For months the cool of the mornings turned my kitchen into a chocolaterie (my favorite word for a chocolate factory). Chocolates were moving out as fast as I could make them, especially at our island’s big chocolate festivals in Waikoloa and Hilo. Making chocolates every day was so much fun and also so much work!
After the spring festivals, the season changed making some mornings too warm to temper without potential disappointment. That’s ok; I had other stuff to focus on. I wrote a booklet for the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association (HCCA) about unfermented chocolate. This topic is close to my heart and obsesses my brain, so working on it was a delight. The project culminated in a beautifully printed booklet, which I presented in a talk at the HCCA annual conference on O'ahu a couple of weeks ago.
What is unfermented cacao, I hope you are asking. I’d love to tell you about it! It’s a style of cacao processing that results in a different product, both in taste and in mind and body effects. I’ll write more in my next missive where I plan to share about a big project I’ve been working on for a while. I’ve already written a bit about drinks from cultures that value unfermented cacao (known as lavado in Mexico) for drinking chocolate. Substack posts: Sāmoa | Philippines
I think of these places where traditional, rustic drinking chocolate has become a beloved part of culture as the Drinking Chocolate Diaspora. The booklet I wrote for HCCA contains some of my research into these cultures, three techniques to process cacao in an “unfermented” style, and potential ways that Hawai'i might join the hui of drinking chocolate cultures.
I’ll be giving a talk on unfermented cacao and how it can fit into our lifestyle and business offers in Hawai'i nei at the East Hawai'i Cacao Association meeting on August 27, 2026 in Hilo. Please come if you are interested in this topic, and bring your questions and ideas!
If you would like a copy of the unfermented cacao booklet and/or the companion booklet on fermenting cacao written by Kailey Carlson, please contact HCCA to be put on the list to be notified when they release them for sale.
If you would like some of my chocolate, it is available for special orders. Jax and I will start our chocolate tasting events again soon. I always love to hear from you: any questions, tiny fermentation wins or not, anything else?
I work with "unfermented" cacao and love it! I've spent decades lecturing about the terroir of fermentation, but when I tasted lavado a few years ago it changed my world view. Likely a Maya tradition as well, what really stands out to me is the flavor developed by "not" going through the fermentation process. Not fermenting is a process too! Every little step leads to the end result. When I received samples of "unfermented" Philippino cacao my mind was further blown. "We just wash and sun dry them" Why are they so uniquely delicious?!? It's interesting to taste how tradition and terroir create these flavors and effects that are so ingrained that it's taken for granted and described as unprocessed.