Bean-To-Bar
At Mason & Co we make all of our chocolate from the bean to the bar in our factory in Auroville. We are proud to say we execute every step in this unique process and believe it leads to better chocolate in terms of quality, flavour and purity. We work closely with organic farmers to source only the best quality organic cacao beans. Once we receive the beans, the following steps are executed by us:
01SORTING
We sort our cacao beans by hand to ensure only the best quality beans are used to make our products. Beans that don’t make the cut are used as mulch/fertiliser in farms around Auroville. Nothing goes to waste.
02 ROASTING
Our cacao beans are evenly roasted to develop flavour and to sterilize them. This delicate process is as much an art as it is a science.
03 CRACKING AND WINNOWING
The cracking process breaks the beans into smaller pieces which are then winnowed to help separate and remove the outer shells. The finished products of this process are called ‘nibs’ and the shells are used to make our Chocolate Herbal Tea.
04 GRINDING
The nibs, along with organic cane sugar are then added to stone grinders. The granite stones crack the cell wall of the beans and release cacao butter, turning it into a paste. The chocolate stays in the grinders for 3-5 days, the end product is a rich chocolate liquor. Through this grinding process we further develop flavour and fineness.
05 TEMPERING AND MOULDING
This chocolate liquor is left to age to further develop flavour and later tempered by hand. This process gives the chocolate its glossy shine and snap and is poured into moulds to set into bars.
06 PACKAGING
Once the chocolate is cooled and set in the moulds, it is hand wrapped and packed in boxes and ready to go.