I believe i know why your sikwate does not come out as thick and rich as you would like it to be.

The answer is in the quality of your tablea, not your procedure.

Most tablea makers nowadays do not pay particular attention to the variety of cacao beans they use. Some beans are richer and higher in fat content than others. And as you mentioned, others are even made with ground peanuts or ground jackfruit seeds used as extenders.

I know this because i learned how to make tablea from my lola who used to slow roast beans over a wood fire. She also used a combination of 3 varieties of beans. If they were not available, no tablea.

Aside from the beans, grinding the roasted product also matters. My lola would pass the beans through her hand-cranked grinder as many as 6 times to get a very smooth paste. The finer the granules, the smoother and thicker the sikwate.

Good quality tablea melts at room or warm temperature and must be kept in the refrigerator to keep their shape. This kind of tablea makes an extremely rich and thick sikwate.

The resulting drink has a thin layer of cocoa butter or fat on the surface and can coat a spoon that has been dipped into it.

And the color of the uncooked tablea is black, not brown. The drink is a dark, mahogany color.