Fermented, Never Alkalized: What That Means for Chocolate Protein
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The chocolate in a chocolate protein powder is usually the least considered ingredient in the bag. It gets used as a flavor, something poured in at the end to make the protein palatable.
Zeotein's cacao is an ingredient in its own right. Two words on the label explain why: fermented, and never alkalized.
Fermentation comes first
Cacao beans are fermented in the pod pulp for several days right after harvest, before they are ever dried or milled. This is where chocolate flavor is actually created. Raw, unfermented cacao tastes astringent and flat.
Fermentation is standard for good cacao and skipped for cheap cacao. It is the first fork in the road.
Alkalizing is the second
Alkalizing, often called Dutch processing, applies an alkaline solution to cacao to raise its pH. It mellows the bitterness, darkens the color and makes the powder dissolve more easily.
It also strips a meaningful share of the flavanols, the compounds cacao is most studied for, and it flattens the flavor into something generic and uniform.
Most cocoa powder on a supplement label is alkalized, because alkalized cocoa is easier to work with and cheaper to buy.
Zeotein's organic fermented cacao is never alkalized. The supplier spec states it, and the certificate of analysis on the lot measures a pH of 5.37, which is acidic, and acidic is what unalkalized cacao reads.
What that tastes like
Deeper and more bitter than a candy-chocolate protein. Earthier. The chocolate reads like actual chocolate rather than chocolate flavoring, because that is what it is.
If you are coming off a heavily sweetened powder, give it a few days. This is what clean tastes like, and your palate recalibrates fast.
How to use it
Two scoops, one serving, in 10 to 12 ounces of water, milk, coffee or a smoothie. Zero sugar in the bag, so if you want it sweeter, the sweetening is yours to control rather than the manufacturer's.
The Cacao Recipe Guide ships with every order and is built around exactly that.
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
