I love your setup and the presentation here. Sorry, cinematography nerd here. You (or your team) did a great job with the lighting and set. It looks nice, homey, and elegant with the dark background and earth tones. And thanks for the info! I tried a brewed cocoa once several year ago at a little dessert shop and thought it was terrible, haha. I’m glad someone has a technique that works better.
Thank you for this information. I was actually thinking on buying a press just for this particular reason, and you gave me just the tiny push I needed. Great video as always.
Thank you for these excellent videos. I am growing a few chocolate trees here in S. Florida. Have actually harvested my own cacao pods. Hoping to make my own chocolate soon. Thumbs up and also visited Chocolate Alchemy site you mentioned below. Good stuff.
I did roast my cocoa beans longer and slower, but they did get up to 395°. You said you go 100° more then for making chocolate for brewing that would put it at about 460?
Thanks so much for this! I have been roasting cacao nibs for about a week and experimenting with different techniques (steeping, pour over). I want to buy some actual beans to try though. Do you recommend a particular kind? Also what are your thoughts on using a percolator for brewing?
I would very much not use a percolator. The chance of clogging is too great. Really, any bean will do, but I would steer away from acidic beans like Madagascar.
Hello Alchemist! I have a small cocoa plantation and just wondering the roasting profile for these beans, do you refer to 100 degrees more than the usual profile? I didn't get the info!
I agree but if you notice it is the saturation method like the French press only the filter you pull out after it sits in the water. Different than a pour over or percolation list.
I've been studying how to make a cup of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate from scratch. So they're basically the same, right? Over brewing these 3 things will give an astringent taste to your cup, the smaller the particles the higher the brewing speed, longer roasting times would give a darker and nutty flavor profile while shorter ones would give a bright and citrusy flavor profile, etc. Please make a video about how to make "milk-based" hot chocolate, still need to learn more about chocolate and cocoa.
So brewing cacao powder is then the whole bean? Meaning the nibs and husks? So if I was going to grind my own powder for brewing like coffee I would grind husks and all?
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome grrr I'm still confused. I've been in a cacao rabbit hole lol. I can see that I can buy nibs, I can buy whole raw beans, I can buy roasted beans that are intended to be shelled and eaten as a snack like pistachios (which I can't imagine, it seems it would be blech), and I can buy powder. I'm still confused about what is in the powder (granted, different companies might grind differently?). The nibs and the husks? Just nibs? Are the nibs what's left after discarding the husks? Can you just eat nibs then? When you're describing the three consistencies, you say the nibs make a weak drink, and the husks make a very astringent one, with the powder being just right, which implied to me that the powder is made up of both. Is that not what you meant?
It is not exactly a powder. It is coarse ground whole beans, so yes, it has the nib and husk. The difference is that the whole beans we grind for brewing cocoa is roasted different from the whole roasted beans you would buy to make chocolate.
Got your beans in the mail today and did my first roast with them. Seem great quality! What's your preferred brewing method? I'm currently doing a french press. Have tried a chemex/pour over before but never have had much success due to not getting really good filtration and clogging.
we have trouble keeping up with comments. Would you mind sending your question to us via the website? Alchemist John answers all emails directly. There's a number of contact forms to get in touch.
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome Sorry, after commenting I noticed it was on the website! Thanks for posting it here, though. I hope this helps anyone else wondering about it, at least.
Indeed you can. We have been working on this recently. We found to date using about 1.5 the quantity and brewing 24 hours in the sun gave the best results to our tastes. True refrigerator cold brewing was lacking.
Another Great video. Have a few questions. 1. I am embarking on cacao for weightless and all the health benefits. I was told that if your roast or heat the cocao beans they loose a lot of phytonutrients. I live in India and my cocao beans are thoroughly sun dried and the skins are easy to remove. Do I still need to roast them. 2. After I brew the cocao, can I use the grounds in say another dish, hate wasting anything so nutritious. 3. I have stopped using processed white cane sugar, I only use palm jaggery because it's full of minerals and had a different type of carbohydrate. Can I use that instead of sugar in making chocolates. 4. At what stage should I add things like coconut, nuts, roasted millets, puffed rice etc. Am trying to create Indian healthy version of chocolate for my children. Subscribed to your channel and love your video. As a chemistry student I really appreciate your presentations.
Sadly you cannot. The shot will either stall or gush. There seems to be no middle road. One single time (out of hundreds of attempts) I got a lovely shot....it tasted utterly horrible. It wasn't that it was too strong or too bold...it was just nasty.
its hard to find a good mocha ive found aceptable ones but ive only had 1 or 2 really good ones in my life.......alot of mochas i taste does taste like a mixture blended mess not really coffee flavor not really chocolate........the really good mochas ((what i consider a good mocha)) i can taste chocolate and coffee independently at the same time .....im unsure how people made that ((simmular concept to a cherry limeade again majority i taste is acceptable and taste like a blended mess but the really good ones i can taste cherry and lime......the flavors not competeing but they working together really hard to explain but if anyone knows what im talking about and knows how to make a good mocha id love to hear it
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome If there was a way to "de-fat" cacao beans it might be possible. Not sure whether the resulting product would be any good though...
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome Very intriguing! Perhaps by 2040 we'll have figured out a consumer-friendly method of defatting cacao by 99%+. Until then chospresso can remain a fantasy
You can do anything you want. I personally don't see the point and find unroasted cocoa pretty nasty. it is going to be incredibly thin, watery and astringent.
You really don't want to do that. I specifically say you should not use a burr grinder and I'm pretty sure the Grind and brew has just that. It is going to clog most likely.
If you prepare cocoa this way, I think you're missing a lot of cocoa. Firstly, cocoa should be finely ground so that it becomes almost liquid when it comes out of the grinder. Then all of it goes into the drink without filter, beating the mixture as it boils for a few minutes until the mixture melts to a drinkable consistency. I grew up in a cocoa plantation and I do not remember my grandma ever using a filter when preparing cocoa drink -- just a grinder and a beater. Or perhaps other people prepare it differently.
Dude with the vocabulary! 😊
I love your setup and the presentation here. Sorry, cinematography nerd here. You (or your team) did a great job with the lighting and set. It looks nice, homey, and elegant with the dark background and earth tones.
And thanks for the info! I tried a brewed cocoa once several year ago at a little dessert shop and thought it was terrible, haha. I’m glad someone has a technique that works better.
Thank you for this information. I was actually thinking on buying a press just for this particular reason, and you gave me just the tiny push I needed. Great video as always.
Thank you for these excellent videos. I am growing a few chocolate trees here in S. Florida. Have actually harvested my own cacao pods. Hoping to make my own chocolate soon. Thumbs up and also visited Chocolate Alchemy site you mentioned below. Good stuff.
I did roast my cocoa beans longer and slower, but they did get up to 395°. You said you go 100° more then for making chocolate for brewing that would put it at about 460?
Thanks!
Is this a good drink for someone who isn't a coffee drinker? What are some of the key differences between brewed cocoa and regular hot chocolate?
Thanks so much for this! I have been roasting cacao nibs for about a week and experimenting with different techniques (steeping, pour over). I want to buy some actual beans to try though. Do you recommend a particular kind? Also what are your thoughts on using a percolator for brewing?
I would very much not use a percolator. The chance of clogging is too great. Really, any bean will do, but I would steer away from acidic beans like Madagascar.
Hello Alchemist! I have a small cocoa plantation and just wondering the roasting profile for these beans, do you refer to 100 degrees more than the usual profile? I didn't get the info!
The filter looks like a stainless steel mesh. What size is the mesh, & where can I buy such a filter? Thank you, Alchemist.
I like using a French press to brew cacao.
I agree but if you notice it is the saturation method like the French press only the filter you pull out after it sits in the water. Different than a pour over or percolation list.
I don’t know if I misunderstood you, but you grind the cocoa beans with the holes on them?
You're a great teacher!
Thank you.
I've been studying how to make a cup of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate from scratch. So they're basically the same, right? Over brewing these 3 things will give an astringent taste to your cup, the smaller the particles the higher the brewing speed, longer roasting times would give a darker and nutty flavor profile while shorter ones would give a bright and citrusy flavor profile, etc. Please make a video about how to make "milk-based" hot chocolate, still need to learn more about chocolate and cocoa.
Great channel full of great information thanks !
Hi where can I buy the grinder, plus everything to start with?
Here you go. chocolatealchemy.myshopify.com/collections/brewing-cocoa
So brewing cacao powder is then the whole bean? Meaning the nibs and husks? So if I was going to grind my own powder for brewing like coffee I would grind husks and all?
You would but without a particular roast aimed at brewing it will taste significantly different from what we offer.
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome grrr I'm still confused. I've been in a cacao rabbit hole lol. I can see that I can buy nibs, I can buy whole raw beans, I can buy roasted beans that are intended to be shelled and eaten as a snack like pistachios (which I can't imagine, it seems it would be blech), and I can buy powder. I'm still confused about what is in the powder (granted, different companies might grind differently?). The nibs and the husks? Just nibs? Are the nibs what's left after discarding the husks? Can you just eat nibs then? When you're describing the three consistencies, you say the nibs make a weak drink, and the husks make a very astringent one, with the powder being just right, which implied to me that the powder is made up of both. Is that not what you meant?
It is not exactly a powder. It is coarse ground whole beans, so yes, it has the nib and husk. The difference is that the whole beans we grind for brewing cocoa is roasted different from the whole roasted beans you would buy to make chocolate.
Hi there. Just ordered some beans from you and I was curious what bladder grinder is that? Want to upgrade my grind game 😅
It is the Rico we offer. chocolatealchemy.myshopify.com/collections/equipment/products/panasonic-pre-grinder
Got your beans in the mail today and did my first roast with them. Seem great quality! What's your preferred brewing method? I'm currently doing a french press. Have tried a chemex/pour over before but never have had much success due to not getting really good filtration and clogging.
Any thoughts here?
we have trouble keeping up with comments. Would you mind sending your question to us via the website? Alchemist John answers all emails directly. There's a number of contact forms to get in touch.
What is the electric grinder you're using???
shop.chocolatealchemy.com/collections/equipment/products/panasonic-pre-grinder
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome Sorry, after commenting I noticed it was on the website! Thanks for posting it here, though.
I hope this helps anyone else wondering about it, at least.
Can you cold brew? How long should i let it brew?
Indeed you can. We have been working on this recently. We found to date using about 1.5 the quantity and brewing 24 hours in the sun gave the best results to our tastes. True refrigerator cold brewing was lacking.
Another Great video. Have a few questions.
1. I am embarking on cacao for weightless and all the health benefits. I was told that if your roast or heat the cocao beans they loose a lot of phytonutrients. I live in India and my cocao beans are thoroughly sun dried and the skins are easy to remove. Do I still need to roast them.
2. After I brew the cocao, can I use the grounds in say another dish, hate wasting anything so nutritious.
3. I have stopped using processed white cane sugar, I only use palm jaggery because it's full of minerals and had a different type of carbohydrate. Can I use that instead of sugar in making chocolates.
4. At what stage should I add things like coconut, nuts, roasted millets, puffed rice etc. Am trying to create Indian healthy version of chocolate for my children.
Subscribed to your channel and love your video. As a chemistry student I really appreciate your presentations.
Check out Ask the Alchemist 279. chocolatealchemy.com/blog/2020/1/16/ask-the-alchemist-279
Thanks great video like always
if i'm doing my own roasting cacao beans, can i brew it through an espresso machine?
Sadly you cannot. The shot will either stall or gush. There seems to be no middle road. One single time (out of hundreds of attempts) I got a lovely shot....it tasted utterly horrible. It wasn't that it was too strong or too bold...it was just nasty.
Since cocoa beans contain high amount of fats, have you tried pulling espresso--like shots from it? I'm imagining a grotesque amount of crèma :)
Crema isn't fat based. It inhibits flow and doesn't work. chocolatealchemy.com/blog/2016/03/17/ask-the-alchemist-152
I personally just get the powder and dump that in the water to let it brew and drink it, I have to trick my Mormon parents
what do you do to get rid of all the bacterias of the husk?
It is roasted and very specifically to address the kill step to make it safe to drink. Plus hot boiling water will do quite a bit also.
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome what temperature do you suggest to roast.
What to expect when we taste?
light cocoa flavor, and roasted noted if it is one of the darker roasts. Think of it sort of a cocoa tea.
How To Make Chocolate At Home will try once 😊
Can it be used in a Keurig
its hard to find a good mocha ive found aceptable ones but ive only had 1 or 2 really good ones in my life.......alot of mochas i taste does taste like a mixture blended mess not really coffee flavor not really chocolate........the really good mochas ((what i consider a good mocha)) i can taste chocolate and coffee independently at the same time .....im unsure how people made that ((simmular concept to a cherry limeade again majority i taste is acceptable and taste like a blended mess but the really good ones i can taste cherry and lime......the flavors not competeing but they working together really hard to explain but if anyone knows what im talking about and knows how to make a good mocha id love to hear it
U fkn wot
What about brewing like an espresso with pressure to extract? Have you tried this?
HUGE fail. chocolatealchemy.com/blog/2016/03/17/ask-the-alchemist-152?rq=espresso
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome If there was a way to "de-fat" cacao beans it might be possible. Not sure whether the resulting product would be any good though...
I've tried it with de-fatted cocoa powder and it still failed. Although lower in fat it can still be 10% fat which apparently is still too high.
@@HowToMakeChocolateAtHome Very intriguing! Perhaps by 2040 we'll have figured out a consumer-friendly method of defatting cacao by 99%+. Until then chospresso can remain a fantasy
Hi! Did u say that u roasted the cocoa beans? Can u make it without roasting the beans?
You can do anything you want. I personally don't see the point and find unroasted cocoa pretty nasty. it is going to be incredibly thin, watery and astringent.
How To Make Chocolate At Home
Thank you for replying! Can I roast these beans at home? In the oven? or in a fire pit I can build in my backyard?
The Behmor 1600 works great. Or you can roast in the oven. ruclips.net/video/yi5hnNlRoAA/видео.html
How To Make Chocolate At Home
Thanks again, I’m halfway thru the video now
You are very welcome. And feel free to keep asking questions. That is why I am here.
Can I put cocoa beans in a grind & brew coffee maker?
That is answered in the video. 4:20 or so.
Thank you. I'm going to order some cocoa beans now. I have a Cuisinart grind and brew that makes great coffee.
You really don't want to do that. I specifically say you should not use a burr grinder and I'm pretty sure the Grind and brew has just that. It is going to clog most likely.
you surely need to check out @craftchocolatetv and @manoachocolatehuwaii
If you prepare cocoa this way, I think you're missing a lot of cocoa. Firstly, cocoa should be finely ground so that it becomes almost liquid when it comes out of the grinder. Then all of it goes into the drink without filter, beating the mixture as it boils for a few minutes until the mixture melts to a drinkable consistency. I grew up in a cocoa plantation and I do not remember my grandma ever using a filter when preparing cocoa drink -- just a grinder and a beater. Or perhaps other people prepare it differently.
What you are talking about isn't brewing cocoa. It is more a hot chocolate and I agree it is great. It is just a different animal.
Well, this way, i assume you get everything from cocoa beans. But how much, that is question.
You should change this to Grinding Cocoa
NWW
Turn on your lights Dracula
Do you grind the whole bean with the husk?
yes.