What Is Process-Pure Chocolate?

Process-pure chocolate is chocolate whose purity comes from how it’s made, not just what’s in it. Every step, from roasting whole beans to shelling them by hand to grinding them on stone, is done to keep the bean clean and as close to its natural state as possible. We make it by hand at our shop in Ridgewood, Queens.

Why “process” matters
Two bars can list similar ingredients and still be very different chocolate. What happens to the bean along the way shapes the flavor, the texture, and what ends up in the bar. Process-pure means every step is chosen to protect the bean, not to speed up production.

How we make it
Whole beans, roasted in small batches. We roast whole cacao beans one pound at a time and watch until the shells begin to lift from the nib.

Every bean shelled by hand.
Most chocolate makers crack the beans and blow away the shell by machine, a step called winnowing. Some shell always gets through, and industry standards allow a small amount to remain. We skip the machine and shell every bean by hand, so the shell stays out of your chocolate.

Ground on stone for about six hours.
Much chocolate is ground and mixed for a day or more. We stone-grind our nibs for about six hours, enough to make chocolate while keeping more of the bean’s natural aroma.

Nothing added to hide anything.
No emulsifiers, no vanilla, no flavorings, no fillers. A clean bean doesn’t need covering up.


What’s in it
Two ingredients: cacao beans and unrefined sugar. That’s the whole list. The cocoa butter in our chocolate is the bean’s own natural fat. We never add extra.
Our 100% bar is one ingredient: the cacao bean. Everything is made on dedicated equipment and is gluten-free.


What to expect when you taste it
Process-pure chocolate tastes like the bean: deep, roasted, and earthy rather than candy-sweet. Because it isn’t ground for days, it has more natural texture than mass-market chocolate. Place one square on your tongue and press it gently to the roof of your mouth. Close your mouth and let it melt there. A small piece goes a long way.


Purity you can read for yourself
A cleaner bean makes a cleaner bar: smoother texture, truer flavor, and a process with nothing hidden. Come by the shop and we’ll show you the beans, the roaster, and the stone grinder, and tell you the rest of the story in person.

Visit us
Ridgewood Chocolate
6002 Catalpa Ave, Ridgewood, Queens, NY
ridgewoodchocolate.com