access to a value-chain that has heretofore been the monopoly of middle-men, exporters, and big companies in the economic north.

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