Tag Archive for 'Chuao'

Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.1

Published on February 10, 2010 in Tastings & Events. 2 Comments Tags: Baru, Bonnat, Chuao, Criollo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Domori, Ecuador, Francois Pralus, Los Ancones, Los Rios, Madagascar, Mangaro, Michel Cluizel, organic, Pacari, Peru, Puerto Cabello, Santo Domingo, Taza, TCHO, Trinitario, Zotter.

The first Choqoa Tasting Event this year was again very different from the previous editions, and not only for the reason that people came from across the country to attend our Antwerp session!

Among the attending chocolate explorers we had Gunther, one of the founders of a chocolate brand (Baru, Diepenbeek), eager to learn about making his own chocolate in some future; Geert, a dedicated chocolatier & patissier who passionately cares about his base Valrhona couverture (Patisserie Vercruysse, Kortijk); and Mo, who runs an inspiring lunch bar and is a former winner of the Best Sandwich competition!

I found it pretty intriguing given their background they often did heard of several of the top chocolate brands we tasted, but hadn’t take the effort or had the chance to taste every variety that they could get their hands on? On the other side also some US brands like Taza and TCHO were not unknown and I was happy to have a TCHO ‘Fruity’ bar on the tasting table (thanks to @ActiveLife). And with brands like Zotter and Pacari, I had something new to offer even for these professionals

It was utmost pleasant and charming to see how participants discovered variations in freshness, color, melting patterns and lingering aftertastes by themselves. Even to the detail where they felt one bar more coming up in front or gathering in the back of their tongues and palates. All added their views and knowledge on chocolate and food so we got some lenghty talks along the tasting session as well.

Eventually, again this gourmet chocolate tasting event was full of fun, sharing tasting impressions and notes, discovering the immersive world of real fine chocolate, and brainstorming on future possibilities!

Continue reading for details on the tasted bars…

Continue reading ‘Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.1′

Report: The First Choqoa Tasting Event

Published on November 29, 2009 in Reviews and Tastings & Events. 0 Comments Tags: Akesson, Amano, Amedei, Bonnat, Carn Mor, Chuao, Colombia, Dominican Republic, event, Francois Pralus, Madagascar, Michel Cluizel, Ocumare, pairing, Pralus, Sambirano, SeventyPercent, tasting, Trinidad, Venezuela, whisky.

In Belgium, home of the world famous ‘Belgian Chocolates’, I’ve taken up the challenge to share and show people the path to real chocolate, fine origin artisan cacao.
After a long while I decided to do so starting with the now infamous Choqoa Sampler packs, and also by organizing chocolate tasting events to have the means and moments to personally inspire people with “the food of the gods”. My first event took place some days ago and here’s how people responded to chocolate:

We were with a nice group of about 10. After some earlier small informal tryouts I took some learnings with me and started off with a small introduction on the sexy cacao tree, pods and beans, and briefly explained the making process. We had some good questions then on the differences with industrial brands like Callebaut and I showed some pics of the Amano Chocolate factory.
Mosts really appreciated this introduction, because the cacao tree is funny, sexy and full of secrets, and how often do you wonder yourself about the source of your food?

Off to the tasting then! I learned from Martin Christy, founder of SeventyPercent.com, to make a program instead of just grabbing for some bars, so I made small plates with chunks from all the bars to hand out. I also distributed some sheets to take notes and a tasting wheel to have some reference to our taste buds. All this helpst to take the clutter of the table and focus on tasting chocolate. The Amedei was a great opener to ‘set the bar’and we then moved on to plenty of other bars, the full list is below this post.

Time after time most were pretty intrigued by the variety of aromas and sensations, though they suggested getting some more guidance in what flavors they should detect. A good point to work on! I would also have put some more variety in the selection, I still had too many options, but off course it also depends on your stock as well.

One of the participants, Johan, is doing a great job in sharing the message for me and he brought me a fresh Amano Ocumare milk from San Fransisco. All of us were really surprised by this very untypical milk sensation; it’s a superb bar that gives a whole new level to milk chocolate. I’m leaving the idea of ‘percentages’ more and more and this bar proves it’s very very possible.

As a special for this evening I also served a double fine whisky and chocolate pairing: but you can read all about this tantalizing pairing experience in my previous blog post.

Those true discoveries were the better moments, and most likely everybody said to have had a very nice tasting experience and gladly returned home with their own chocolate bars.

Check out the next Choqoa tastings en events on my EventBrite page, see you soon!

Read on for details of all the tasted bars!

Continue reading ‘Report: The First Choqoa Tasting Event’

It’s finally here: the 2009 Choqoa Sampler selection

Published on November 22, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao. 3 Comments Tags: AMMA, Bonnat, Brazil, Chuao, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, Michel Cluizel, Paris, Pralus, Salon du Chocolat, Sambirano, sampler, Venezuela.

Chocolate has put me to the test lately: slow distributors, fast selling stocks, last-second changes… I almost had it all! But most important is, all pieces are finally joined together. I think the booklet and detail sheets will make it all in all a nice package and look really nice. And on top of it all, I believe it’s a nice selection of chocolate bars to introduce you to a new level of Cacao appreciation.

From the plethora of bars on display at The Salon du Chocolat in Paris, I’ve made a modest selection that takes you on an imaginary tour of the cacao growing belt:

Michel Cluizel takes us to the Sambirano valley in Madagascar and to the Dominican Republic, where we experience an entirely different character from the same brand. Francois Pralus leads the way to Brazil and demonstrates – together with AMMA Chocolates – how similar beans can be mastered in different ways. Finally, Bonnat takes us back to the heart of fine cacao: his Venezuelan masterpieces from the mythical Chuao cacao beans.

I hope this selection pushes you forth into the exploration of real, original chocolate. Whether you’re in for trying different regions, different percentages or different ways of production – that’s entirely up to you. As long as you’re having fun, you can discover anything you want in a great chocolate bar.

With the sampler I hope your fine origin discoveries will only make you hungry for more!…

Preparing for the 2009 Salon du Chocolat in Paris

Published on September 30, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao and Trips. 2 Comments Tags: Chocolate Week, Chuao, Criollo, Domori, London, Michel Cluizel, Paris, Porcelana, Pralus, Salon du Chocolat, Venezuela.

After some lenghty tasty posts on a series of London discoveries in the past weeks, it’s time to look at Paris for the Salon du Chocolat 2009. Yep, it’s like chocolate season is officially open!

salonduchocolat-2008

My trip last year was revealing up a whole new world of food concepts and ideas, but also a labyrinth in retail, wholesale, agents and distributors. Now that I’ve got that puzzled out a little bit more, I’m looking forward for a new visit, with some promising lookouts… Unlike last year where I felt a bit more touristy, this time I’m looking forward to meet a bunch of great people.

I’ll be travelling with Sofie from Callebaut, a super enthusiast person who’s always eager to help anyone out on new biz. I should be seeing Valerie again, the export manager from Pralus again, after our lovely passionate chat on last year’s fair. Moreover Pralus will be launching tree new Venezuela bars: a Chuao, Cuyauga and a Porcelana as well!
I’m also having sales reps from Domori on the agenda, a great brand (isn’t it KüchenLatein? ) with a distinctive signature taste that also has a reworked series of Criollo to be discovered, next to so many other things.
Then there is Clay Gordon from the US, both of us want to meet each other so I hope all goes well, and maybe he can even smuggle some US bars over here (mmmm)… I’m also tweeting back and forth with Genaro from the Salon du Chocolat, and who knows I’ll bump into Carol “ParisBreakfast” Gillot, who I got to know through Flickr, is a waterpainting artist and crazy on chocolate!
And it’s not only the 15th anniversary of the Salon, this year also hosts the biennial Salon du Chocolat Professionel, where I’d love to take a peek as well. I’m really curious how in these economic times the fair will do, as Karen from TheNibble pointed out… Stay tuned on Choqoa.com!

PS: and for those in the UK, or not making it to Paris, there’s also the London Chocolate Week (also on Twitter)

Tasting Battle: Amedei Chuao, Porcelana vs. Valrhona & Marcolini

Published on September 15, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao and Reviews. 1 Comment Tags: Amedei, Caraïbe, Chuao, Marcolini, Porcelana, Puerto Cabello, Tabasco, Trinitario, Valrhona.

A couple of days ago, we had our friends from Singapore over for dinner, and since I didn’t really had a (chocolate) dessert prepared, I decided to throw in some luxury bars for a chocolate tasting. The table was honored with Amedei Chuao, Amedei Porcelana and Valrhona Caraïbe, all from the “London Collection” and Marcolini’s “Tabasco” and “Puerto Cabello” origin bars.

We started with the Valrhona to get our palate ‘choq’ready. This 66% bar is a blended Trinitario creation, which combines a nice texture with a pleasantly bitter though and roasted taste. A powerful tone to start.

Then we headed for the beautiful Amedei Porcelana. The Amedei Porcelana his is a very rare bar, and Amedei only produce a limited amount of Porcelana chocolate each year. The boxes are even individually numbered! The texture was a first big difference with Valrhona, but the flavoring really was like a slow hike on the discovery of cacao for the palate. The bar starts only slowly to release its various characteristics from subtle fruity tones towards a real chocolaty sensation.

Such and addictive signature taste had me grab on the famous “Amedei CHUAO” without hesitation: ranked one of the world’s best bars, to some even the reference. Contrary to the Porcelana, the CHUOA doesn’t have you wait to be indulged in a sublime and overwhelming cacao sensation. Darker, stronger, more powerful, punchy, and thick on the tongue, this bar reveals how intense and complex cacao can be.

To boost the comparison vibe at the table, Marcolini joined our exploration of origin bars. Both the Tabasco and Puerto Cabello came in with very pronounced flavors, both times however so strong you would even suspect Marcolini to add in spices and herbs. After the subtle and strong explorations of cacao with Amedei, Marcolini almost only seemed focused on getting one flavor in charge, which came a bit like a deception, but it depends how you look at it probably.

It’s an easy decision: the Amedei Porcelana and Chuao really got gold, mostly because they mastered to always keep a chocolaty undertone throughout a great palate experience, whilst staying close with the nature of cacao. They had superbly crafted taste curvatures, releasing flavors one after another.
The excitement isn’t that much in having one very particular flavor (I think this is where Marcolini focuses way too much), but Amedei crafts bars that bring the full flavor cacao experience to live, from the first moment you break a chunk until the last bit melted and swallowed along your mouth.