When we were in Antigua, Guatemala we went to a chocolate making class after school. When it started we all got aprons on and walked into a room that had things that help make chocolate. Our guide thought us about how ancient Mayans made chocolate and the difference between cocoa and cacao. Cacao is the paste made by crushing fermented roasted, shelled cacao beans and is what is considered real chocolate. Cocoa powder is when the cocoa butter has been removed from the cacao and our guide told us this makes a chocolate flavored bar only. Once he finished telling the process of making chocolate (harvest, ferment, dry, roast, peel, grind,) he told us that most popular white chocolate brands make fake white chocolate with different products like palm oil and shay butter instead of cocoa butter. After we went back to the table and we made chocolate bars with lots of toppings like sea salt and shredded coconut when we finished our guide put them in the freezer. Then we made three chocolate drinks. The first was ground up cocoa beans, we added honey, chili powder, ground corn and hot water. The second one was cacao bean shell tea with cacao bean shells, hot water and sugar. and the last one was fancy hot chocolate it was made with milk, cacao and cinnamon. My favorite was the third one drink. Then we got our 70% cacao chocolate bars back and it was so good.
Travel-Trotter 