A chocolate bar

The process went well.
The product delicious.
I learned a few things that I hope to bring to the next batch.

The first roasted cacao beans

These are my first roast. I used a heat gun and roasted for about 20 minutes. After a while a few beans began to "pop" and I reduced heat and roasted for about 5 minutes more. Admittedly I had no real plan.

The beans were peeled by hand. Tonight or tomorrow they will be broken into nibs and placed into the melanguer.

Bean to bar chocolate

I have intermittently thought about making chocolate from beans. COVID-19 has been interesting in that it has provided some opportunity to explore things in more depth than I have in a long time.

I took the plunge and ordered a melanger and beans and molds and hope to be able to produce some dark chocolate bars for family members for the holidays