Sun drying
Drying on raised beds, patios or drying tables over about a week. Slow enough to let the fermentation's acid escape, and entirely at the mercy of the weather.
Sun drying spreads the fermented beans in a thin layer on raised beds, concrete patios or sliding drying tables, and rakes them regularly so they dry evenly. It takes roughly a week to bring beans from around half water down to the seven per cent or so needed for storage and shipping.
The slowness is the feature, not a limitation. Volatile acetic acid produced during fermentation needs time to evaporate out of the bean, and oxidative reactions begun in fermentation need time to complete. Beans dried fast keep their acid and taste sharp and sour in the finished chocolate no matter how well they were fermented.
Its weakness is obvious: it requires dry weather during the drying window, and a great many producing regions do not reliably get it.
What it does
Reduces moisture gradually using ambient heat and airflow, allowing residual acetic acid to evaporate and oxidative browning to complete.
Why it matters
It is the last opportunity for fermentation acid to leave the bean. Once the beans are dry and bagged, any acid still inside is in the finished chocolate.
- Typical duration
- 5–14 days, commonly 7
- Why the range is wide
- Raised beds dry faster and more evenly than ground-level patios because air passes underneath. Many producers slow the first day deliberately, covering the beans at midday, because drying the outside too fast seals the inside.
- Optional?
- The preferred approach where climate permits it.
What it does to the flavour
Removes volatile acidity and completes oxidative browning; adds no flavour of its own.
Variants
- Raised beds. Mesh beds on legs, with air circulating underneath. Faster and cleaner than ground drying and the standard for fine-flavour cacao.
- Sliding roof tables. Drying tables on rails that roll under cover when it rains. Solves the weather problem at the cost of infrastructure.
When it goes wrong
Rain during the drying window, which stalls the process and allows mould; and drying too fast on a hot patio, which case-hardens the bean and traps acid inside.
Related
Flavour developed here
- AcidicSlow drying lets volatile acetic acid evaporate out. It is the last chance for the fermentation's acid to leave the bean.
Compared in
- Sun drying vs artificial dryingSet against Artificial drying, with the practical consequence of each difference.
Sources
- ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)
- Chocolate Science and Technology — Wiley-Blackwell(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)