The Different Brands of Chocolate...

I have my personal favourites for chocolate and I have tried many types.  

Some of my favourites include:

Cadburys Chocolate:

Cadburys chocolate was first set up by John Cadbury in 1824 in Birmingham.  The first Cadburys Chocolate factory in Ireland was built in 1932.  Cadburys chocolate has been such a success that over €250 million worth of Cadburys chocolate is exported each year.  i personally am a big fan of Cadburys and I would recommend it to you any day. 

Lindt Chocolate:

Some of the best quality chocolate I feel you can get.  It started as a small company in Zurich in 1845.  Lindt sells their chocolates in over 100 countries world wide.

Milka Chocolate:

Milka is a well known brand sold in Europe.  It is also is known for its symbol of the cow.  It is recognised greatly and has a very nice taste to chocolate and once again I would recommend this chocolate to anyone who enjoys something tasty.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/23/kraft-cadbury-fairtrade

http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Lindlt_Chocolate.html

http://www.chocablog.com/reviews/milka-alpine-milk/

~ Rachel

Some Chocolate Facts...

There are many things people can say about chocolate and I am here to tell you some of those very things right now.  You may have heard what I am about to say or you may not but anyway, some interesting facts you should know.
        It has been said that twice as many women eat chocolate compared to men.  I do not know why this is but I myself have no reason to doubt this because I love eating chocolate.  Who knows maybe men do eat more chocolate or maybe not.
        In the year of 2006, around 6.5 million tonnes of chocolate was traded world wide.  This is a lot of chocolate that the world consume in one year.  I myself would not be shocked if this figure has risen since 2006.  This is only because chocolate is loved world wide by so many people.  It has also been said that America consumes nearly half of the chocolate that is produced each year.  This is understandable as America has a very large population.
         Did you know that around 66 percent of the worlds cocoa is made in Africa? If it was not for Africa we would not have been able to make and then eat this wonderful creation of chocolate.


http://l02sacom.wordpress.com/tag/chocolate/


       ~ Rachel

From the Cocoa Beans to Chocolate Bars

Once all the Cocoa beans have been gathered they are places onto large banana leaves to dry in a box or on a table in the heat.  Soon the liquid around the beans turns to alcohol.  This happens because the yeast in the air is now able to access the cocoa beans.  While this occurs the beans are mixed gently and the liquid is drained out of the box.    

            The beans start to gather moisture in the surrounding air which gives the bitter-sweet taste of what will soon be known as the chocolate that we all know and love. 

            Next the cocoa beans are soon roasted.  The time which they are roasted depends on the size of the beans and what they want the final flavour to taste like.  Then they crush the cocoa beans to separate the shell from the kernel.  The kernel is what the chocolate will be made out of.  Next some people put the cocoa beans through some more processes to develop the flavour even more but some people rely on the beans without all the added ingredients.  This way is to produce the nicest flavour and colour to the cocoa beans. 

            Soon the kernel is put into high heat and melted into a liquid, this is known as cocoa liquid.  From this point two things happen.  The cocoa liquid either become cocoa powder or it becomes a chocolate bar.  Some of the coca liquor is left alone to make chocolate.  The rest is pressed in to create a solid which becomes what we know as cocoa powder. 

            The cocoa liquor which was left alone is soon used by mixing into other ingredients including cocoa butter to make the chocolate we all love. 

http://www.tava.com.au/article_processing.html

http://www.menakao.com/bean_to_bar.html

            ~ Rachel

Where It All Begins...

It all starts from the basics of the cocoa bean. These cocoa beans mainly grow in hot environments and where it rains often.   The cocoa bean trees cannot be exposed to the sun or wind or else the new trees will be destroyed.  Chocolate is this lovely treat but no one ever thinks about where it originally came from.  It in fact comes from these hot countries near the equator and these forests of cocoa bean trees. 

            A cocoa bean tree has a unique look to it.  It is a big enough tree with large green leaves.  The beans grow in the flower that the tree produces called pods.  These flowers are on the trunk of the tree.  Each tree creates about 20 to 30 pods of cocoa beans each year.   Inside each of these pods there are 30 to 40 cocoa beans.  This is not very much considering that each tree only has 20 or 30 pods altogether on it.  In a full year one tree produces only one pound per year. 

http://www.themagazine.ca/?attachment_id=2180

http://www.learnersonline.com/weekly/lessons04/week6/index.htm

                                           ~ Rachel

Introduction

My name is Rachel and I have decided to write this blog on the geography of chocolate.  Chocolate to most people is a treat that they get on occasion.  I doubt that people ever think about the geography of this wonderful chocolate they are eating.  I believe that the world should know more about chocolate and that's why I am here to blog for you.   

~Rachel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate