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Great shouts of triumphant joy were heard ‘round the world when the medical researchers of several different countries released their findings: chocolate can be good for you! After the initial celebration most of us grunted and said that chocolate had done right by us for years. In truth, I hardly ever drink coffee and occasionally drink tea mid-day, and I don’t use either to start my day. But on winter mornings (okay – most of spring and fall too) I religiously partake of my chocolate sacrament in the form of a creamy hot beverage. In doing so I am upholding the tradition begun by the original owners of the Americas, people for whom I thank God every time I lift the cup to my mouth, or tear shamelessly at the paper covering the solid form of this delight.
My solid chocolate bar of choice is undoubtedly the bars from the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory. This company grows and processes chocolate grown in the rich volcanic soil on the Big Island. It is an excellent example of why nation after nation has dubbed chocolate ‘the food of the gods’. But first we explore the history and healthy properties of chocolate.
That Holy History
In the pre-European assimilation of chocolate, the Mayan, Incan and the Aztec elite were almost the exclusive partakers of the holy beverage. Montezuma himself preferred his chocolate beverage with a dash of vanilla, although most of his contemporaries drank it with other spices. (Try pure vanilla, not the extract, in your hot chocolate. It’s superb!) When Hernán Cortés and his military force seized Mexico on August 13, 1521, the drink became a chic and expensive indulgence in Spain. By the 1700’s most of Europe (or those Europeans who could afford it) enjoyed the beverage, and the first of many chocolate drinking houses was opened by a Frenchman in London in 1657. The owner advertised it as “ … an excellent West Indian drink called Chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time and also unmade at reasonable rates." The drink cost a pricey ten to fifteen shillings per pound, so only the wealthy could afford it. (Many gentlemen’s clubs got their start as fashionable chocolate drinking houses.) At the time the beverage was made with the whole bean with all its glorious butter content, and true to its Latin American origins, was spiced, or it was heavily sweetened.
In 1828 Van Houten introduced his method of pressing the cocoa butter out of the cocoa bean and sealed Holland’s chocolate reputation. England’s Cadbury Brothers brought out their Cocoa Essence in 1866 and for the first time pure cocoa was available. Solid chocolate probably became popular through experimentation as a result of the chocolate for beverages being sold in blocks.
The Benefits of Chocolate – Other than the Obvious One
 Let’s face it – regardless of your denominational preference – dark, milk, bittersweet, or white – the taste of religious rapture is reason enough to eat it. The researchers who conducted the experiments resulting in the following are quick to remind us that chocolate is usually very high in fat and sugar. Of course, this is a fact with which few of the laity concern themselves – at least not over a moderate amount of indulgence. Our grandmothers’ warnings of blemishes likewise seldom do much to discourage. Here, according to a variety of medical studies – as if we needed additional reasons – are some research results that give us new reasons to weather the zits.
Chocolate is flavonol-rich. Flavonoids are plant compounds that contain powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants block free radicals that block normal cell reproduction. Cocoa beans contain them in large amounts, as do strawberries, cranberries, tea, peanuts, apples, and red wine. (Chocolate covered strawberry or peanut cluster, anyone?) The flavonoids in cocoa are called flavonol.
Research from several medical studies found that the antioxidant levels in dark chocolate are four times that of green tea. In other words, it provides the most antioxidants per weight (dark chocolate at 60%+ cacao: 50g = 300mg polyphenals, to green tea’s 240ml = 400mg polyphenals). Also the oligomeric polyphenols in cocoa are stronger antioxidants than monomeric polyphenols in tea. Oligomeric polyphenols inhibit reactive oxygen species which can damage cell membranes leading to diseases such as arteriosclerosis, cancer and the ageing process.
According to research conducted at the University of Scranton, a 40-gram serving of milk chocolate contains about the same number of antioxidants as that which is found in a glass of red wine – about 400 milligrams. Chocolate has greater values of Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) than prunes and blueberries. Dark chocolate = 13,000+ ORAC units Milk chocolate = 6,700 ORAC units. Unsweetened cocoa powder contains twice as much antioxidant as dark chocolate, but when it's diluted the flavonoid total per serving plummets to about half that in milk chocolate.
An ingredient in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide, a compound necessary for healthy blood circulation and pressure, according to a Boston study documented in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Also while still in the early stages of study, there is evidence indicating that flavonols relax the blood vessels which inhibit an enzyme that causes inflammation.
Are you ready for this one? According to the British Medical Journal, the flavonols in cocoa can help prevent fatty substances from entering your bloodstream! Flavonols reduce the likelihood of clotting in the arteries by making blood platelets less likely to stick to each other. (A chocolate bypass?)
Another surprise: Chocolate helps people who already suffer from diseases. According to BBC News, there is some evidence out of the University of L'Aquila that eating dark chocolate (in moderation) can even help diabetics process sugars! Research is underway to study the possible beneficial effects of chocolate on relieving the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Dark chocolate is higher in flavonoids than milk chocolate, and white chocolate (because it has no cocoa powder) has none. Unfortunately the way that cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are processed removes most of the flavonoids. While the processing of most commercial chocolate removes the majority of flavonols, even over-the-counter chocolate has some. (NOTE: Our Worldwide Spa Review sweepstakes for the November/December 2005 issue featured spa-grade chocolates by Parisian chocolatier Michel Richart.)
The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory
 In early July of 2004 I was aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of Aloha doing a review of their spa (see the article). One of the ports of call included an opportunity for an excursion to a chocolate plantation and factory; thus my introduction to The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kailua-Kona. This is where I first tried the most unique and rich-tasting chocolate to which I’ve ever been exposed.
Bob and Pam Cooper moved to Kona in 1997 and began growing their own brand of the famous Kona coffee. Later they started chocolate production with 1,300 cacao trees. Although they were advised to mix with other foreign varieties to beef up production, the Coopers refused. They wanted to assure the quality of their chocolate by making sure they had complete control over its production. Their factory is the only one in Hawai'i that covers the entire process from growing and harvesting, to processing and packaging.
The Cacao is a fussy tree, growing only around twenty degrees (1,380 miles) north or south of the equator. The ruby-red pods of cocoa beans grow directly from the trunk and branches of the ten-foot to twelve-foot trees. Each pod holds about 30-50 cacao seeds, which according to commercial manufacturers makes about seven milk chocolate bars or two dark chocolate bars. It takes five months for the pods to ripen during which they evolve from green, to yellow or maroon, to their vibrant red. The beans are covered in a white pulp. After extracting the cocoa beans, they are fermented in slatted wooden boxes. The beans are then spread out and slowly dried on racks in the sun for two to three weeks.
After the cacao beans are sorted for quality, they are roasted. The Coopers and their employees put the beans through a custom built ‘flinger’ which removes their shells, leaving the chocolate nib. The nibs are ground into a chocolate liquor paste and refined. The other ingredients are added and after a second refining of up to 12 hours, lecithin is added to turn the batch into a chocolate liquid. It is then tempered and molded into bars.
The ingredients in the Coopers’ chocolate bars include nothing the average person has trouble pronouncing or recognizing. Their dark chocolate bars contain their own cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin (emulsifier) and – of course - vanilla. (Montezuma would be proud!) Their milk chocolate bars contain the same plus whole milk powder. The cocoa content is 50% for their dark chocolate and 36% for their milk chocolate.
How does it taste? When I shared some with one of my editors (a great sacrifice on my part) her first reaction after the usual sigh of pleasure was that she’d never had chocolate that tasted so much like something that came out of the ground. Rich and pure, a little of the Coopers’ marvelous chocolate better satisfies my chocolate cravings than does a pound of the common stuff. The dark chocolate has a powerful flavor with a nutty secondary flavor to it. Like any good dark chocolate, it bites back a little. The milk chocolate is creamy and delicious, and of course less pungent than that of the dark chocolate.
Tasting the Food of the Gods
 When tasting any chocolate, especially the Coopers’, resist the urge to gobble it. Try treating it with the same patience you would a glass of wine. Allow it to reach the advised temperature of 66-77°F. Cut a small chunk from the bar, put it in your mouth and allow it to melt a bit on your tongue to release its flavor. Inhale so as to smell the primary aroma. Chew it a couple of times and press it against the roof of your mouth to release its secondary aroma.
Good health and happy tasting!
To learn more about the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory or to place an order, go to:
www.originalhawaiianchocolatefactory.com
or email to:
info@originalhawaiianchocolatefactory.com
Write to:
The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory
78-6772 Makenawai Street
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Telephone at (800) 322-2626.
Factory tours are available by appointment only – the factory and plantation are not otherwise open to the public
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