Cacao Blooms - Start to Finish

The blooms are attached to the trunk of the tree. It seems to me that this is a natural defense to keep the branches from breaking. The cacao fruits are so heavy that just two on any of the branches could cause it to snap so the tree has it's fruit on it's trunk. The last picture is our homemade drying rack. After fermenting we put the beans on this rack in the direct sun for about 4 days then we roast in a wok over an open fire.

Our Cacao in bloom

We have about 25 cacao trees along our creeks here in Costa Rica. We have been playing around with the drying process and learning how to prune our trees lately. We have done a successful batch of nibs but still don't quite understand the tempering to chocolate process. Here are two images of the fruit on the tree and a collection of ripened fruit. Tomorrow we will post two more. I am in love with the look of the tree and the colors of the fruit.