The Bitter Story of Theobromine

Humans love doing things to plants. We cross-breed them, study their genomes, create new hybrids, and extract chemicals from them. It’s no wonder that we decided to turn the cacao beans into delicious, creamy chocolate. But what gives this treat its unique taste isn’t the copious amounts of sugar and fat, it’s theobromine, a bitter alkaline. At high levels, this chemical is toxic; dogs process it slower than people and that’s why we keep chocolate away from them. But chocolate is safe for humans since the theobromine levels are low. So celebrate the bitter story of this molecule with our necklace. It also makes a great gift for chocolate makers, chocolate tasters, chocolate lovers, and chocolate-loving chemists.