Step #10: Grinding the Cacao Nibs
The nibs themselves are made up of 53% cocoa butter and 47% pure cocoa solids. Separating these two substances takes work.

In this step, the nibs are milled—crushed by heavy steel discs. This process generates enough friction and heat to liquefy the nibs into a thick paste, called chocolate liquor.

Step #11: Pressing the Chocolate Liquor
Some of the chocolate liquor is placed in a huge, 25-ton hydraulic press, which squeezes out the cocoa butter.

This fatty, yellow substance drains away through metallic screens. Then, it can be added to dark or milk chocolates, used as the basis for white chocolate, or used in cosmetics and medicine.

Once cocoa butter is extracted, the remaining solid cocoa is pulverized into cocoa powder—the product used in beverages, cooking, and baking.

Step #12: Mixing the Chocolate Liquor
Manufacturers blend unpressed liquor with condensed milk, sugar, and extra cocoa butter to form chocolate.

The extra cocoa butter keeps the chocolate solid at room temperature. That explains why chocolate doesn’t spoil—and why it melts in the warmth of your mouth.

The raw mixture of milk, liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter is churned until it becomes a coarse, brown powder called “crumb.”