Chocolate liquor

Pure ground cocoa nibs in liquid or solid form, the base of all chocolate; despite the name, it contains no alcohol.

Chocolate liquor: A solid block of dark cocoa mass with cocoa nibs and a few cocoa beans beside it
  • Baking ingredients and additives

Also called: cocoa mass, cocoa liquor, cocoa paste

Roasted cocoa beans are cracked into nibs and ground until the friction melts their fat into a thick, dark paste. That paste is chocolate liquor, also called cocoa mass. It is roughly half cocoa butter and half cocoa solids, and it is bitter, with no sugar added.

Chocolate makers press part of it to separate cocoa butter from cocoa powder, or they mix it with sugar, extra cocoa butter and milk to make eating chocolate. When it is molded and sold on its own, it is called unsweetened or baking chocolate.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. 21 CFR § 163.111 - Chocolate liquor., Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (21 CFR)
  2. Glossary, LibreTexts (BCcampus, Modern Pastry and Plated Dessert Techniques)