This page attempts to answer the most frequently asked questions in bean-to-bar craft chocolate.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is craft chocolate?

Craft chocolate is small-batch bean-to-bar chocolate made by a producer who controls the full process — from sourcing raw cacao beans through to the finished bar — with ingredient quality and flavour as the governing priorities rather than volume or industrial efficiency.

Artisan chocolate makers use a hands-on, small-batch approach that prioritizes craft. Makers focus on sourcing, roasting, refining, and conching choices that highlight flavor, rather than producing the most uniform, high-volume product possible. Amano.

Craft Chocolate is typically produced in smaller quantities, with closer control over each stage of production: sourcing, fermentation standards, roasting, refining, and recipe. The flavour of the cacao — shaped by its variety, origin, and fermentation — remains central throughout. The aim is not to produce craft chocolate as a consistent product at scale. It is to produce a specific product accurately. MayHawk.

Read more about Craft Chocolate: Pump Street, Amano, Askinosie, Dick Taylor, Dandelion, MayHawk, Bare Bones, Friis-Holm.

What does bean-to-bar mean?

It means the chocolate maker sources cacao beans and controls every stage of production in-house — roasting, grinding, refining, conching, tempering, and moulding — rather than outsourcing any part of the process or by buying in pre-made chocolate mass (couverture) from an industrial supplier. This means that bean-to-bar chocolate can literally be made at any scale — from craft chocolate to industrially made — as long as the chocolate being made begins with the cocoa beans.

What does the bean-to-bar movement mean?

The craft movement of “Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Makers” was founded in the early 2000s, which has now become known as “Craft Chocolate”. The term bean-to-bar chocolate is a “production method”, while the “movement” of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Makers was a grouping of small-batch chocolate makers, who rejected much of the processes, ingredients and methods used in making industrial chocolate.

What does “small-batch” chocolate mean?

Small-batch means the maker produces chocolate in limited, smaller quantity runs. This approach supports tighter quality control and allows the maker to adjust the process to suit the cacao being turned into chocolate, which is especially important for origin-driven flavour.

What does single origin chocolate mean?

The cacao comes from one country, region, or specific producer (Estate), rather than a blend drawn from multiple origins. Single-origin bars often showcase distinctive flavour notes tied to place, fermentation, and genetics.

Why is craft chocolate more expensive than supermarket chocolate?

Craft Chocolate typically emphasises higher-quality ingredients, better cacao sourcing, and a cleaner, more intentional flavour profile. You’ll often see fewer additives, clearer origin information, and more attention to texture and aroma than in mass-market bars. Additionally the ingredients are more expensive, often ethically single-origin sourced, and the process takes longer without the use of food additives found in industrial chocolate.

What is terroir in chocolate?

Terroir is the influence of a specific growing environment on agricultural flavour character. Soil composition, altitude, rainfall pattern, temperature variation, and the microclimate of a specific farm or region all affect how a cacao crop develops. Two batches of the same cacao variety grown in different regions will produce different flavour results.

Why does craft chocolate texture and flavour vary between batches?

Cacao is grown as an agricultural product. Seasonal variation, harvest-to-harvest differences in fermentation conditions, and variations in the bean’s moisture content at roasting all influence the finished texture and flavour profile.

Does the quality of cacao affect the flavour of the finished chocolate?

Yes it does, entirely. Fine flavour cacao is more expensive to buy than the cacao sold on commodity markets that the industrial chocolate makers buy.

What are “flavour notes” in chocolate?

When you taste craft chocolate it is often a good idea to concentrate on the flavour notes in the melt. Flavour notes describe the natural aromas and tastes you may perceive when you smell and taste chocolate. In many single-origin bars, flavour notes are naturally present in the cacao. They come from genetics, terroir, fermentation, drying, and roasting choices, not added flavouring. Common notes include red fruit, citrus, honey, caramel, nuts, floral aromatics, spice, and deep cocoa tones.

What’s the best way to store chocolate?

Store chocolate in a cool, dry place away from strong odors. Aim for stable temperatures and low humidity. The target range is 12°C to 19°C. Avoid the fridge wherever possible — if refrigeration is the only option, seal the chocolate in an airtight container first and let it come to room temperature slowly to prevent condensation.

Why has my chocolate turned white or pale?

This is “bloom” — a natural physical change in the cocoa butter or sugar crystals. It occurs when temperature or humidity fluctuations cause those crystals to migrate to the surface of the bar. Bloom is safe to eat. It does not affect the flavour. The texture may be marginally different. It is not mould and it is not spoilage. Storing chocolate at a stable temperature prevents it.

Is chocolate bloom safe to eat?

Yes. Bloom is a physical change in the structure of the chocolate, not biological contamination. Fat bloom happens when cocoa butter crystals shift and rise to the surface. Sugar bloom occurs when moisture dissolves sugar, which then recrystallises. Bloom looks different, but it doesn’t usually make chocolate unsafe – the bar is entirely safe to eat.

Frequently Asked Questions Page