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LOGAN — Utah State University is working on research of the utmost importance — producing some rare chocolate that is not made anywhere else in the U.S.
It comes from an albino cacao bean, which is not so easy to get here in Utah
The Aggie Chocolate Factory specializes in making 70% dark chocolate. The albino chocolate will be that same higher concentration but will bring a much different taste, and it's all being done in the name of research.
Turning beans into chocolate takes hours of work: the roasting, grinding, smoothing and molding. But to make the super-rare stuff takes sourcing, and in this case, Luciana Monteiro is the key. She's a Fulbright scholar from Brazil.
"My life is all around chocolate," Monteiro said. "I'm in contact with cacao farmers, and I know a lot from the post-harvest of cacao beans."
She was brought here for her expertise and her connections to the farmers who harvest the rare albino or Catongo cacao beans.
"In the world of the chocolate the white beans is very impressive for the very mild notes, versus sensitive and caramel notes," Monteiro said. "It's something very unique."
They're unique enough that the Aggie Chocolate Factory paid $7,000 to get their first pallet of albino beans flown here. They turn light brown during the production process.
BreAnna Burchill is among the employees here who are getting to discover that process of working with their 70% cocoa process to produce a whole new flavor.
"It opens up a lot of questions like, 'How long do we roast it for?' to get the right temperatures and the right taste," Burchill said.
KSL-TV reporter Mike Anderson tried some. So did Chris and Rose Hutchinson, return customers from Salt Lake County.
"It's not as heavy, it just kind of flows," Chris Hutchinson said.
"Right, it just coats your mouth and then you get the really subtle flavors," Rose Hutchinson replied.
It's a dark chocolate type of concentration, that's not so dark.
The albino chocolate bars will come at a premium, costing $12 to $15 for 1.5 ounces. They will go on sale in about four to five weeks.
