The Drink of Gods (Theobroma Cacao)

The origin of the phrase comes from Linnaeus (Linne) a Swedish botanist, its meaning
comes from the Greek words Theo (God) and Broma (drink). The Cacao tree is a
tropical tree which originates in Central America. This tree grows in forest, living in
symbiosis with other species of trees. Each Cacao tree produces Cacao pods which
contain 20-50 cacao beans each.

Types of Cacao
 The main varieties are Criollo and  Fortastero trees. The highest  quality beans come 
from the Criollo tree which  only produces 1% of all  cacao beans. 
The Forastero is the most common cacao  tree in the world,  mainly found in South America 
Amazon region and Central Africa. The  third species is Ariba, which grows  in Ecuador. 
 The fourth species of  Cacao is the Trinitario tree, which is a hybrid of the  Criollo and 
 Forastero trees usually found growing in the Caribbean  region.

 The Cacao belt
 The Cacao trees only grow in tropical  environments +/- 20 degrees along the equatorial 
circle.

Growing and Harvest

The  cacao trees are continuously producing cacao pods throughout the  year. However,  H
arvesting only occurs in the spring and fall. Following  the harvest of the  pods, the pods 
must be opened and the beans  (20-100) removed for processing.  The cacao beans are
 then put through a  fermenting process which takes about  5-20 days, this changes the 
 structure of the cacao beans. After fermentation  the beans are dried,  the top quality
 beans being naturally sun dried. The beans  are then  ready to be shipped globally