Discounted Chocolate

How many of you wait until the day after Valentine's Day or Halloween (or any holiday for that matter) to buy discounted chocolate? Maybe you go for a box of Turtles, or a bag of Lindt truffles, or the can of Quality Street that you couldn't afford before Christmas. Almost always, it's industrial chocolate that you're buying. And to be clear, there's no judgement here. Industrial chocolate is delicious. (I'm looking at you, Reese peanut butter cups.) It's not normally ethically sourced, single origin chocolate made by a small business.

So you can imagine my surprise last weekend while strolling through the clearance section of Michaels (of all places!) when I saw a small box of chocolates that was now 70% off. I noticed that the label referred to "farm to bar chocolate" and thought it interesting. The brand, Truffle Pig, sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. After confirming the price of a mere $2.10 at a self-serve scanner, I decided whatever they were, they were worth it. 

I have to admit, I was a little confused to have found this chocolate at Michaels. I spend a fair amount of time browsing there. I'm familiar with the horribly overpriced industrial chocolate and other snacks near the cash registers. Despite being at Michaels several times before Christmas, I don't recall having seen these anywhere in the store. Their sudden appearance after Christmas is a bit of a mystery to me. In any event...

Truffle Pig Chocolate is based in British Columbia. A woman-owned business, it is focussed on ethical chocolate that is sourced in fair and sustainable ways. A box of five truffles (aka piglets) can be purchased from their website for $6.00 and chocolate bars start at $3.75 each. These are already reasonable prices!

One of the things we liked about them immediately was that each truffle is individually wrapped. Now, admittedly, this does increase the amount of packaging (and is the type of wrapper that can't easily be recycled) and so is less sustainable from that perspective. But it does ensure the freshness of each piece when eaten over a longer period of time.

Ok, let's be honest, you can easily eat this box in one sitting, but as I write this I'm proud to report that four days later, there are two piglets left. (No promises on how much longer they will survive...)

The colourful packaging is appealing and clearly identifies the various flavours. And it features their very recognizable, happy pigs. (Why pigs, you ask? Because pigs are known to be truffle hunters -- the fungus variety, not the chocolate.)

Made with single origin chocolate from Nicaragua (you can meet the farmers here), these truffles are delicious. When I've tried other single-origin chocolate, I've often been surprised by the fruity or floral notes, but these, to me, had more of an earthy undertone. The chocolate is smooth and has just the right amount of sweetness. The peanut butter and hazelnut centres were beautifully balanced and the piglets were, quite frankly, cute.  

So, here's to discounted ethical chocolate and discovering it in unexpected places! And if you have the opportunity to purchase Truffle Pig Chocolate in the future, regardless of the price, it's entirely worth every penny. 

Chocolate Indulgence

This week, a friend brought a bag of low sugar coconut cups to work. She'd bought them at a big box store and was disappointed with them. Naturally, the solution was to put them in the break room where they rapidly disappeared. 

Curious, I grabbed one for analysis. At 80 calories per piece with only 3g of sugar and made of organic dark chocolate, they certainly have their appeal -- for the "health benefits" of chocolate and their keto- and low-carb-diet-friendly composition. I expected to find alternative or artificial sweeteners on the ingredient list, but didn't. 

I bit into one. The chocolate appeared to be in good temper. At 85%, it came across as very bitter and the centre didn't have a particularly strong coconut flavour. My immediate thought was that it entirely lacked balance. There wasn't enough sweetness to balance the brute chocolate, nor was there any salt. Beyond that, the centre had a strange texture. I returned to the ingredient list and was surprised to see white chocolate listed. Instead of combining the coconut with sugar for the filling, they had set it with white chocolate. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the two ingredients have very different crystal structures that result in different textures.

Now if you're someone who prefers less sweet treats or if you have dietary restrictions that require you to track your sugar, these could be a good choice as an "indulgent" snack (as they are marketed). But they won't give you the same experience of, say, a Bounty bar if that's what you were hoping for. And if that's what you were hoping for, I'm not sure you'll be satisfied. It might make more sense to buy the bounty bar and share it with a friend or save half for another day. 

Interestingly, this taste experience aligned incredibly well with my chocolate study this week. I've moved on from Notter's The Art of the Chocolatier and have started reading Chocolates & Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner by Peter Greweling. This beast of a book is a confectioner's bible. In online forums, it's referenced regularly when chocolatiers discuss challenges with particular centres, formulations, etc. Greweling's recipes often are suggested as the starting point for a chocolatier's riffing and experimentation. 

The first chapter, titled "Confectionary Ingredients and Equipment" devotes 5 pages of very small font to sweeteners, their properties, and their applications. For the confectioner, sweeteners aren't just about flavour, they are about function and form. And, as Greweling points out, understanding sugar's "tendency [to crystallize] and knowing how to control it are two of the most fundamental concepts in confectionary" (p.2). Crystal structure is what gives good fudge its characteristic texture. 

And that's also what gives a Bounty bar is form and mouthfeel -- the characteristics that were missing in the low-sugar coconut cup.

Curry Spice Chocolate

While home in Newfoundland this summer, I purchased a number of chocolate bars by Jacobean Craft Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate maker located in Mount Pearl. Recently, I tried one of their white chocolate creations -- a Curry Spice bar. 

I have to say that I find the packaging of Jacobean Craft Chocolate to be very appealing. I love the colours and the graphic design.

I will admit that when I purchased this bar, I didn't realize it was white chocolate, despite the fact that it says "golden white" on the label. You see, when I arrived in Woody Point, the only store on the west coast selling Jacobean had four bars left. So I did what any self-respecting chocolatier would do -- I bought them all without giving it a second thought!

Opening the wrapper, I was surprised first by the scent of the bar. I could smell curry. Not something similar to or reminiscent of curry, but actual curry. And then I saw the colour of the bar. It almost looked like one of the curry roux preparations that I buy in the local Asian grocery store. It had the characteristic yellow colour with flecks of spice throughout. It was unusual and unexpected. 

The packaging describes the bar as follows: "The bar has BOLD flavours, a very pronounced beginning and end, the cumin | ginger | turmeric provide the base profile while the chili flakes and black peppercorn add the tingle." These tasting notes are accurate.

The earthy flavour of the cumin and the warmth of the ginger come through first. Then the peppercorn and chili flakes take the lead, providing more than a little tingle on the tongue. Finally, that tingle fades and what remains is, once again, the warmth of the ginger. And it lingers.

This is an incredible flavour experience.

Now, let me be clear: this isn't your everyday bar. You aren't going to snack on this while watching a movie or even mindfully enjoy it while sipping a coffee. I don't think it's possible to eat more than a single square at once (which perhaps makes it the ideal chocolate bar for anyone who is counting calories...). But it's entirely worth trying for the flavour profile and sensation on the tongue. It's perfect for a chocolate tasting experience or as fun chocolate course at a themed dinner party. (The chocolate course is a thing, right?)

For someone studying chocolate, this is a masterclass. 

 

A Flight of Chocolate

A few weeks ago while planning a vacation in Cheticamp and the Annapolis Valley, I began flipping through the Taste of Nova Scotia guide. It proved to be very valuable for identifying great places to eat and/or drink. One entry in particular stood out above the rest: Petite Patrie Craft Chocolate in Kentville. I added it to my itinerary without doing much research other than how close it was to other destinations, like the Maritime Express Cider Co.

When we arrived, we discovered that it was possible to order a flight of chocolate. It consisted of 5 pre-selected mini bars, each of different origin, as well as one molded bonbon of your choice. We ordered it along with two Americanos, and sat down to enjoy a chocolate journey. Chocolate ranging from 70% to 90%. Origins of Honduras, Colombia, Peru, and Vietnam. We started from the darkest and worked our way through 5 different flavours. 

Snapping each mini bar in half, we each savoured the perfectly tempered chocolate. We were surprised that the 90% Colombia-origin bar wasn't as extreme as we'd expected a "brute" chocolate to be. It was smooth and well rounded. We both loved the Vietnam-origin chocolate the best -- it had fruity notes. Our hazelnut bonbon decorated with a cocoa butter transfer was sublime. And it all paired perfectly with the coffee. 

Sadly, while we were mid-flight, we overheard why there was a 20% discount on everything. Petite Patrie Craft Chocolate is closing their storefront. In fact, as I type this, there is a post on their Facebook page selling off all of their furniture, including the very table and chairs we occupied less than a week ago. Their website doesn't list any of their products anymore and it states that shipping has been discontinued, no longer viable due to rising costs. 

And this explains why when we went to buy the Vietnam-origin bar to take home with us, we couldn't. They were selling off their stock in anticipation of the closure. I settled for a Mexico-origin bar, a Peru-origin bar, and one made with goat's milk. I'm looking forward to trying them in the coming weeks. 

My heart, however, is sad for these chocolate makers. First, the majority of people don't have an appreciation for fine chocolate or single-origin chocolate, so they don't understand why it costs more. Second, there is a great deal of labour involved in bean-to-bar production (sorting, roasting, grinding, conching, etc) compared to the work of a chocolatier (tempering chocolate and creating pralines, etc). And third, the chocolate business makes the majority of its profit during a very narrow window of time -- Christmas through Easter, with Valentine's Day being the biggest holiday. For the rest of the year, you have to be in production mode, but you're not selling anywhere close to as much as you would between December and April. 

The business model is a difficult one for the small batch, craft chocolate producer. Throw in a pandemic with lockdowns and ever-changing restrictions to navigate, and it's nearly impossible.

On the bright side, Petite Patrie Craft Chocolate intends to return to its roots, continuing to sell at farmers' markets in Kingston and Wolfville. (It's unclear if their bars will still be available at other retailers.) The owner will be able to focus on their true love (craft chocolate) instead of diversifying the business with waffles and sandwiches to cover expenses. And you will still be able to buy these exquisite bars. 

So, if you're in the area and have the opportunity, I highly recommend that you expand your taste horizons and support this small Nova Scotian business. 

Newfoundland Bean-to-Bar Chocolate

When people think of Newfoundland and chocolate these days, their minds automatically go to Newfoundland Chocolate Company, which reached the height of its popularity and brand visibility just before the Covid-19 pandemic started. They had expanded into Nova Scotia and became known in particular for the colourful sayings that they printed on their bars, as well as a line of row house bars. Far fewer people will know that there is a bean-to-bar chocolate company in Newfoundland called Jacobean. Indeed, a few of my closest friends in Corner Brook had never heard of them before. I discovered them two summers ago while visiting Rocky Harbour, though the company is based in Mount Pearl. This summer, I made a pilgrimage to Woody Point to buy a few bars to try.

Jacobean is, dare I say, a more sophisticated chocolate company. This is not "industrial chocolate." They don't trade on sterotypes; rather, they meld local ingredients and flavours with chocolate in small batches. For example, the first bar I tried combined Newfoundland juniper berries with 70% dark chocolate. 

(Side note: This is the type of direction that I proposed in my business plan during my professional chocolatier program, though I had no intention of getting into bear-to-bar production.) 

Tonight we decided to try the limited edition English Oats Breakfast milk chocolate bar, with oats, maple sugar, and cinnamon. At only 8.79%, it's possibly the "blondest" milk chocolate I've ever tasted. The bar was in perfect temper, with a beautiful, smooth surface. Check out that sheen in the photo below! 

This is a subtle chocolate bar. It's warm and gentle, with the cinnamon lingering on the palate. If you "crunch" through the bar, the flavour is easily missed, but if you let it melt on your tongue, the complexity comes through. And the milk chocolate is so "milky" that it is reminiscent of breakfast cereal.

There's no question that this is a delicious bar. Personally, I would have liked a slightly more robust chocolate flavour in the mix, but I entirely understand what they were going for and achieved with this bar. It was a pleasure to try such a unique flavour profile in chocolate. 

And so I highly recommend seeking out some Jacobean chocolate to try! This is truly craft chocolate and worth the extra effort. (Says the girl who convinced her father to drive 120km to purchase it...)

Is there a chocolate that you'd drive 120km for? Comment below! 

Savouring Craft Chocolate

Around Easter, I made a pilgrimage to a local grocery store having learned that they stocked Hummingbird chocolate. I was disappointed to find that they only had Easter eggs available and none of the single origin bars. While I enjoyed my chocolate tasting experience, I was a little disappointed -- but not for long! My friend Dennis, who I've known since my undergrad days at Memorial (thank you Dennis!) mailed several of Hummingbird's 28g chocolate bars to me. They were the perfect size for sampling and for savouring.

I actually tried the first one, the PB & Joy bar, several weeks ago and the second one, Fleur de Sel, this week. I'm pacing myself, difficult though it is, but that means there will be a second blog in the coming weeks. 

For now, let me tell you how surprised I was by the PB & Joy bar. It was incredible and I've had nothing like it before. I expected something similar to the peanut butter filled Easter eggs that I had tried in March -- that is, a dark chocolate bar with peanut butter filling. It was nothing like that. The wrapper says they "roast and grind peanuts with cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic with lovely fruity notes." Grinding peanuts with cocoa beans? This bar is next level!

To be honest, I had no idea that such a process was even possible, despite my previous training.  Different fats aren't always compatible, but obviously this combination and their technique works. The chocolate is in perfect temper. (And as I reflect, I do remember reading that gianduja, a mixture of chocolate and ground nuts, could be tempered, but I've never tried it. We'll add that to the list!) 

The resulting bar isn't as intense or sweet as commercial peanut butter chocolate treats, but instead has a satisfying earthiness. If you love the combination of peanuts and chocolate, this is definitely worth trying. 

The Fleur de Sel may be more divisive, although I very much enjoyed it. A 70% dark chocolate bar with Canadian sea salt, the Fleur de Sel is has a very pronounced floral flavour. While it teeters on the edge of too floral, it isn't unpleasant in the way that other chocolates with strong floral notes can be (click here to read about my first chocolate tasting experience). 

When first trying this bar, it is difficult to taste the salt at all -- and to be clear, they indicate that the salt is meant to enhance the floral notes, not to overpower them. That said, when you let the chocolate dissolve slowly on your tongue, the salt becomes more pronounced and the flavours much more complex. 

A word of caution, though: the floral flavour does linger for a few minutes (or more) after tasting. 

In short, these are really unique, well-made artisanal bars that are worth trying (and you can order them here if you don't have a Dennis of your own). The PB & Joy bar, in particular, is outstanding and would probably be delicious with a rich cup of coffee. I highly recommend it!

But more than that, I strongly encourage you to step out of the box. Treat yourself! Try something new. Challenge your taste buds! And support a small chocolate producer at the same time. Their fine chocolate is worth the premium price. 

Big (Broken) Promises?

After trying Hummingbird Chocolate for the first time a few weeks ago, I thought I should try new chocolate more often. So, while strolling the aisles of Bulk Barn, purchasing spices for new culinary adventures, I paused at the chocolate section and reviewed my options. 

Pre-pandemic, I remember Bulk Bark having a much more diverse selection of chocolate bars. Now, however, their stock is limited to a few brands, though they do have a number of products from one particular brand. 

No, I didn't name the brand just now. Yes, that is deliberate. What I originally thought would be a chocolate review has morphed into something else. 

When I originally picked out the bar, I noticed several certifications and assertions -- fair trade, organic, vegan, non-GMO, soy free, kosher, paleo friendly, and gluten free. (For the record, all chocolate is by nature gluten free unless you've added cookie inclusions or the like.) I didn't think much about these claims at first since they are fairly par for the course and a few of them are meaningless. For example, paying to certify your chocolate as organic is fine and dandy if you want to market it that way and charge a premium accordingly, but the overwhelming majority of chocolate (95%+) is organic simply by virtue of the fact that the majority of cacao is grown on small family farms where the farmers aren't paid enough to be able to afford chemical fertilizers or pesticides. 

Then today while I was sitting down to try the bar for a second time to confirm whether I was tasting cherry notes from the dark chocolate (which I was), I noticed that my "Canadian" chocolate bar was made in Switzerland. Naturally I had to Google the company and then I found all sorts of claims about their line of chocolate bars and how the vision for their company came to be. From spurious claims positioning their chocolate as a health food to the insistence that they identify the origins of their cacao on the front of every bar (I've searched high and low and can't find a country of origin on my bar or on the product profile on their website), it seems that this company is big on promises and perhaps not so big on delivery. 

And so this has turned into a cautionary tale. All that glitters isn't gold and all that is claimed about chocolate isn't true. One example will suffice: there's a tendency today to use coconut sugar as a "healthier" option than cane or beet sugar -- and this chocolate bar was no different -- but coconut sugar has the same number of calories as your regular, run-of-the-mill granulated sugar. Buyer beware.

The clothes don't make the man and the certifications don't make the chocolate. If you enjoy the flavour of it, then by all means, indulge! But don't assume a particular chocolate is better based on questionable marketing. 

As for this bar, beyond its questionable marketing, it was unremarkable and it wasn't a pleasure to eat, so I can't recommend it. 

Life is too short for mediocre chocolate.

 

Mission: Hummingbird Chocolate

During my professional chocolatier program, one of our assignments was to run a chocolate taste test. It was a great opportunity for me to canvass Cape Breton in search of single-origin chocolate bars to taste alongside the commercial chocolate available at most retail stores. I found myself in small shops I had never visited before, like Charlene's Nutrition Centre and My Fair Ladies Ethical Emporium, and I tasted chocolate unlike anything I had ever experienced or imagined before (including a bar that tasted like geraniums smell -- not a high point in the experience, but I digress). 

At the same time, I was conducting research on chocolate trends and establishing my concept for a Newfoundland-based chocolate business for another assignment. I was inspired by the modern design and flavour profiles of Kate Weiser Chocolate in the United States. When my sister travelled to Toronto for work, her mission, which she (thankfully) chose to accept, was to locate CXBO Chocolates and procure one of their Jackson Pollock-like bars or disco eggs. A few weeks later, two 4" squares arrived in the mail, one of which was salted caramel. They looked incredible and I loved the colour combinations (but if I'm honest, the flavour was only average).  

I also recall inviting friends on Facebook to share their favourite chocolate, whether that was fine chocolate or, more commonly, a retro commercial candy bar. There were so many that I had never heard of before! When one friend referenced a 4 Flavours chocolate bar, I did some research and recreated it for her as a present. I still have a list of the other retro candy, including Bar Six, that I compiled for future projects. (So many chocolate possibilities, so little time!)

When I restarted this chocolate journey in January, one recommendation from that time linked to the fine chocolate realm popped back into my head: Hummingbird Chocolate.

One of my Toronto-based friends insisted that I had to try Hummingbird Chocolate, which is made in Almonte, Ontario. And as I thought about my resolution for 2023 to improve my chocolate skills, it occurred to me that I should also continue honing my chocolate tasting skills! (Any excuse to eat more chocolate, right?) And so around Valentine's Day, I visited the Hummingbird Chocolate website to look into placing an order, but was deterred by the cost of shipping (which, like everything these days, has gone up in price). But as luck would have it, shipping would not be necessary anyway! I mentioned Hummingbird Chocolate on a Teams meeting at work and a colleague googled it only to discover that it is available locally at Port City Grocery!

On St. Patrick's Day, my boyfriend and I made a pilgrimage to purchase Hummingbird Chocolate. Unfortunately, the grocery store didn't have any of the single origin bars in stock, but they did have a selection of Easter bunnies and filled eggs. I chose the 60% milk chocolate eggs with peanut butter centres. Pleased as punch, we headed home to try them out. 

The first thing I noticed was that the peanut butter eggs weren't sweet, though they were rich and creamy. The second thing I noticed was just how thin the shell of the egg was -- something I've not yet been able to accomplish in my own work (partly because of the fluidity of the chocolate with which I work). The cap was a bit thick in comparison to the shell, but I'm not one to complain about more chocolate. The chocolate itself had faint notes of roast coffee. These peanut butter mini eggs were delicious and satisfying. 

I'm hoping that after Easter, Port City Grocery may have a greater selection of Hummingbird Chocolate products available. In particular, I'd love to try a few of the bars in the Sampler Gift Box and the Origins Collection. But if not, then I may just have to pony up the cash to have them shipped to me -- or buy an excessive amount of chocolate to qualify for free shipping. 

Did I say excessive? I meant appropriate. 

Wine and Geraniums

As mentioned in last week's post, the third assignment in my professional chocolatier program was to hold a chocolate tasting. The goal was to explore the perception of taste, as well as the diversity that exists in chocolate (particularly around "fine" chocolate, such as that made from single-origin criollo beans). It was also intended to serve as market research to some extent (understanding preferences). Without question, it was an interesting experiment and part of me wishes I could re-do the entire thing.

While preparing for the event, I decided that the tasting should be blind so that brand name and price wouldn't influence perception of taste (or at least the assessment of whether one liked something or not). I also thought it would be fun to see where the cheapest bar would rank against finer brands of chocolate and whether any of the group unwittingly had "expensive taste."

The bars we tasted ranged from $1.50 to $6.50 and were a minimum of 70% cocoa. They were:

• Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate with 70% Cocoa
• Divine 70% Dark Chocolate
• Pascha Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao
• Laura Secord Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa
• Jacquot France 74% Dark Chocolate Cacao
• Camino Extra Dark 80% Dark Chocolate
• Lindt Excellence Intense Dark 85% Cacao

I included the Jacquot France because it was available at Dollarama and I was curious. I included the Laura Secord because I wanted to see where a Canadian-made chocolate bar would land in the mix. The Lindt bar was required for the assignment. The other four were selected from the collection I had amassed by visiting local stores, like My Fair Ladies and Bulk Barn, in search of bars that were not typical grocery store finds.

The surprising thing throughout the process of tasting each chocolate was how differently we each perceived it. One bar (the Camino) was variously described as having an aroma that was pungent, tabacco-like, floral, spicy, coffee-like, and rubber-like, while the flavour was described as burnt, bitter, molasses, earthy, fruity, and harsh. Was it all of those things or none of them? I have no answer. Feel free to replicate this experiment yourself and you can decide!

One bar -- the Pascha Organic -- tasted like wine to me (though others described it as raisins, woodsy, earthy, kerosene, harsh, etc). And the flavour lingered long after the chocolate had melted away. Another -- the Green & Black's -- tasted like geraniums to me (while others perceived citrus, molasses, raisin, etc). There was no consensus to be found, at least in terms of the adjectives we were choosing to describe appearance, aroma, texture, and flavour.

In the end, Laura Secord and Jacquot emerged as favourites, though I use the term loosely. They both were the "favourite" of three people (meaning both fell short of a majority, as there were seven tasters).

I've given a great deal of thought to this result and I've come up with two possible (related) explanations for why these two bars came out on top. First, I think they may have a more familiar flavour in comparison to others, by which I mean that I think they have a general, perhaps well-rounded chocolate flavour without strong notes. I also think that the order of tasting impacted our impressions. For example, the Pascha bar -- made from rare criollo beans -- had an intense wine flavour that lingered. Pretty much anything would taste better after that unexpected experience, but something less pungent and more similar to our expectations for chocolate would obviously score higher given the visceral reaction most had to the Pascha bar. As well, to put all of this into context, the majority of people at this tasting prefer milk chocolate to dark.

It's clear from this process that flavour perception is based in personal experience and that comparing chocolate flavours and notes to our experience of other things (like mushrooms, tobacco, or coffee) is subjective and imprecise. I'm left wondering what we would have tasted if we had been told what "experts" have already said about various bars. Would guiding tasters in this way change the associations and outcome? I suspect so, but I have to be honest: I'm not willing to taste most of these bars a second time.

I agree with my participants that next time it should be a milk chocolate tasting!

My Mind Is Blown

The third assignment in my Professional Chocolatier program is a tasting assignment. It required that we assemble a variety of chocolates according to guidelines provided by the instructor, recruit a group of friends, and then conduct a formal tasting. I'll blog about that process next week and reveal some of the results, including a complete list of what we tried, but for now I just have to share with you how shocked I am by some of the flavours today.

We were tasting dark chocolate that did not (I repeat did NOT) have any inclusions (nuts, fruit, etc) or added flavours (essential oils, extracts other than vanilla, etc). Any flavours we perceived were from the cacao beans themselves (which were different varieties grown in different countries) as developed in the fermentation and roasting processes. As I planned this event, I was very worried that I might not actually be able to detect any notes. In fact, I purchased a bar several weeks ago and was eating a piece of it every night trying to "find" flavour notes in it. All I could taste was cocoa. I thought I was doomed to failure.

Today as I was preparing the chocolate for the tasting, breaking bars into smaller pieces, I happened to taste a few pieces as I was going. Most just tasted like cocoa and were delicious but unremarkable. Then I tasted one that was overwhelmingly winey. I couldn't believe how strong it was. This bean-to-bar sample was made from criollo cacao beans in Peru. And I could not get the taste out of my mouth. I wish I could say that I appreciated it, but I really didn't. When I mentioned it to a friend, he commented, "But I thought you liked wine?" Clearly I like my chocolate and wine to be separate. Another sample that I tried tasted like geraniums. I suppose this is an example of what's meant by "floral notes," but I can't say that I am a fan.

What has emerged from today is an appreciation for the diversity of flavours present in chocolate, as well as how we each perceive those flavours differently. I'm also now committed to eating more chocolate! (Totally justified as research, right?) And as you'll all learn in my next blog post, price and percentage aren't predictors of flavour.