Is there ever a bad time for chocolate? We certainly don't think so! And with National Chocolate Week giving us the perfect excuse to celebrate one of the world's favourite treats, what better time to discover how chocolate makes its way from a humble cocoa bean to the delicious bar we know and love?
From cocoa pod to cocoa bean
Chocolate's journey begins with the cocoa pod. Growing on cacao trees, these colourful pods contain dozens of cocoa beans surrounded by a sweet, sticky pulp. Once the pods are ripe, they're harvested and opened, ready for the next stage of their chocolatey adventure.
The beans are then fermented for several days. This is an important part of the process, helping to develop the flavours and aromas that will eventually become familiar chocolate notes. At this point, you might be surprised to learn that the beans don't taste much like chocolate at all!
Roasting: where the magic happens
After fermentation, the beans are dried, sorted and cleaned before being roasted. This is where the magic really starts to happen, as roasting brings out the rich flavours and wonderful aromas associated with chocolate.
From cocoa nibs to chocolate
The roasted beans are then cracked and winnowed, removing their outer shells and revealing cocoa nibs. These nibs are ground into cocoa mass, a smooth paste that forms the foundation of chocolate. Depending on the type of chocolate being made, ingredients such as sugar, cocoa butter and milk powder can then be added.
But we're not quite ready to take a bite yet! Conching helps mix and refine the chocolate, creating its smooth, silky texture, while tempering carefully heats and cools it to give chocolate its glossy appearance and satisfying snap.
Finally, it's moulded, set, wrapped and ready to enjoy!
How chocolate is made, step by step:
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Harvest the ripe cocoa pods and scoop out the beans
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Ferment the beans for several days to develop flavour
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Dry, sort and clean the beans
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Roast them to bring out the chocolate aroma
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Crack and winnow to remove the shells, leaving cocoa nibs
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Grind the nibs into cocoa mass, adding sugar, cocoa butter or milk powder
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Conch and temper for a smooth texture, glossy shine and a satisfying snap
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Mould, set and wrap, ready to enjoy
Try the tasty part yourself
So this National Chocolate Week, why not savour your favourite chocolate and remember just how much goes into every delicious bite? From cocoa pod to chocolate bar, it's certainly something worth celebrating!
And if you'd like to try the tasty end of the process yourself, our chocolate workshops let you temper, dip and decorate your own creations with one of our chocolatiers. We run them at our Shoreditch HQ in London and our Manchester venue, and we're rated 4.7 stars on Google.
Book a chocolate workshop and celebrate National Chocolate Week the hands-on way. Or treat a chocolate lover with a MyChocolate gift card.
A few things people usually ask us
When is National Chocolate Week 2026? This year it's 18th - 25th October 2026
What's the difference between conching and tempering? Conching mixes and refines the chocolate for a smooth, silky texture. Tempering carefully heats and cools it so it sets with a glossy shine and a clean snap.
Why don't cocoa beans taste like chocolate? Raw beans are bitter. Most of the flavour we think of as "chocolate" develops during fermentation and roasting.
Do you make chocolate from the bean at your workshops? Not quite! We temper our chocolate beforehand using the seeding method. We do this so you're ready to go and can skip straight to the fun part: making fresh truffles, then dipping, shaping and decorating them at our chocolate workshops.
Happy National Chocolate Week!
Til next time,
Team MyChocolate x
