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Pairing Chocolate & Whisky at the Choqoa & WIB Masterclass

Pairing Chocolate & Whisky at the Choqoa & WIB Masterclass

by on July 7, 2010 in Tastings & Events

Since Choqoa and WIB found each other, we recently had a third Whisky & Chocolate Masterclass, which was initiated ‘due to popular demand’. At regular Choqoa tasting events people are often inspired trying out the rich tasting chocolate they just discovered with other premium foods and drinks, and if I mention the whisky option, well it boosts the interest let’s say!
After the first Masterclass at The House of Marketing, we also had a private one for a global company Agile as the cherry on the cake for an intimate VIP event with their top clients and preferred partners. Our latest one welcomed both new people and those who even already attended a Choqoa tasting.

Choqoa & WIB: Chocolate & Whisky Masterclass

With Whisky Import Benelux we have an excellent offering that specifically works with pairings of the Carn Mór Vintage Collection. More than just putting some whisky and chocolate together, we have been specializing and having fun in taking the idea of whisky and chocolate a step further with carefully selected one-on-one pairings. Bart from WIB is a truly passionate whisky ambassador and has an excellent nose for matching aromas. We have been working on a list of wonderful whiskies that create an exciting combination with special selected origin chocolates.

On the list are chocolate from François Pralus, Bonnat, Michel Cluizel and even a superb Pacari pairing. So far my two favorite combinations are the fruity Pralus Papouasie with a single cask Balmenach 2001 and the iconic and incredibly sour “Le 100%” with a very wholesome Caol Ila 1983. It’s just wonderful to feel how both build upon each other in new dimensions.
The whiskies have enough power to give balance to these upfront tasting origin chocolates, and blending something edible with something aromatic fluid must be a key to give a delightful experience on the palate.

Though taste is always personal, it’s encouraging to surprise people to change their mind with this level of both chocolate and whisky. So you could never believe dark chocolate can taste like this? I didn’t know whisky can be so fine either :) . We learned from our first tasting, and now people really where enthusiast about the idea, the combinations and the way we present them. After all, great taste is something to share anytime!

If you ‘re inspired, we’ll continue our tastings after the summer break, so stay in touch with our blog, websites, and both our Facebook Fanpages (Choqoa – WIB)!

Choqoa introduces the finest origins to Barry-Callebaut

by on April 8, 2010 in Tastings & Events

Who would have ever thought of this scenario? I could have dreamed about it,… but it actually happened! This week I gave a Choqoa Tasting workshop for the European team at Barry Callebaut HQ in Wieze, and introduced them to ‘my world’ of premium origin chocolates.

Both my curiosity to their reactions and above all what I could learn from them myself, overruled any reason of being nervous. In the end this was not about pleasing them with good chocolates, it was about sitting together and explore the amazing varieties great cacao has to offer us.

We started our session with a Pacari, and I also brought Francois Pralus, Bonnat, Michel Cluizel, Domori, and Akesson’s. Especially for this Callebaut team I equally shared a nutty TCHO bar from the US and opened an extraordinary fine Criollo ‘Porcelana’ bar from Domori.
With every bar I gave some inspiring background on the brand, the region and bean type, shared a personal memory from my youth or revealed a very particular process that creates signature tastes for a passionate chocolate maker.
We talked about the idea and relevance of percentages, complex genetics of cacao, the ‘myth’ of Belgian chocolate, and consumer preferences across countries as well.

It was just great to discover together with such a team how different cacao flavors can develop, even within a single small geographical area. There were several Venezuela’s on the table and most of the participants were astonished how very different these cacao bars did taste! Whether it was wonderfully fruity or way too sour, very balanced aromas or flavors jumping around, all together we rediscovered the incredible variety fine origin cacao brings to our palate.

The personal Top 3 from the participating Vice President?

  1. Michel Cluizel “Vila Gracinda”
  2. Bonnat “Hacienda El Rosario”
  3. Domori Criollo “Porcelana”

Let’s hope this saga continues, for there is so much more we can learn from each other, when a passionate guy meets and innovative leading company. A big thanks to Barry Callebaut for inviting me to share my obsession!
Once more it confirmed that chocolate is one of the most inspiring, intriguing and passionate products in the world :)

Continue reading for details on the tasted bars…

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Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.2

Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.2

by on March 3, 2010 in Reviews, Tastings & Events

Wrapping up our second tasting this year, again it’s an evening to which I can look back loaded with sensations and discoveries that are changing people’s mind on dark origin chocolate. In our beautiful loft-lounge style setting I introduced the cacao harvest & production process, to show people how careful this pretty sexy tree needs to be treated to give us such fine chocolate. Every tasting session is somewhat different and the Q&A was focused around Belgium not being ‘The Promised Land’ of chocolate (anymore), the scary variety of substances in chocolate bars, en tips to keep and store chocolate.

Choqoa Chocolate Tasting Events
Chocolate and its plethora of surrounding topics always make a great conversation starter, so pretty soon we had a good vibe, getting us open to enter the tasting part. After 4 bars only, people were amazed already by my broad offering and the variety in tasting sensations, even ‘less appreciated aroma’s’ were adding to overall discovery experience. :)
Noteworthy where also organic Pacari, the recent Akesson’s and absolutely the handcrafted Amano Jembrana, which I exclusively got from the USA directly from founder Art Pollard, with a big help from Martin at SeventyPercent as well in London.
These treasures aside I also showed a bloomed bar of Willie’s (don’t know how that happened actually), and wowed them with the Michel Cluizel ‘Grand Lait 45% milk bar’ (‘Is this milk chocolate?!’), shared unroasted and roasted cacao beans I received from Pralus, and put the cherry on the cake with the Pralus 100% as the usual über chocolate experience!

You can tell it was fun if people say they would come back for another tasting session, hope to see you next time as well!

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Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.1

Report: Choqoa Tasting Event 10.1

by on February 10, 2010 in Tastings & Events

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!

Choqoa Chocolate Tastings

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!

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Report: The 2nd Choqoa Tasting Event

Report: The 2nd Choqoa Tasting Event

by on December 11, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Tastings & Events

The second ‘official’ Choqoa Tasting event yesterday in Antwerp was a great fun chocolate celebration. We were with a group of 16 enthusiast people; friends bringing their own friends, and even an older couple who got the Tasting Event as a birthday gift from their daughter: what a great surprise! And also my chocolate buddy Sofie ‘Chocolaterie’ from Barry Callebaut, happily joined this event.

DSC_5070

Learnings from previous sessions made me make a selection with bigger care and offer a broader variety of cacao experiences. I also therefore bought some Domori and found myself a bunch of bars I hadn’t taste myself yet: Zotter, Pacari, and Bouga.
I started with a small introduction into cacao trees and pods, the bean-to-bar process, and to all delight Sofie from Callebaut passionately helped explain into detail the various steps, with good interaction from the crowd.

Off to the tasting! I projected the Amano tasting wheel in the screen to give guidance to the tasting, and people really enjoyed discovering such a chocolate sensations. This time I had a good variety that really added value to the tasting experience and was more than appreciated. It was pleasurable to see people taking chocolate to the next level! Everybody shared his impressions so the atmosphere was pretty comfortable. Halfway already people giggled and said they started to feel the chocolate raising to their brain, giving them the cacao ‘high’ :) Yes it’s positive magic.

All in all we had 10 different chocolates, list & details are below, and everybody really said to have enjoyed, and even would return another time! Everybody happily took their 2 included bars home, bought some more even to continue sharing the passion.
I’m already looking forward to the next event, you’re all invited to join Choqoa!

Read on for details of all the tasted bars!

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