See it in action

What gives cocoa its quiet floral register?

Cocoa's roasted bitterness gets all the credit, but underneath it runs a terpenoid more associated with lavender fields and perfumery than fermented cacao pods.

Linalool

Linalool — the high-impact floral/citrus terpenoid that dominates cocoa's aromatic background

OAV in cocoa

Aroma: flower, lavender, citrus · Also 4,109 OAV in grape · terpenoid_alcohol

1-butanol

Ethyl acetate — a pineapple-coded ester that edges toward solvent at higher concentrations

OAV in cocoa

Also 15 OAV in grape

Ethyl acetate

1-Butanol — a low-level fusel alcohol contributing mild solvent warmth to the base

OAV in cocoa

Aroma: pineapple, fruity, solvent · Also 6 OAV in grape · ester

Cocoa's floral dimension isn't incidental — linalool registers well above its detection threshold, meaning the lavender-citrus note is a structural part of the aroma, not a trace artifact of fermentation. Grape carries the same compound at nearly twenty times the intensity.

Unlock the OAV numbers

See exactly how far over the detection threshold each compound is — the part of the chemistry that explains why this pairing works. Plus the full ranked list for any ingredient, compound index, and Compare tool.

Get Pro Already Pro? Sign in

See every ingredient that contains linalool · Compare cocoa vs grape

OAV (Odor Activity Value) = concentration ÷ detection threshold. Numbers above 1 mean the compound contributes detectably to aroma.

Back to homepage