Drying: the step that quietly ruins more cacao than any other

Fermented beans leave the box at around 60% moisture and must reach roughly 6–7% for safe storage and shipping. Above about 8%, mould growth becomes likely in transit; below about 5%, beans become brittle and shatter during handling.

That is a narrow target reached over one to two weeks of sun drying, with beans spread thin and turned regularly.

Drying is not purely water removal. Residual acetic acid continues to volatilise, and enzymatic reactions inside the bean continue for a time. Drying too fast cuts both short, and the resulting chocolate is noticeably more acidic.

This is the substantive quality argument for sun drying over mechanical drying, and it is why beans dried in one day taste sharper than beans dried over ten.

Case hardening: the surface dries into a shell that traps moisture inside. The bean tests dry on the outside and moulds from within during shipping.

Mould: rain interrupting an open-air dry, or beans piled too deep. Mouldy notes are irreversible and detectable in the bar.

Smoke taint: wood-fired dryers venting through the drying chamber. The beans absorb phenolic smoke compounds, producing a ham or campfire note that no subsequent process removes. It is the defining quality problem of several producing regions.

Thin layers on raised platforms with airflow underneath, turned several times a day, with covers that can be rolled over in rain. Where mechanical drying is unavoidable, indirect heating — a heat exchanger rather than a direct flue — eliminates the smoke risk entirely.

Solar dryers with clear covers combine the two: sun-driven, weather-protected and smoke-free. They are one of the cheapest quality interventions available to a smallholder.