Belgian Chocolate Tasting
When we traveled through Belgium recently, we traveled with some friends who are serious chocolate devotees. Sure, you say, like every other person on the planet. No, Pavel and Kathleen are more serious than most. They consider 70% cacao chocolate (sold as bittersweet here in the U.S.) to be the sweetest chocolate they'll eat.
Suffice it to say they returned to the States with a lot of chocolate.
They were kind enough to let us go through a tasting of their haul with them. Below are my notes from the tasting. As with wines, we progressed from "dryer" to sweeter. Incidentally, we also used this opportunity to test the idea that Zinfandel and chocolate go together. We had a 2000 Geyserville Zinfandel from Ridge left over from dinner. It worked well, able to hold up to the chocolate and yet allowing it room to express itself. I'd use it again.
Dolfin Chocolate, 88% Cacao
Not a lot of complexity, but had a good basic chocolateness to it. Kathleen noted that
it was not as harsh as one might expect given the high cacao percentage.
Corné Port-Royal, 77%
This ended up being my favorite of the bunch, and in fact very popular with everyone
else as well. Indeed, it probably had the most universal appeal. Melissa liked it quite a bit, and Pavel
commented that it had a certain bite, an edginess. He described it as "bouncing around more"
on the palate.
Café-tasse, 77%
Melissa found this one very "beany", and both she and Pavel found it grainy on the tongue (Pavel noted it made his tongue feel rough).
Kathleen added to this that it tasted creamier than it felt. I noticed a little spice on
the finish, which Pavel and Kathleen pegged more distinctly as cinnamon.
Dolfin, 70%
This was a little odd because the chocolate had nibs in it (nibs are the broken-up pieces
of roasted beans which get ground down in the chocolate-making process). This made it a bit tougher
to taste, as nibs are more bitter. But it wasn't overwhelming in any event; I have no notes on
this other than Pavel's comment that nibs made it seem nuttier (nibs, incidentally, are very
similar in makeup to nuts--same percentage of proteins, fats, etc.)
P. Bastin, 70%
The general consenus was that there was something extra going on with this chocolate, but
no one could quite identify it. Kathleen noticed that it smelled sweet, Melissa commented that
it had a powderiness, I suggested some fruitiness, and Pavel thought the finish was more complex.
Neuhaus 70%
This is probably the only one of these you're likely to find here in the U.S. It's sort of the
well-known high-end chocolate from Belgium (well, that and Callebaut, but usually only cooks
know about Callebaut). Unfortunately, its temper had been lost at some point, so it was not
as crisp as one would like a chocolate bar. Nonetheless, Pavel liked it, and found it more
complex than the others. We did notice, however, that its flavor dissipated very quickly.
Burie ?%
This we picked up from a chocolate shop, and I don't think they understood what Pavel and
Kathleen were looking for. This was clearly a milk chocolate, not dark. Pavel noticed cinnamon,
and Melissa thought it had a mintiness.
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