Cocoa solids is a mixture of many substances remaining after
cocoa butter is extracted from
cacao beans. When sold as an end product, it may also be called
cocoa powder,
cocoa, and
cacao. In contrast, the fatty component of
chocolate is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is 50% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties.
Cocoa liquor or
cocoa mass is a paste of roasted cocoa beans with cocoa butter and solids in their natural proportions. Chocolate requires the addition of extra cocoa butter to cocoa liquor, and the excess cocoa solids resulting from the chocolate industry dictate the relatively cheap supply of cocoa powder. This contrasts with the earliest European usage of cocoa where, before chocolate was popularized, cocoa powder was the primary product and cocoa butter was little more than a waste product.