The Difference Between Cocoa and Cacao

Simple Things – Surprising Histories looks the difference between cocoa and cacao, noting that it depends on how the beans are treated at harvest. Cocoa requires treatments such as roasting and Dutch processing (akalai), whereas cacao is treated far more gently.

Cacao and cocoa both come from the exact same fruit, but their journeys from tree to tastebud take two very different paths.

The narrator also explored the ancient Aztec origins of seeds from the Theobroma cacao tree, the disruption of trade by European interests, and how the word cacao became cocoa, ultimately making the two very different from one another.

Both cacao and cocoa start out as the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. The scientific name literally translates to “food of the gods” in Greek. For thousands of years, civilizations like the Mayans and Olmec revered this plant. They called it cacao, a word that survived centuries. …Over time, European traders gradually transformed the word cacao into cocoa. Whether through shifts in pronunciation, spelling adaptations, or mixing with other indigenous words, the new spelling eventually stuck.

The Bittersweet History of Chocolate