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Chocolate Naive

Chocolate

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Our production philosophy

At Chocolate Naive the production cycle starts with thinking about why the recipe is important and how it adds value to the craft chocolate industry

To us, chocolate-making is a slow and meditative process with a lot of planning and calibrating before we
even try to attempt the first cocoa bean test roast. We look closely at the raw materials in order to
understand its hidden nuances and bring the best out of it. Quite often, we struggle for months to extract
the optimal flavour and aromatic properties. Only well-balanced products deserve to be released.

Process

First

our beans are cleaned, roasted, and graded by hand

Next

the shell of each bean is removed to collect the clean nib

Finaly

the nibs are ground and liquefied, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form

Then

the paste is further processed by refining and conching it together with other ingredients, like organic cane sugar or grass-fed milk
1.

Our precious cacao beans are resting at a cool ambient temperature, waiting to be collected for further processing. Most of our cacao comes from selected farms, where it is fermented and dried under the highest possible standards.
2.

All the cacao is cleaned and sorted to remove any impurities, like double beans, flat beans, stones, feathers, or any other foreign material.
3.

Roasting is one of the most critical steps in developing the chocolate flavor. This not only pasteurizes the beans but also modifies the chemical composition of the cacao, resulting in the well-known chocolate flavor. Each morning, our factory is filled with the intense aroma of freshly roasted cacao.
4.

Winnowing removes the outer shell of the cocoa beans. Thirteen years ago, we used to shell our beans by hand. Fortunately, we don’t need to do that anymore. Our winnowing machine first cracks the roasted beans into pieces of cacao nibs and shell and then sends everything into chutes. As they fall through the chutes, a vacuum system sucks away all the bits of shell and dust. The pieces of cocoa bean nibs drop out the chutes into collection buckets and are ready for grinding.
5.

Pre-grinding turns the hard cacao beans into soft cacao paste. In this process, the cacao nibs pass between heavy granite rollers, where they are crushed, and 100% cacao paste is extracted.
6.

Next, the cacao liquor is refined, and additional ingredients are added to give a smooth and tasty chocolate. Chocolate refiners can refine the particle size down to less than 18 microns. The result is a perfectly silky end product.
7.

During conching, the tiny solid particles acquire a more uniform shape and become evenly coated with cocoa butter. This gives the chocolate its viscosity, flow properties, and textural properties and affects how the finished product melts smoothly in the mouth.
8.

Cacao butter is an essential ingredient of chocolate. It is extracted from a portion of the cacao beans and mixed with another portion along with sugar to make chocolate.
9.

During tempering, the chocolate is slowly heated and then cooled so that the fat molecules crystallize evenly, resulting in a smooth, shiny finish when the chocolate sets. When tempered properly, chocolate should produce a ‘snap’ when broken.
10.

Once the freshly tempered chocolate has cooled, we demold it and move it to the wrapping room, where we wrap it in our beautiful and classy packages.
11.

We pack our chocolate products in all sorts of inner and outer packages, including boxes, envelopes, and wrappers. This is not the most interesting job, but it is a very important step!
12.

All our products are matured for at least two weeks so that the cacao butter in the fresh product can fully solidify. We keep our products in a cool and dry place, and so should you!

Our events

Book a guided tour around the estate and learn about our approach to specialty cacao and chocolate making.

We’ll also be bringing you inside to the chocolate production facility where you’ll be able to taste through Chocolate Naive’s cacaos and chocolates as they progress – direct from storage bags, machines and tanks.

The tour will last approximately two hours and will involve a lecture, walk in the chocolate production, chocolate workshop and tasting.

You’ll be able to purchase chocolates from our factory shop which are not available anywhere else.

Our regular tastings and factory tours are in Lithuanian but if you would like to plan a personal event or book for a private party, then please get in touch so we would be happy to organize the event in English. Our tasting room can accommodate up to 30 guests but we can organize the program for small groups or individuals also food and drinks as well as additional weekend and weekday dates.

Chocolate Making Process

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