Many people jump-start their day with caffeine. Aldon Frost does that with cacao.
“You know how some people have to have coffee during the day? I have to have cacao,” he said. “I was going to my buddy’s wedding in Denver in May 2017, and I packed a pound of nibs just to make sure I had enough while I was gone. Nibs are 100 percent cacao. The theobromine in cacao is a stimulant. It increases blood and oxygen flow, which gives you a great mental and physical boost.”
Frost is the part-owner, farm manager and chocolate maker of Hana Gold, which his parents, Robert and Francine Frost, founded on 10 Hana acres in 1972, shortly after they married. Over the ensuing years, the family tested various crops, including papaya, banana, avocado and breadfruit.
“We even tried raising cattle, but when you give them names, you lose the desire to eat them,” Frost said. “Our cattle enjoyed beautiful ocean views while grazing in our pastures and eventually died of old age.”
IF YOU GO: HANA GOLD
>> Where: Hana Gold, 2998 Hana Highway, Hana, Maui
>> Hours: The farm is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; tours are at 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays
>> Tour cost: $40 per person; children 14 and younger are free when accompanied by a paying adult
>> Phone: (808) 248-8399
>> Email: info@hanagoldmaui.com
>> Website: hanagoldmaui.com
>> Notes: Hana Gold is a working farm, so it is not handicapped accessible.
In 2004, Francine Frost read an article about cacao Dole Food Co. had planted in Waialua, on Oahu’s north shore. She saw its potential, and the Frosts planted their first cacao trees at Hana Gold the following year (today, they tend 1,200 trees).
Initially, they sold their crops to local chocolate makers. In 2009, Aldon Frost spent four months in Switzerland, renowned for its chocolate, and his interest in the process was piqued. Around 2013, master Maui chocolatier Virginia Douglas began making Hana Gold’s bars, and two years later, Aldon Frost apprenticed with her.
“Virginia trained me well, and I was confident we could make our own quality, handcrafted chocolate from branch to bar,” Frost said. He took over production of the bars in 2016.
On a 75-minute tour of the farm led by Aldon or Francine Frost, visitors learn every step of the chocolate-making process— starting with cultivating the cacao trees and harvesting the pods, and continuing through fermenting, roasting and grinding the nibs, then tempering the chocolate before it is poured into molds.
DID YOU KNOW
>> The cacao tree’s scientific name is Theobroma cacao, Latin words meaning “food of the gods.” It is native to Mexico and Central and South America, where cacao cultivation is believed to have started as far back as 1250 B.C.
>> It takes four to five years for a cacao tree to produce its first fruit. More than 400 cacao beans are needed to make 1 pound of chocolate.
>> Although cacao trees can live for 100 years, they yield marketable beans for only 25 years.
>> The Mayans and Aztecs used cacao as currency to pay for everyday items such as salt, eggs, firewood and turkeys.
>> Rather than a sweet treat, chocolate was first consumed by the upper classes in ancient Mesoamerica as a warm, frothy beverage whose bitterness was diminished with the addition of vanilla, herbs, honey, flowers, ground chile peppers or fermented agave sap. The drink purportedly was an aphrodisiac, energy booster and mood enhancer.
>> Benjamin Franklin apparently was very fond of chocolate, which he sold in his Philadelphia print shop along with books, pencils, ink and writing paper. In a 1784 letter to his friend David LeRoy, he listed things he thought made travel by ship bearable, including rum, raisins, almonds and chocolate.
Tour participants get up-close looks at whatever workers are doing on that particular day. Cacao pods are harvested every three to five weeks between September and June, so current visitors can examine ripe pods and taste cacao seeds.
“The pods are the fruit of the cacao tree,” Frost said. “The fact that chocolate is made from the seeds of a fruit surprises many people, especially since they don’t taste at all like the finished product. Raw cacao seeds are bitter, and they’re covered in a gelatinous pulp called miel de cacao, which has a citrusy flavor.”
For chocolate lovers, the highlight of the tour comes at the end, when they sample several of Hana Gold’s 11 bars, which may include those made with ginger, banana, mandarin orange, Hana-grown coffee, Molokai sea salt and Hawaii island macadamia nuts.
Dark chocolate is a good source of disease-fighting antioxidants. In addition, it has been shown to lower blood pressure, relieve inflammation, improve mood and brain function, raise HDL or “good” cholesterol and reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
“We love educating people about cacao and chocolate,” Frost said. “As a small, family-owned-and-operated company, we take pride in the fact that we have full control of the process, from the planting of each tree to the making of each bar. Also, we love that Hana Gold is a happy business. There aren’t many products like chocolate — that make people smile the moment they see it.”
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
