Cacao

Chocolate is made from cacao beans, the seeds found inside the fruit of the cacao tree. This fruit is covered with a hard shell more than 1 cm thick and is called a “cacao pod.” Inside it are 30–40 seeds (cacao beans), surrounded by sweet flesh called “pulp.”

The cacao beans are removed from the pod together with the pulp and left to ferment. This fermentation process produces the precursors of chocolate’s aroma. As the beans are then roasted, their aroma becomes increasingly chocolate-like. As the original cacao is turned into cocoa, the number of aroma compounds is said to grow steadily, from around 100 to 600.
However, only about 25 aromas are said to give chocolate its characteristic chocolate smell.

The absolute extracted from cacao has a scent suggesting both the bitterness and sweetness of chocolate. It is also characterized by a slightly earthy scent, with warmth and a mildly animalic quality. It pairs well with vanilla (in Japanese) (or vanillin), and they are often used together.

Patchouli is also often used when recreating the smell of chocolate because it has a chocolate nuance. Thierry Mugler’s Angel, called the first-ever gourmand (in Japanese) fragrance, also used patchouli (in Japanese).

What Does It Smell Like in Perfume?

Natural cacao extracts offer more than confectionery sweetness. Powerful dark chocolate or cocoa powder is layered with soft, powdery sweetness, adding bittersweet fullness to perfume. Besides enriching gourmand compositions, cacao creates deep shading when placed behind bright flowers or fruits. It comes in forms such as absolutes and extracts made by placing natural material on a carrier, so even materials called “cacao” do not all have the same texture or concentration.