CACAO BEANS: Seeds harvested from fleshy yellow pods that grow on cacao trees.
NIBS: The meat of cacao beans, which get ground into chocolate liquor.
CHOCOLATE LIQUOR: The thick, nonalcoholic liquid that results when the roasted, hulled beans (nibs) are ground.
COCOA BUTTER: The fat that can be extracted from chocolate liquor. It is not a dairy product.
COCOA POWDER: The solids that remain after the cocoa butter is extracted. When the solids are dried, they are processed and then either "Dutched" (treated with alkali) or left as is.
UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE: Solidified pure chocolate liquor that contains between 50 percent and 60 percent cocoa butter.
BITTERSWEET/SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE: Chocolate that contains at least 35 percent chocolate liquor. The remainder is sugar, vanilla, and/or lecithin.
MILK CHOCOLATE: Chocolate made primarily from sugar, at least 10 percent chocolate liquor, milk solids, vanilla and/or lecithin.