Why is the Aftertaste of Chocolate not discussed in polite company?
There is a secret in the chocolate industry. When deciding which chocolate brands are responsive stewards of Nature's resources, you need to know their secret. For example, chocolate manufacturers oxidize cocoa beans for an insane three days.
What other foods do you know of that get this treatment? None.
Here's the secret: It's the shell casings. They need to erase the resultant bitterness because shells are still inside.
Removing the shell casings from the cocoa bean is an inexact less-than-ideal vacuuming method. It's extraordinarily wasteful. Our experience showed vacuuming sucked out shells, dirt, dried pulp, and cocoa particles. One-third or 4 oz of each pound goes into the landfill.
Our method is painstakingly deliberate, with no environmental waste other than the shell casings, which makes for an engaging, bitter tea. We hand-shell, removing 100% of the cocoa shells. In so doing, we can quickly identify rancid beans when performing this task. We are alert to unsuitable odors and identify and discard beans that critters may have previously inhabited. The only thing that goes in the garbage is the shells.
Try to recognize the unidentifiable aftertaste next time you have a chocolate bar. It's the shells.