Mushroom Chocolate

<p>Love chocolate? You have fungi to thank for that! On today&apos;s show we are walking you through the complex journey between the cocoa bean and a chocolate bar.  The unmatchable decadence is achieved by unique fermentation methods and microbes. Yeast, filamentous fungi, and bacteria are all at play and today we have a chocolate scientist and PhD candidate, Caitlin Clark, who has dedicated her research to chocolate fermentation.<br/><br/><b>Topics Covered</b></p><ul><li>Lactic acid fermentation versus chocolates specialty microbes</li><li>The complex and ethical journey of chocolate making</li><li>Alkalizing chocolate</li><li>Polyphenol content in a variety of chocolate products</li><li>Psychoactive properties in chocolate’s constituents such methylxanthine and theobromine </li><li>How fermentation alters potency of these constituents </li><li>Mycorrhizal, endophytic, and pathogenic fungi involved in the cacao trees </li><li>Other fungal relationships such as endophytes and mycorrhizal species </li><li>Microbiome of fermentation in cocoa including yeasts, filamentous geotrichum, bacillus bacteria and more</li><li>Wild ferments, aseptic ferments and experiments with starter cultures</li><li>Chemical and mechanical ways that fungi transform the stock</li><li>What determines a ‘good’ microbial presence versus a ‘bad’ one in the chocolate making process</li><li>How cocoa byproducts are made</li><li>Bloom in chocolate</li><li>How to shop for the best quality chocolate</li></ul><p><br/></p><p><b>Show Notes</b></p><ul><li>Caitlin’s website: <a href='https://www.trimethylpyrazine.com/'>https://www.trimethylpyrazine.com/</a></li><li>Caitlin’s Instagram: @chocolate.graduate </li><li>Chocolate Vendor’s<ul><li>Bar &amp; Cocoa: <a href='https://barandcocoa.com/'>https://barandcocoa.com/</a></li><li>SOMA: <a href='https://www.somachocolate.com/'>https://www.somachocolate.com/</a></li><li>Quntu: <a href='https://en.qantuchocolate.com/'>https://en.qantuchocolate.com/</a></li><li>Nuance Chocolate: <a href='http://www.nuancecho