It was not until the Dutch cocoa thus manufactured had been introduced into England and Germany, where, as well as in Holland, it became very popular, that manufacturers in Germany and Switzerland began to devote their attention to the treatment with chemical agents. The consumption of so-called “soluble” cocoa has increased to such an extent of late years that it is now almost as large as that of chocolate goods.

The term “soluble”, as now generally applied to cocoa powders, is undoubtedly a misnomer, inasmuch as such preparations are practically not soluble at all. We have therefore termed cocoa for drinking purposes in this book “disintegrated” cacao, as the processes described in the following pages only render the elements of cacao, as, for instance, the cellulose, capable of suspension in liquids. It would be quite impossible to render cacao, by any special treatment, soluble in the real sense of the term, as is the case with salt or sugar. It will thus be readily understood that the expression “disintegrated” is correcter and more logical than the term “soluble The degree to which disintegration has been carried, i. e. the efficiency of the opening-up processes adopted, is marked by the absence of any sediment worth speaking of in the beverage prepared with boiling water, even after it has been left standing some time. The greater the power of suspension of the preparation, the less particles of cacao will settle to the bottom, and the higher the beverage will be esteemed.

The disintegrating agents are, in practice, applied either to the raw or roasted, but otherwise untreated beans, or to the more or less defatted cacao, as follows:

a) by treating the cacao with hot water, without or under pressure;

b) by treatment with alkalis, such as carbonate of kali or sodium, carbonate of magnesia (Dutch method), spirits of ammonia (sal-ammoniac) and carbonate of ammonia (German method).

The chemical and physical effects brought about by these agents consist chiefly in the swelling or steeping of the cellulose by the action of the alkalis, as a consequence of which they sink less rapidly in liquids than would be the case with untreated cacao. A further effect is the partial neutralisation of the acids present, besides which the cacao-red or pigment is also attacked, a result which may be regarded as less desirable, as the cacao-red is the secreter of the aroma, which naturally suffers with it. If the cacao is treated with steam or hot water, the starch is apt to gelatinise, and the acids to begin to ferment.

As the treatment with steam, for the reasons given above, is nowadays rarely practised, we will at once proceed to consider the method of disintegrating cacao most in use. Modifications of the methods of manufacture bearing on this point will be dealt with in their place under the corresponding heading later in this book.

b. Methods of Disintegration.
1. Preliminary Treatment of the Beans.

The method of manufacture of disintegrated cocoa comprises the following operations: