Tagua is colored in many ways:
1. Boiling. Artisans achieve rich yellows and browns by boiling; this process essentially burns the tagua. The length of boiling time determines the color.
2. Inlay. Artisans inlay their carvings with the brown skin of the tagua nut, which is first ground into a fine powder, then mixed with super glue and reapplied to the carving's recesses.
3. Fermentation. Fermented tagua is yellow to chocolate in color and is produced when unpeeled tagua is left in the rain to ferment. This rots the shell and discolors the tagua nut inside.
4. Burning. Sometimes burning, particularly in jewelry, is accomplished with a wood-burning tool. This turns the tagua black and allows the artisan to etch designs into the tagua.
5. Dying. Many of our tagua nut beads are dyed. The tagua is placed in boiling water with the dye and the nut soaks in the color. Many of these colors are achieved through the use of natural plant-based dyes.
Some artisans also paint or stain their pieces, but we feel these techniques detract from the overall piece by covering up the tagua's natural beauty. As such, all of our colors are achieved using one of the methods mentioned above. It's also important to note that, like animal ivory, most tagua will darken or antique over time, although the rate of discoloration seems related to the nut's moisture content. For example, tagua carvings that haven't been through the final drying phase yellow more rapidly than completely dried pieces, while exposure to sunlight speeds up discoloration.
