Dear chocolate life community,

I'm writing with a question that I hope at least some of you will know an answer to. We are a small producer of vegan chocolate and we process everything at low temperatures. We noticed that when we process a bath with a lighter colored cacao powder, we get a very solid and desirable structure. However, when we process a batch with a darker variety of cacao powder under the same conditions (same tempering curve, same machine, same outside temperature), the end product always ends up being less solid, melting more readily when touched. The darker cacao powder is also significantly more bitter/sour and we even have to change our recipe to adjust for the variation.

Does anyone have any insight as to why this is happening? The supplier, obviously, just says that it's a natural variation. I am wondering if there is a trade term for the lighter variety of Peruvian Criollo Cacao? (See attachment)

Has anyone had similar experiences and can share tips? 

Any help will be much appreciated.

All the best,

Sanja