📷 Our own photos of the cacao-making process will be added here soon.
The harvest
It all begins with harvesting the ripe cacao pods, picked directly from the cacao trees. Only fully ripe, yellow-orange to reddish pods are used — their ripeness largely determines the flavour that follows.
Fermentation
After opening the pods, the cacao beans, still covered in their white pulp, are set to ferment. During this step, natural yeast and bacterial processes develop the cacao's later flavours — without fermentation, raw cacao would remain bitter and flavourless.
Drying
The fermented beans are then dried in the sun until their moisture content drops significantly. This step is crucial for the beans' shelf life and quality, and requires regular turning.
Roasting
Roasting is where the characteristic cacao flavours fully develop. The beans are gently roasted until the shell loosens and an intense aroma emerges — the moment the cacao bean truly becomes cacao.
Grinding
In the final step, the roasted beans are ground — from coarse cacao mass to fine cacao powder, which eventually finds its way into our kitchen and bar, for a cup of hot chocolate or our homemade cacao drink.
From tree to cup, our cacao stays entirely in our own hands — a small but especially authentic detail of your stay at Mata Villas.