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Ingredients of Weikfeild cocoa powder. https://sites.google.com/site/cocoaexposed/cocoa-confectionery/product-survey/weikfield--cocoa

It says it has 0 sugar. So, why does it not taste horribly bitter when I taste it?

I add it to coffee without any sugar and I do not notice any extreme bitterness.

Why is that so?

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    Are you implying that it does taste bitter with other brands? I can't tell if you're trying to attribute the lack of bitterness to the brand or to cocoa in general.
    – Catija
    Commented Feb 24, 2015 at 3:11
  • What about the 35g of carbohydrates? Other brands of cocoa do not have nearly as much carbohydrates. If sugar only refers to simple sugars here, then maybe there is some sweetness on those other carbs.
    – Pepi
    Commented Feb 24, 2015 at 9:06
  • Cocoa powder never tastes "horribly" bitter to me, and I have the genes for tasting strong bitterness. No matter if dutch processed or not, it is less bitter than coffee itself, so I don't know why you would expect it to make your coffee bitter. The time you'd notice the bitterness to an extent which is unpleasant if you're not accustomed to it would be if you were to eat a chocolate bar with >80% cocoa straight and undiluted.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Commented Feb 24, 2015 at 10:09
  • The ingredients clearly state " CONTAINS ADDED NATURE IDENTICAL AND ARTIFICAL CHOCOLATE FLAVOUR" (their caps not mine) now I'm not too sure what that actually means, asides from there being something added. Likely the cause of the lack of bitterness?
    – Doug
    Commented Feb 24, 2015 at 19:56
  • @Pepi - The quantity specified is per 100g of cocoa, so 35g is not an unreasonable number - the Rodelle cocoa I use has 3g per tablespoon (supposedly, about 6g).
    – user5561
    Commented Feb 25, 2015 at 0:02

3 Answers 3

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I'm not familiar with that brand, but cocoa powder can be processed differently. The major categories are "natural" and "dutch processed", the latter being less acidic and having a somewhat milder flavor. And of course various brands may vary.

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  • dutch process would be my first guess, too.
    – Joe
    Commented Feb 24, 2015 at 2:47
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if you mix the cocoa for longer in a process called conching it can loses bitterness. its mainly the European chocolate makers that do extra long chonching (a type of mixing that develops the chocolate smoothness and flavour in contact with air) But I see that it contains flavoring which means that they have cheated. it will be cheap cocoa powder Notice that they have removed all the fat. and then they have added a flavoring into it.

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In addition to the methods of processing cocoa, there are also many different varieties of cocoa tree each with it's own flavor profile. In panama they are using a new variety (agriculturally new anyway) of cocoa tree called something like VH47, because cocoa was suffering from a horrible disease. This tree is not only resistant, but it's a prolific bean producer, the problem is the cocoa tastes nasty when processed the normal way. It needs to be fermented in the sun first. Even then, although the taste becomes pleasant, it's still very inferior to better varieties.

However, almost all of the chocolate you eat has at least 15-20% of this cocoa, otherwise quite frankly there would be a shortage of chocolate if it wasn't incorporated.

So, some cocoa when plain tastes bitter, some is naturally sweet (not chocolate sweet), some is bittersweet, some tastes like flour unless it's mixed into something.

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