Cocoa Liquor (Mass)

Ground roasted nib — 50-57% fat, natural & alkalised

Cocoa liquor, also called cocoa mass or unsweetened chocolate, is simply roasted cocoa nib ground until the fat releases and the material becomes a fluid paste. It is not alcoholic — the name refers to its liquid state when warm. It sits at the centre of the cocoa chain: everything before it is beans, everything after is either pressed into butter and powder or turned directly into chocolate. Fat content runs 50 to 57%, matching the bean it came from, with fineness typically 99% or better through a 75 micron screen, moisture below 2% and free fatty acids controlled as for butter. It is supplied natural or alkalised, and in blocks, buttons or as a bulk tanker in molten form for manufacturers with heated receiving facilities.

Buy liquor when you make chocolate but do not press. It saves a manufacturer the capital and complexity of roasting, winnowing and grinding while giving direct control over recipe — you add sugar, butter, milk solids and lecithin to your own formulation. It is also the base for compound coatings, ganache and industrial confectionery. The logistics decision is form: molten bulk delivery is materially cheaper per tonne and avoids remelting, but it requires heated tanks, jacketed lines and enough throughput to justify them, so it suits large continuous operations rather than seasonal or craft producers. Blocks and buttons cost more per tonne but need no infrastructure. Origin matters here as much as with beans, because liquor carries the flavour of the bean it was ground from — West African liquor for dependable bulk character, fine-flavour liquor where the origin is part of the story. CBIL brokers cocoa liquor against fat content, fineness, moisture, FFA and origin declaration, in blocks, buttons or molten bulk, on FOB and CIF terms.