Every Solara sphere starts as cacao pods on a tree in the Colombian highlands and reaches your cup through five careful steps: harvest, ferment, dry, toast and grind. Keeping all of this close to origin is what Farm2Bar means, and it is why the cacao stays traceable and full of character.
1. Harvest
Cacao pods grow straight from the trunk and lower branches of modest, slender trees. They are cut by hand when ripe, then opened to reveal the beans wrapped in sweet white pulp.
2. Ferment
The beans and pulp are left to ferment for several days. This step is essential. Fermentation develops the flavour and changes the chemistry of the bean. Without it, cacao tastes flat and harsh.
3. Dry
The fermented beans are dried slowly, usually in the sun. Slow drying protects the flavour that fermentation built.
4. Toast
The beans are toasted gently at low temperature. This is where Solara differs from industrial chocolate, which roasts hot and strips out delicate compounds. Low and slow keeps the cacao's natural profile intact.
5. Grind
Finally the beans are peeled and stone-ground into a smooth paste that is rolled into small spheres of about 8 grams each and packed to 150g. Nothing is added. Nothing is removed.
Why the journey matters
Each step is a chance to either protect the cacao or degrade it. By keeping the whole journey close to the farms and choosing care over speed, the place where the cacao grew survives all the way into your cup.
FAQ
Why is cacao fermented? Fermentation develops flavour and is essential to good cacao. Unfermented cacao tastes flat and harsh.
Is Solara roasted? It is toasted gently at low temperature to protect its natural compounds, unlike the high-heat roasting used for industrial chocolate.
