Do I have to proof my nibs and sugar before starting my chocolate? I’m worried about caramelizing the sugars and getting off flavors that are not true to the bean.

How should I roast beans from Mexico?

Today we have a speed round of questions.

What is the difference in a direct drive melanger and a belt or chain driven melanger?

I’m confused about making liquor in the Champion.  In your videos you add nibs to the melanger.  Why are you making liquor at all?  

I’m having some roasting trouble and would love to hear your opinion if you get a chance to respond. I’m using a Klarstein air fryer (1400w) to roast 1 kg of beans at a time. 

Is a humidity of 70% too high to temper with? 

Recently, I've been making honey chocolates (1 c cocoa powder, 1 c coconut oil, and 1/3 c honey) to remarkable success. However, my main issue is that the chocolate get soft (Though not melted) at room temperature, and it can get quite messy when someone picks it up to eat if it's not straight out of the freezer.

My question is what is the smallest serving size chocolate you can make in a melanger?

Today I am combining a few recent email exchanges.  I hope you find it helpful.

Tempering in the warm months

Clarifying your own cocoa butter

I have made a hazelnut paste in my melanger. 

I really love your spider charts.  Where do you get them and how do I get the flavors you show?  My roasted beans never taste like that.

“My goal is simple,” he once said. “It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.” He spent much of his career searching for a way to reconcile Einstein’s theory of relativity with quantum physics and produce a “Theory of Everything.”

When I winnow my roasted beans, I find I end up with broadly three groups of material. Obviously a) The nib and B) The husks.

In the picture attached, I have arranged cacao beans: large, medium, and small.

I have some of Criollo beans that have the most intense apple smell but no matter how light I roast it I can’t keep it in the chocolate.  How do I keep that flavor in my chocolate?

  I've been reluctant to grind for a long time because I thought most volatiles were driven off in first 12 hrs and