Ingredients · Flavouring

Carob

Ceratonia siliqua · Fabaceae (pea family)

Carob
A Mediterranean legume pod, roasted and ground, and the long-standing stand-in for chocolate. It is naturally sweeter than cocoa and less bitter, with a roasted, slightly fruity, malty character — and it contains neither caffeine nor theobromine, which is why it is used where chocolate cannot be. Two products carry it, both alongside actual cocoa, which is the honest way to use it: as a partner rather than a substitute.

What it’s like, and how to use it

The partPod
KindFlavouring
CaffeineCaffeine-free
Where it is fromSpain, Italy, Morocco (main producers)
TasteRoasted, malty and naturally sweet with a slight fruitiness; less bitter than cocoa, and quite distinct from it

How to use it

In chocolate-style blends, where it adds sweetness without sugar. It will not behave like cocoa in baking — it is sweeter and has no fat. In an infusion it is mild and needs company.

With food

Mint. Orange. Date and fig. Almond. Cinnamon. Banana. Coconut.

With spices

Cinnamon. Vanilla. Cardamom. Nutmeg.

With tea

Rooibos, which shares its natural sweetness. Peppermint. Honeybush.

Its story

Where it comes from

Native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Spain leads production, followed by Italy and Morocco; world output in 2022 was around 56,423 tonnes. Our lot names no origin.

What happened

Carob has given the world two things that have nothing to do with taste. The first is a unit: the carat, the weight jewellers use for gemstones, takes its name through the Arabic qīrāṭ from the Greek word for the carob seed, which is unusually uniform in weight. The second is locust bean gum, made from the endosperm — 42 to 46 per cent of the seed — and used as a thickener in everything from ice cream to canned pet food. Its English name, St John's bread, comes from the belief that the seeds and pulp were the locusts and honey eaten by John the Baptist.

On the shelf with it

Every product it goes into.

Every ingredient in the shop

Explore

Other ways in

Ingredients Every plant, seed, bark and salt in the shop on one page — what it is, why it is in the blend, and where it comes from. See them all Collections Every shelf in the shop on one page — teas by leaf and flavour, spices by kind and cuisine. Open any shelf to see what is on it. Browse the shelves The Showroom The whole shop on one floor — every tea, spice and blend, filtered by what you are after, with the basket beside you. Open the Showroom Elsewhere Seventeen short trips — a place, a moment, a feeling — each with the teas and spices that get you there. Take a trip