Mayan Chocolate Drink

Step 3 "Peeling" the Beans

Now that the beans have been toasted, we need to remove the outer layer of papery material. It's not really like the shell of a nut, more like a thicker version of the "paper" on a peanut. You should be able to remove the paper easily with your hands. Sometimes it helps to press a bit on the sides of the bean to crack the paper a bit. Some of the beans paper probably already split during toasting.

The beans in the main picture here have been "peeled". These are the ones that stayed whole. Many of them, however, will probably fall apart as you are shelling them. The picture with the bowl shows all the broken pieces that resulted from the same process... Now, no matter what, some of your beans will probably fall apart. If they're *all* falling apart though, chances are you over roasted your beans, and you may end up with a burnt-tasting result.

Now on to grinding...