When asked which food or drink they prefer the most, most people will likely say chocolate or coffee. If you wonder, “is coffee and chocolate made from the same bean?” the answer is no. Coffee is made by roasting, grinding, and brewing the coffee beans harvested from the Coffea plant. Chocolate is a product of the cacao beans found inside a pod on the cacao tree.
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Are Coffee and Chocolate Made From the Same Bean?
Chocolate and coffee are not made from the same bean. Coffee beans come straight from the Coffea plant, while chocolate is the end product of cocoa beans from the cacao tree. The cocoa and coffee trees grow in areas close to the equator, and their beans differ in appearance, flavor, and smell.
Despite many misconceptions that coffee is a legume, it is grown and harvested from coffee plants. The seeds of the Coffea plant are what I know as coffee beans. Two major tree species produce coffee, namely Coffea Arabica and Coffea Robusta. Coffee derived from each type of tree will have its own individual intensity levels.
Chocolate comes from the cacao tree. Cocoa beans are in pods and are very bitter. The cocoa tree grows in the rainforests of Africa and South America. The tree’s fruit, or pods, contains coffee-like seeds called cocoa beans. These bitter seeds are made into chocolate by a two-step process, starting with fermentation and drying, then grinding and mixing with ingredients like milk and sugar to create sweeter chocolates!
The Difference Between Coffee Beans and Cocoa Beans
Coffee and cocoa beans are both seeds of tropical trees. They are dried, roasted, and then processed to make the finished product. However, there are some differences between them. Let’s take a closer look:
Calories
A cup of coffee has between two and five calories. When you add a medium amount of sugar and cream to this cup of coffee, the calories rise to between 100 and 200 calories.
A cup of chocolate with milk and sugar packs around 200 calories. Cocoa beans, typically eaten as snacks, are about 175 calories per ounce.
Taste
Coffee has a more bitter taste than cocoa because it contains more caffeine, a stimulant. On the other hand, chocolate has less caffeine than coffee and can also be very bitter depending on how humans process it before being eaten or used in cooking or baking recipes.
Appearance
Coffee beans look like small brown oval seeds with two flat sides, while cocoa beans look like small brown round seeds with one flat side with ridges running through it like tree rings (the inside of the bean). Cocoa bean shells are harder than coffee bean shells, so they don’t break as easily in shipping or processing at factories or farms.
What Do Coffee and Chocolate Have in Common?
Both chocolate and coffee contain many antioxidants known as flavonoids, which protect cells from damage by free radicals produced during metabolism. Flavonoids can also help reduce inflammation in blood vessels and improve blood flow throughout the body. They may help protect against heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and even diabetes by lowering harmful LDL cholesterol levels.
Both can improve cognitive function. A study published in 2018 revealed that elderly adults who drank three cups of coffee or ate two bars of dark chocolate per day experienced improved cognitive function over 14 months. The researchers also found that this effect was dose-dependent — the more coffee or chocolate consumed, the greater the effect on cognitive function.
Related Questions
Is There Chocolate Flavored Coffee?
Yes, there is chocolate-flavored coffee called Chocolate Coffee. This is a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans flavored with cocoa powder. The flavor comes from the cocoa powder, not from the actual beans themselves – it’s added to the mix after roasting.
Why Are Chocolate and Coffee So Similar?
Both beverages come from beans. Coffee comes from the seeds of a coffee plant, and chocolate comes from the seeds of a cacao tree. The beans also contain caffeine, which can be extracted by grinding them up after being roasted. This means that both beverages contain caffeine, making them similar in this regard.
Conclusion
Are coffee and chocolate made from the same bean? The answer is no. Coffee beans come from the Coffea plant, native to Ethiopia and other parts of Africa. Chocolate comes from the seeds of the cacao tree, which are then roasted and ground into a paste mixed with sugar and milk to make drinking cocoa.
