This morning we were able to sleep in as breakfast wasn't served until 8:30 AM UTC. We boarded the buses at 9:30 to head to the chocolate tour.
Upon arrival we were introduced to our tour guide Elio. Elio went through some of the history of chocolate. Cocoa originated in Brazil. Nearly 4,000 years ago chocolate was developed by the inhabitants of Central America. Olmecs developed the fermentation process that is necessary to produce chocolate, and the Aztecs and Mayans developed the Cocoa drink, both I will talk about later in the blog. The Cocoa drink was made in 1519, this drink was not like hot chocolate, in fact, this drink was actually spicy as they mixed chili into the beverage. Legend told has it that this spicy cocoa drink provided you with either the energy to fight for 24 hours, or made you sleepy.
For those of us who remember history, the Spaniards invaded the central America's. Upon invasion they also took with them cocoa. This is how cocoa was introduced into Spain, however was critical in the chocolate development. The Spaniards were the first to mix sugar into the Cocoa drink.
It was at this point our group was divided, boys against girls, to see who could get the most number of points based on some chocolate facts and historical events. Spoiler, girls won 😁 The historical events that were talked about included the first chocolate factory was built and established in Paris, France in 1727. In 1828, the Netherlands created cocoa powder. Dark chocolate was introduced in 1847, milk and white chocolate followed in 1875. Today the Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa production in the world producing 40% of this product. In Central America, Costa Rica is the second largest producer at 32% behind Guatamala at 34% of the production.
The facility we visited today only produces cocoa, but does not do this at an industrial level. They also don't produce chocolate because of the size of their operation. This facility has 900 cocoa trees, however, in order to be able to have enough cocoa to make chocolate, you need 10,000 cocoa trees. Because they are a small scale operation, they also produce everything by hand, there are no machines on the grounds of this facility.
Many of us have heard that Belgium produces the best chocolate in the world, and this is because Africa has their own species of cocoa.
Once we completed all of the historical information and learning about this facility, we walked into their grounds and got to see some of their trees. Many of the trees had flowers that would blossom into the cocoa bean. In order to do this, they have to be pollinated. The very interesting fact is that there is only ONE insect that pollinates chocolate: The Chocolate Midge. Elio told us that cocoa trees can grow up to 25 meters tall, however they trim the trees to avoid them from growing too tall. Imagine a cocoa bean is on the highest branch of a 25 meter tall tree... Now you see why they trim the trees. This is also because cocoa does not fall to the ground when ripe (like apples do). However, you will know when cocoa bean is ripe by the color of the bean. When the bean is yellow or orange in color, you know that it is ripe. This farm is completely organic and doesn't use any chemicals in their production. Something I found to be funny was that squirrels are the biggest predator of the Cocoa, in order to protect the Cocoa they "distract" the squirrels with oranges and apples trees, which they have a preference for.
This facility also had a couple of vanilla plants as well. Vanilla is native to Central America and is the second most expensive food product in the world. This is because it takes 2 years for the full cycle of production of vanilla to reach a stage that is ready for consumption. Once a vanilla bean develops it takes 9 months to ripen, another 9 months to dry and then 6 months to ferment. On this facility they ferment the beans in a bottle of vodka. Also, because alcohol is fermented fruits and vegetables, this also means that PURE vanilla extract, when consumed in large amounts, can actually make someone drunk. Madagascar is the greatest producer of vanilla. We were then able to take a couple of photos around the facility before we were taken to a pavilion. In the pavilion we sat on some benches and waited for a demonstration.
In order to start the demonstration they started by opening the cocoa pod. Because they lack machinery on the farm they go with many traditional methods of chocolate production. This means they open the cocoa pod with their muscles. Often this involves them hitting the pod up against stones or against tree trunks. Once the pod is open the beans are exposed. The beans on the inside are slimy and white. We were able to place the cocoa beans into our hands and even a try the slimy outer shell of the bean. Within each pod there is between 40 to 50 cocoa beans. The beans are extracted from the pod and they are then placed into a shelving unit that contains seven different shelves. The shelving unit has seven different shelves because it takes 7 days in order to fully ferment the cocoa beans. Essentially the beans will be moved from shelf to shelf to shelf until they have completed their 7-day fermentation process. Now of days they use good bacteria to help aid in the process of fermentation. However, back in the olden days they use to use their saliva to ferment the beans. Essentially, they would spit onto the cocoa beans covered them up and let them wait for 7 days before coming back and gathering them. They found that the longer the beans fermented the better the flavor that I had. Fermentation results in the growth of microorganisms and fungus. These organisms are what allows fermentation of the beans to happen. However, the microorganisms are not good for us to digest. This means in order to be able to consume the beans we have to wait 15 days for them to dry in order to get rid of these microorganisms and funguses. Once you have a dried bean, which tastes very bitter and gross, you can then begin to roast the cocoa bean. A roasted cocoa bean taste like charcoal. You know how to tell when the cocoa bean is finished roasting not because of the color or smell, but by the popping sound that it makes similar to popcorn. Once they are roasted, you can begin the next step of creating the cocoa paste. In order to do this we take the roasted cocoa beans and put them into a grinder where we break the beans down into the hard outer shell in the soft insides. In order to separate the hard outer shell from the soft and sides, we take two bowls and a small fan/something to push air. We begin to dump the bowl that contains the shell and insides into our second bowl. Between dumpings the fan is blowing, as the substances fall from the first bowl into the second bowl the fan will hit the very light shell of the cocoa beans and send them flying away while the soft heavy insides continue to fall into the second bowl. Once you have the two substances separated, you will begin to make the paste. Traditional ways of creating the pace involved heating a stone and rolling the warm stone over the soft insides of the cocoa bean to activate the cocoa oils. As you roll the stone across the inside of the cocoa beans you create friction. After 3 hours, you will have the finalized cocoa paste. But because this is a long process, we decided that we would use a hand crank instead. We simply place the inside of the cocoa beans into the top of the hand crank and begin to crank it. This takes just a manner of minutes rather than hours. The cocoa paste tasted much better, but still wasn't quite the chocolate flavor we were going for.
According to old folklore there is a God that is named Janus. This God is a singular being but is two-faced. One face represents the devil and all things bad, the second face represents the heavens and all things good. Because of how much people idolized cocoa back in the day it was seen that ladies were the only one who could prepare the cocoa drink. This is because ladies represented the light and males represented the dark. It is because that males represent the dark that they could never be a pure soul. So only pure souls could prepare the cocoa drink. If a male were to touch the cocoa, they would die. If a female dropped even the slightest bit of cocoa on the ground, they would die. In order to prepare the cocoa drink, you will take the cocoa of paste, mix it with, hot water, corn, vanilla, and chili powder. Corn was added into the cocoa drink because corn was seen as a gift from God.
So we were able to make the cocoa drink here at the chocolate facility. Here on the facility they produce their own vanilla extract, which is something that is very cool. The cocoa drink was something that was prepared in the 1800s for many many individuals. Even as higher ranked members of the civilization traveled from country to country the cocoa drink was considered a sign of elegance and power. The cocoa drink was interesting to try.
After the cocoa drink, we were able to have some actual chocolate. Essentially they take the chocolate paste and mix it with some sweeteners in order to be able to make the chocolate we know and love. Here in Costa Rica the most common chocolate is a 70% cocoa. This means that 70% of the total ingredient is just cocoa in the 30% is in sweeteners making this a pretty dark piece of chocolate. This concluded the cocoa tour, which led to us loading the buses onto our next destination. Also, it was fun to see that the individual making chocolate was also named Patricia. Patricia served me up some nice dark chocolate which I was able to decorate with some almonds and brown sugar.
Our next stop was an educational farm. Here we had the root of the papaya and some tilapia. For dessert we had coco de leche, aka coconut and milk, popsicles. Once our tour begin our guide told us that everything we ate at lunch was fresh and organic, so fresh that it was picked just this morning.
The beginning of our tour led us into a barn. In the barn they had two or three pigs, a dozen or so chickens, and one cow. They have the pigs on the farm to help with scraps, the chickens are laying hands and are used only for a production, and the cow is milked daily for use in their restaurant. Here in the barn they collect the methane gas that can then be used in the restaurant as a source of energy. After the barns we were then taken into the forest where we were able to see some interesting vegetation. The first piece of vegetation was tree that produced fruits that were known as horse testicle. It is said that the fruit from this tree could be cut open and placed on an infection to heal it. If you do not use the fruit from the tree, once it gets ripe enough eventually it will explode, due to gaseous bacteria. While In the forest, the tour guide told us that they have a healthy relationship with the wildlife in the area. They like to keep the wildlife around so that visitors, like us, are able to see the different species of animals that are present in this country. We learn the difference between poisonous and venomous animals. Poisonous animals or something in which you consume that can cause harm, where venomous animals are something that will likely bite you and cause collgulated blood. We continued walking through the forest, and came across bamboo. Bamboo was originally from Asia but were introduced by the same individuals who brought the banana into this country. This is because banana and bamboo had a relationship. The bamboo was used to help aid in the banana tree's growth by providing the tree support to grow straight. Well that was the original purpose of bamboo, bamboo is now used to make houses and furniture. Bamboo also grows extremely fast, the tour guide says that he knows of one species of bamboo that can grow 2 cm each hour, this is approximately 1 in. As we continue down the path we eventually came across the river. Here on the educational farm, they like to be sustainable. They use the water from the river to wash clothes, dishes, and vegetables. They even use the water for irrigation. Right next to the river was a rubber tree, the gentleman proceeded to knick the tree to show us the white sap that oozes out of it. The white sap is what is used to heal the tree when it is hurt but it is also what can be used to make tires and even waterproof some objects. The rubber tree sap is very sticky. In the tree there was a termite's nest. The tour guide told us in the need of survival, termites can be eaten. Another interesting thing about termites is if you grab a handful of them and squish them in your hands, you can rub them on your body to create a natural insect repellent. It is even said that if you take the nest of the termites, and throw it into the fire, you will be able to repel bugs for many hours.
Once we venture out of the woods, we were then introduced to their fields on their grounds. We started at the pond. The pond consisted of rainbow fish, koi fish, and tilapia. The tilapia was harvested from the pond and was used in our lunch. The cacao bird was also present on our tour even though it was not a part of the outline. Once we got to the other end of the pond, We were given large handfuls of food to present to the tilapia. While the tilapia ate the food many of us attempted to catch the tilapia. Right next to the pond was a small water fountain that has a pump from the river taking the water to the fountain so that it can then be dispersed throughout the farm for irrigation and to water the animals. They had a very interesting red white and blue stone map of Costa Rica on the ground. It was separated into the seven provinces of Costa Rica, and included small ponds to represent the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. As we got farther into their fields, we were able to see the fruits of soursop (which you know is ripe based on the feel of the soursop), sesame seeds, and bracteas, which are actually not flowers but in fact leaves that are used to care for the seeds of the plant. With some of the fruit, they have a hard enough shell that indigenous tribes are able to make bowls, bottles for water storage, and musical instruments such as maracas. We were able to try a sweet mint plant which was used by the Aztecs in gum production and to be used as a sweetener for many beverages without having to use sugar. Further into their fields, they had the cocoa plant. Here we learn that the tree can live up to 80 years and can produce over 100 flowers. We also learned that cocoa has no season meaning that it can be produced all year round. We were able to open up a Coco of pod to expose its beans again, the inside of the Cocoa bean is purple In Europe is the primary consumer of cocoa.
We were even able to see a hummingbird while in the fields. Costa Rica is home to 52 different types of hummingbirds having the second most largest variety of hummingbird species in the world. Two species of hummingbird are only visible in Costa Rica. Science also says that a hummingbird's heart can beat at 80 beats per second. Which is hard to even imagine.
Many of us have heard of something called the fountain of youth, Costa Rica believes that they have a plant that can serve the same purpose as the fountain of youth. The plant is a moringa plant, the plant does not produce any fruit but the leaves of the plant are edible. It says that the tree is considered the tree of life because it is high in the vitamins A, B1, and C. It is said to have high levels of iron, magnesium, and zinc. It is even claimed that there is more vitamin c in this plant then there are an oranges, more potassium in the plant than there are in bananas, and more calcium than in a glass of milk. We were able to try this plant and it just tasted like green leaves.
To finish out in the fields we were able to see chayote, achiote, and a mango tree. Remember how I told you that the orange coloring you get on your fingers from Cheetos and Doritos comes from a plant? Well that's what the achiote is. We were able to take the fruit of this plant and paint our faces with its natural red coloring.
After receiving our war paint we were brought into a pavilion area to witness the production of juice making. With a machete and sugar cane was cut and then split open. We were able to then run the sugarcane through a juicer by simply compressing the sugarcane tightly against two metal wheels. We did this about five times. Once we had enough sugar cane juice we were able to make a sugarcane shot and a moringa shot. The sugarcane shot tasted just like a strong sweet tea and the moringa shot tasted a lot like green tomato juice. It is said that the sugar cane shot will either provide you enough energy to stay awake for 24 hours or it'll make you sleepy. We were even able to try slices of the sugar cane.
After we had our two shots, we were able to head back to our hotels and spend the evening as we pleased. This resulted in me talking with Robbie and Will for a while. A bird flew on to our yards of our cabins and we were feeding it berries in attempts to get it to get out of our hand, and we were successful in this journey. We were also able to come up with a name for this bird, we named it Phil. I think it is also important to point out that our hotel is at the bottom of a volcano here in Costa Rica.
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