Cocoa

What it is

Cocoa comes from the seeds of Theobroma cacao. Kew identifies the species as a tropical American tree and the source of cocoa and chocolate.

The familiar chocolate aroma is not simply the smell of a fresh cacao seed. Fermentation, drying and roasting transform the material and create much of the aromatic profile associated with cocoa.

What to notice

Cocoa can suggest:

• dark chocolate
• roasted nuts
• bitterness
• earth
• caramel
• dried fruit
• smoke
• warm wood
• slightly fermented depth

Origin, fermentation and roast level can move cocoa from fruity and bright to dark, earthy and heavily roasted.

Cocoa versus chocolate

Cocoa is the plant-derived material; chocolate is a finished food system involving cocoa solids alongside other ingredients and processing.

A chocolate perfume accord may use vanillin, lactonic materials, pyrazines and other aroma chemicals without containing natural cocoa extract.

Natural perfumery forms

Cocoa absolute and CO2 extracts are available to perfumers and can supply a recognizably roasted, dark chocolate effect.

The archive should distinguish a natural cocoa extract from a generic chocolate accord whenever the source makes that information available.