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Montezuma's ~ Venezuela Milk 43%

As I wind down the last few bars of the British Chocolate Invasion, I draw close to the end with an organic chocolate producer from London called Montezuma's. Luckily I have five bars to go through from Montezuma's.

Alas, a chocolate website after my own heart. Chock full of information. I hate it when I don't know much about a producer and have to go digging for information further than I need to go which should be the very source of the product it self. It's not about lazy blogging, but sometimes you have to read 20 pages or more of other sources just to gather up enough information for one post here.


About Montzuma's:

Ex-lawyers turned chocolate entrepreneurs, Helen and Simon Pattinson, founded Montezuma’s in 2000 hand making their chocolate with one little machine and one shop in Brighton.

"It seems incredible that just a few years ago the smell of chocolate was one of the things that made Simon and I want to abandon our careers in the law despite the fact we had spent many years studying to become well paid solicitors in a large law firm in London.

Having become totally disillusioned with London, law and all the trappings of a money dominated life, we resigned from our jobs, sold our Putney house and put all our possessions into storage, leaving for South America virtually on the next plane.

We cannot remember why South America attracted us but I think it was probably the huge diversity of climates, cultures and landscapes . . . we were not disappointed.

Read more about their story here. 

Ideals and Fair Trade:

We have founding principles that we shout about and aren’t shy to thrust into the limelight.  We call this Trading Fairly.

These principles haven’t been bolted on or constructed to join a bandwagon, and for us that means working in harmony with the environment, our partners, our customers, and of course the societies we touch. 

It’s fair to say our ideals run deeper than our pockets and always will do.   Even if you’re mad and don’t want to buy any chocolate, please, please, read some of this stuff about what we actually do and think; including why we are not always comfortable with “Fairtrade”.  Shock horror!

Our Mission

Our World

Our Trade

Only Natural Ingredients:

The difference between good, bad and ugly foods depends largely on the quality of the constituent ingredients and chocolate is certainly no exception. 

We take great pride in sourcing and using only the finest ingredients; from Dominican Republic cocoa beans we consider to be the world’s best to fine and dark Madagascan vanilla.

The only thing missing from the website is the region of Venezuela the beans come from. Just a vague description of a "Lost World" type of environment some where in Venezuela. But there is a definite answer on bean varietals using Trinitario and Criollo blends. The beans were probably sourced from the northeast coastal regions of Venezuela.

But they do make up for it with the tags for this chocolate on their website indicated extensively what is and what isn't in this product and who this product is suitable for.

Traces of nuts.
Free of Genetically Modified ingredients.
Additive & coloring free.
Soya free.
Preservative free.
Suitable for vegetarians.
Gluten free.
Contains dairy.
British made.

Venezuela Milk

Type: Milk, 43%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario and Criollo

Ingredients: Cocoa solids 43%, milk solids 19% whole milk and powder, sugar, and vanilla.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5 oz



Appearance: Smooth and shiny bar with basic non-monogrammed molding. Virtually blemish free and gorgeous light caramel coloring.

Score: 98

Snap: Fairly good snap for a milk chocolate, but still rather dull with a low thud versus a crisp snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Butter, cream, caramel, soft roasted cocoa.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet, huge caramel taste, lovely light roasted cocoa. Tastes like a rich hot chocolate made with milk in bar form.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth, creamy, fast melt time.

Score: 94

This was fantastic milk chocolate. It tasted exactly the way a rich hot chocolate made with steamed milk tastes. It also had wonderful, rich caramel notes. Soft roasted cocoa aromas with a lovely roasted cocoa taste. With 43% cocoa for a milk chocolate, it's borderline on a dark-milk giving way to much richer cocoa flavors that interacted well with the milky and caramel tastes.

It was a touch sweet, but balanced by rich butter caramel flavors. It had a creamy smooth texture with long lingering cocoa and caramel flavors. But interestingly enough it finished fairly dry on the palate.

Sometimes I don't need to go into a lot of detail to explain why something tastes so good. It is what it is and I say it's great. It's as simple as that. Given what I have said about butter, caramel, creamy hot chocolate flavors, that should be enough to let you know that you should buy this product. And buy a lot of it.

Final Score: 95

score
A

El Rey ~ Gran Saman Chocolate Oscuro 70%

El Rey Gran Saman

Chocolate Oscuro translates simply to dark chocolate. This is a bittersweet chocolate from El Rey at 70% using Carenero Superior beans from Venezuela. El Rey uses 100% single origin Venezuelan beans.

El Rey only uses two kinds of beans. The Carenero Superior or Rio Caribe. Here are some quick blurbs about Carenero Superior form some trusted chocolate sources.

Via The Nibble:

•Trinitario (mostly) •Caramel, citrus, vanilla, berries, honey •Chocolate undertone •Light acidity

Carenero Superior. Mostly Trinitario. Carenero refers to the port from which the cacao was once shipped, and “Superior” is a reference to higher quality beans. Typically, Carenero has a strong underlying chocolaty presence that hides underneath a myriad of flavors, such as spice, caramel, citrus, vanilla, berries, and honey. A light acidity also adds further depth to the profile.

Also via The Nibble:

El Rey’s Carenero Superior line was launched in 1994. Each bar is made exclusively from one type of bean: the highly acclaimed Carenero Superior. Carenero grows in the fertile and humid region of Barlovento, just northeast of Caracas. The well-fermented and better quality beans get deemed “superior”—hence the Carenero Superior designation. The beans are prized for yielding a complexity of spicy and fruity flavors and aromas.

Via Chocolate Alchemy:

Carenero refers to the port from which this cocoa used to ship out of. Superior of course is a reference to the higher than average quality of this Trinatario. It is a solid Trinatario, with a medium break. This has a bit more body to it (compared to Ocumare), a bit more brightness and acidity, but also a deeper chocolate flavor. From the very diverse nature of the region, the preparation is often quite varied, but that also leads to a complexity and flavor profile unique to Carenero Superior. There is a clean earthiness and rum like flavor that I have always enjoyed in this variety.

Simple ingredients on this chocolate using only cocoa butter and cocoa solids with some sugar. I have been really coming to appreciate the more natural bars of chocolate. I still don't think using soy lecithin or vanilla is a deal breaker or bad for chocolate as some over the top purists would say. But straight up chocolate that can stand up on it's own

One thing that is good to know is that the El Rey website gives a detailed list of what is in their chocolates. Every person who sells chocolate, uses chocolate, or makes chocolate in some way should list where the chocolate comes from and what exactly is in it. The more technical the better.

El Rey Technical Data.

This was a tasting box I received from Aroa Fine in Boston who works exclusively with El Rey chocolates.

 

Type: Bittersweet, 70%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa, Cocoa Butter, Sugar.

Sample Size: 27 5g Bite size bits.

Appearance: Deep dark brown color, single bit size pieces with monogrammed molding, shiny, and smooth.

Score: 94

Snap: Yes even these squares gave good snap. Light and crisp yet still fairly firm. 

Score: 92

Aroma: Lightly smokey, subdued red wine aromas, subtle dried fruits and soft roasted cocoa.

Score: 92

Taste: Sweet, fruity, sugary, deep dried fruits, slight tangy notes.

Score: 93

Texture: Soft, smooth, and creamy with a fast melt time.

Score: 96

The aromas give almost no clues to the flavor of this chocolate. It's so subtle and soft you would have no idea how big this chocolate is based on the aroma.

This is very tasty chocolate and it hits all the right marks technically, but overall I find this chocolate okay for eating but probably a better fit for baking with. The recommendations on the website call for mousse, ganache, and fillings. Rich things. That I can see.

The issue with this chocolate is too much sugar. Though it is very bold on the flavors and deeply rich, I feel like it would have been better if it were more raw and less tamed with sugar. 

There is a very interesting fruity/flowery taste the dominates the chocolate and opens up right in the middle of the tasting. It was hard to pin point what it was. It was like flowers mixed with pen ink, and dried fruits mixed with slight hints of medicinal herbs. Think Fernet-Branca on the medicinal herbs. An interesting flavor to say the least.

It finishes fairly clean with with soft hints of roasted cocoa and it drys up pretty quickly. It does have larger cocoa particles that can leave for a slight gritty texture, but still very smooth over all due to the initial creaminess. The larger particles are meant for a more robust flavor. It's certainly a deep flavor, but I feel like this chocolate will be best for baking. Or served to those who love dank, earthy, medicinal, herb flavors like Fernet-Branca.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

 

Mast Brothers Madagascar Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, cocoa nibs

Sample Size: 2.5 oz 71g


Appearance: Shiny and smooth top surface with simple non-monogrammed molding. Slight ashy and streaky underside with pretty Madagascar cocoa nibs sprinkled on top.

Score: 91

Snap: Firm snap, with slightly dull snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Big roasted cocoa, full rich aroma, tar, hints of rubber.

Score: 93

Taste: Sweet upfront, tar, cherries, citrus-y and acidic, tart, nuts and wood flavors from the cocoa nibs.

Score: 95

Texture: A little chalky texture on the chocolate, medium melt time, crunchy

Score: 93

This is a very tart and citric bar of chocolate. It starts of sweet and then opens up into classic Madagascar notes of tar and rubber. But then opens up into full bright tart cherries.

I haven't noticed the cherries or fruit characters as much on other Mast Brothers chocolate using Madagascar cocoa. I have been finding them a bit unbalanced with the acid contents. This bar on whole, is largely unbalanced too, but the bright cherries really come through and save it. They are much sweeter and flavorful than they are tart. There is a much better sweet character on this bar as well with sweet sugar notes right up front. The sugar content really helps balance out the tar and rubber flavors.

The cocoa nibs added a lovely woody character and nutty taste as well as a crunchy texture. They added a lot more depth to the flavor of the chocolate.


Final Score: 93

score
A-

Meletti Ciccolato @ Craigie On Main, Cambridge, Ma.

 

I met Carrie Cole, the bar manager at one of my favorite restaurants in Cambridge, Ma. called Craigie on Main, at a charity food event a couple of months ago. We talked about Meletti Ciccolato. A new-to-me Italian chocolate liqueur that is pretty much my whole world right now by being serious chocolate lover and lover of fine cocktails.

I stopped by on Friday with my husband and some friends to try out a few cocktails made with the Meletti and got a few snacks in the process.

Silvio Meletti

The story of Meletti:

The Meletti Anisette was invented and produced for the first time in 1870 by Silvio Meletti, who perfected and improved an aniseed-based liquor produced by hand in his mother's small shop. Silvio Meletti had the idea of offering the country a product of an ever higher quality to stand up to the competion of the extremely expensive foreign anisettes, and threw himself into the study of Italian and French manuals on the distillation and production of liquors until he was able to design and supervise the production of a bain-marie still, with very slow evaporation in order to obtain an alcoholate as aromatic as possible. It was found that the very delicate taste and special aroma of the Meletti anisette came from the quality of the aniseed (Pimpinella Anisum) carefully cultivated in certain areas of clay soil around Ascoli Piceno, favoured by the very special conditions of the land and the climate.

In 1904 the distillery was built near the railway station in Ascoli Piceno. The anisette produced was aged in iron casks in the large cellars, of which there were many at the distillery. Now, more than 120 years since it was first produced, Meletti anisette is still made with the systems developed and established by our founder. The aniseed is produced in the province of Ascoli Piceno. The central aspect of the production is the distillation of alcohol in the presence of aniseed. With suitable stills the alcohol absorbs the aromatic part of the aniseed. The result is a liquor with a high alcoholic content known as "aniciato", which is the raw material for subsequent processing.
The production of anisette involves the addition of a special "aroma" which is also produced through the distillation of various spices. The resulting anisette is then transferred into special tanks of more than 10,000 lt. for the ageing process. The ageing is necessary because in this stage the anisette clears, forming a deposit on the walls of the recipient, and amalgamates the various components which give it that unmistakable flavour.

Today they offer many products Along with their classic aniseed flavored liqueurs including lemon liqueurs and the ciccolato. The also have Caffe Meletti in the Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno since 1907 which includes a cafe, a restaurant, and a pastry shop. 

[Image via Flaviakappa]

Situated in the renaissance style Piazza del Popolo heart of the city, Caffè Meletti has always been part of the piazza and vice versa. This close tie with Piazza del Popolo (which was used as a forum in roman times has always been very important for the city) has transformed the café, since its opening, in a meeting place for both the people of the city and its numerous tourists.
The building and its portico were built between 1881 and 1884 inspiring itself to the style of the 16th century piazza. Initially the building was used as the head office of the post office, then in 1903 Silvio Meletti (an Italian businessman who owned a distillery that produced a famous aniseed liquor) bought and transformed the building into a luxurious café.
The building was cleverly modified in liberty style inspired by other historical café.
The new café Meletti was opened on Saturday the 18th of May 1906. It soon became very popular, famous in all of Italy thanks to its elegance, its excellent products and its refined services. It was sold by Meletti’s heirs in March 1990, to every ones surprise the new owner closed the historical café in June of the same year.
The “Foundation of Cassa di Risparmio” bought the building in 1996.
Caffè Meletti was elegantly restored and opened to the public as it was on the 19th of December 1996. The tie between the city of Ascoli Piceno and Caffè Meletti has become more important. The Café has become a valuable meeting place not only for its excellent products but because it also allows all its clients to be spectators and protagonist of the city life.
Caffé Meletti has hosted in its years many famous people (from Vittorio Emanuele II in 1927 to Mascagni, Piovene, Sartre, Del Monaco, Gigli, Guttuso, Soldati, Licini, Gronchi, Saragat,
and the De Filippo family), it was used for film sets ( “I delfini” by Maselli in 1960 and  “Alfredo,Alfredo” with Dustin Hoffman by Germi in 1972) and also as setting for commercials and photo shoots.

Meletti is located in Italy in the Marche region on the Adriatic sea. Located at the very bottom of the region in a town called Ascoli Piceno.

[Image via: Angelo Recchi]

Vintage artwork featuring Meletti Anisetta:

Meletti Ciccolato:

The Meletti family, through skillful blending, has created a delicious cocoa based liqueur. Meletti Cioccolato was created by Silvio Meletti as a winter drink, intended to be served warm. However, fans of Meletti cordials soon discovered its versatility. It can be used in a variety of drink and food recipes and is delicious cold as well as warm. As with all Meletti products, only the best ingredients are used and personal attention is afforded to every phase of production.

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Meletti has been described as "adult fun", "chocolate pudding," "uncooked brownie mix," or as I describe it, "like a super rich chocolate syrup with alcohol," or simply "pure awesomeness."

The best thing about it is the price. It's fairly cheap at around $19 to $25 a bottle. That means there should be no excuse to run out and get a bottle right now and keep for your collections or begin mixing up your own cocktails with it right now.

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The first drink I asked for at Craigie was a Brandy Alexander made with the Meletti Ciccolato instead of dark creme de cacao. It was very rich and thick, but not cloyingly sweet as one might think thanks to a nice brandy the drink was made with. Nice and rich and boozy. Just the way I like it. And the classic spicy kick of nutmeg sprinkled on top.

This next drink was something Carrie created using the ciccolato, bitters, and bourbon. I liked this drink quite a bit, but it was fairly stiff, and not too sweet. I think most people wouldn't expect this drink to be as dry and robust as it is.

Unfortunately I didn't catch that this picture was a bit blurry until the next day. However, it was the best drinks of the night. Made with Meletti Ciccolato, Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur, Luxardo, and Rum. Smooth, nutty, and creamy. And once again not as sweet as it might seem with the ciccolato.

 

I also asked for a little tasting glass for the Meletti so that others at my table might try it on it's own. It's something that has to be seen and tasted on it's own to be fully appreciated. Most people who have probably had Meletti have had it in a cocktail of some sort. Most likely a chocolate martini. While, it's certainly ideal for a chocolate martini, it should be tasted as it is first.

I think the viscosity of this drink is gorgeous. It makes you want to lick the glass.

As for the food, well we ordered a few fun things from the bar menu to be shared around the table and it was all fantastic. Craigie on Main is hands down one of the best restaurants in the Boston/Cambridge area.

Chef Tony Maws has incredible culinary skills. I still marvel to this day about the time I had dinner there and tried one of their tasting menus. One of the courses had squid pasta. Not squid ink, but actual squid in the pasta. So flavorful and unbelievably good. 

Crispy Potato Galette with salmon roe, bacon bits, and horseradish cream sauce.

Oysters on the Half Shell.

"Les Cochanailles" Many tastings of Pork.

Assiette of house-made charcuterie: Duck rillettes, Pate de Campagne, Foie Gras au Torchon.

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Valrhona Chocolate Soup with ancho chili and cardamom.

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We were treated to a selection of cheeses and were serves these little chocolate and nut treats with the check. They look a little bit like Preacher Cookies.

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We managed to make an entire evening out of chocolate at Craigie. If you are going to go all out on rich and fabulous foods and drinks I can't imagine a better place than Craigie on Main. I am so grateful that this place is only a two minute walk from my door to their door.

Thank you Carrie, for having me in and testing cocktail creations with me. I will gladly be your guinea pig any day.

Brandy Alexander Coolatta

I had an idea for a blended coffee drink with melted down chocolate and lots of booze. I decided to test it out this afternoon.

This is came out more like a Brandy Alexander Coolatta. Technically a Brandy Alexander is roughly brandy, creme de cacao, cream, and nutmeg. This is kind of like that only with real chocolate and lot's of booze.

4 oz Brandy
12 oz strong roast coffee (or sweet flavored coffee)
2 oz Kahlua
2 oz Starbucks Coffee Liqueur
1 bar of chocolate, 70% to 85% (no higher) melted
2 oz give or take of Half and Half
Ice
Nutmeg (optional)

Brew coffee and set in an ice bath to cool quickly.

Once coffee is thoroughly cooled, break or chop chocolate bar down into small bits and microwave until it's softly melted and blended. You can use double boiler, to melt chocolate, but the microwave is quicker and less of a mess.

Add ice to blender about half way full and pour in all liquid ingredients in adding the melted chocolate last. Cover wit lid and blended until nice and smooth.

Pour into glass and lightly sprinkle the top with a small pinch of nutmeg, serve immediately.

Makes about 3 to 4 servings.

A couple of things to point out. I should have rimmed the glass with the melted chocolate but the top layer of the drink will be a frothy layer of chocolate soilds foam. An added chocolate rim would have made for a messy face drink, but super tasty.

I used left over chocolate I had previously reviewed from CocoMaya in London. The chocolate I used was a sweeter bar of chocolate called Guanaja 70%. I figured it would be good to use since I wasn't adding sugar to the recipe. It's an overly sweet bar of chocolate from London. I have come to know the chocolate scene in London quite well Thanks to my British Chocolate Invasion collection. They like their chocolate on the sweeter side.

If you don't want to melt chocolate down to blend into the drink, use Meletti Cioccolato. It will make for a boozier drink and you may have to adjust the recipe a bit.

The Armagnac I used is something I have had in my house for more than 10 years. I tried looking it up, I have found slight references to it. I don't know if it's a super expensive Armagnac or not, but I did find one blurb online that indicated it's fairly cheap. Around €15 or so. It blended great with the chocolate. Big oak-y tastes with the rich nutty chocolate. Also added was the nutty coffee. This is just about what you want to use for a funky mixed blender drink. It tasted fantastic with the chocolate.

Speaking of coffee, I used a light roasted flavored coffee. It's for my Keurig coffee maker. I used a Mocha Nut Fudge. I figured it would be fairly sweet and bump up the chocolate and nutty coffee flavors. But any robust strong roasted coffee would probably be a better fit. Especially if you don't have a super sweet tooth.

Up next for a trial and error session with melted chocolate drinks will be testing with Courvoisier.

Truffles and Wine

My husband was wrapping up a meeting in Boston yesterday, when he stopped by Au Chocolat and picked up a wine sampler box of mixed truffles from Belgian Chocolatiers Neuhaus.

He found a collection of truffles meant for pairing with wine. The "sommelier" collection. Maxim de Muynck voted Sommelier of the Year in 2009 by Gault & Milau has designed this collection.

There is some good news for beer lovers. Two beer selections made into the booklet for a pairing recommendations.

He chose Lindemans Framboise for the Suzanne. It makes sense being a Belgian beer paired with Belgian chocolate truffles. Also raspberry on raspberry flavor profiles for both the chocolate and the beer.

However, to many beer lovers Lindemans is like "Kool-Aid." While it tastes awesome and is perfect for desserts and is very interesting for what can be done with beer, it tastes nothing like what we would consider traditional beer. However, for chocolate this is not the wrong way to go as it is very much like a dessert on it's own.

Lambics are a style of beer classic to Belgium made by a process called spontaneous open air fermentation. I am sure many beer geeks can break this process down better than I can, so I will spare you all the geek talk, but it's basically beer fermented by wild yeast in the air and other funky bacterias. This particular beer is then dosed with 500 lbs or more of various fruits and sugar. These are known as lambics which are wild ales. Many different styles have similar processes such as geueze, and other Belgian sours or unsweetened lambics. Lindemans happens to be the fruitiest, sweetest, and most palatable to the average person.

The other beer recommendation was Mc Chouffe from Brasserie d' Achouffe in Belgium. This is a spectacular Belgian-style brown ale which is unfiltered and then re-fermented in the bottles or a process known as bottle conditioning. It's an 8% abv beer with big sweet malts, a bit roasted, and fruity. Perfect for desserts and chocolate.

When Maxim chose this beer for the 1875, this made perfect sense with the cinnamon biscuit center of the truffle. The cinnamon and the toasted biscuit flavors.
 

I chose Heron Pinot Noir Vin de Pays de la Mediteranée to go through the truffles with. Next time I will take a collection like this and take to a wine bar and work out various combinations with wines. Otherwise it's unrealistic to sit here on my own and crack open various wines to fit the suggestions of the sommelier.
 



The Suzanne; Infused chocolate ganache with raspberries.

Light subtle flavors of raspberries on the  soft centered ganache, waxy chocolate shell, dried bits of tart raspberries on top.

Works lovely with the Heron Pinot Noir. Allows some drier woody, and more tart notes to come out on the wine. Tames it makes it a little earthy.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Cuvee Sakura 2003 raspberry and cherry wines from Roisin, Belgium

Lindemans Framboise Raspberry Lambic, Belgium

Zéro Pointé Rosé, Loire, France

Bugey-Balivery Cerdon Sparkling wine, Bugey, France




Grand Place; Dark chocolate shell coated with sugar with a soft ganached hinted with nigella.

Nigella is a spice that is mainly used when cooking Indian flat breads, such as naan, and vegetarian dishes.

The spice has a strong taste that is similar to oregano.

The Nigella spice is the seeds of the plant called Nigella Sativa. The seeds are tiny and black in colour. The seeds themselves don’t have much of an aroma but the oregano aroma is released when the seeds are fried or crushed. The taste is a bit like cracked pepper and is bitter.

Via Curry Focus


Deep rich chocolate shell, once again waxy mass produced taste, but extremely soft ganache center with big sweet caramel notes and a peppery nigella taste, sweet lingering sugar notes from the chocolate.

Works fairly good with the Pinot Noir. A bit borderline meaning there was almost too much alcohol overbearing on the palate. The major indications that you have a wrong pairing with wine and food. Same rules apply for beer. But still fairly good pairing.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Ojai Santa Barabra 2006 Syrah California.

5 year old Malmsey Blandy Madeira, Portugal.

Commandaria Ekto or Keo Sweet dessert wines, Cyprus

Marsala Vecchio Samperi de Bartoli, Italy




Criollo; Bitter dark chocolate with a fresh butter cream center.

Bitter, sweet, dry, soft center, still has a waxy taste that so far all of the truffles have had. Roasted cocoa and coffee notes underneath this trademark waxy taste.

Works very well with the Pinot Noir. Enhances the wine to be more earthy, but the bittersweet chocolate lingers on the palate to be fairly dominant.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Darroze Bas Armagnac, France

Ojai Santa Barbra Syrah, California

A generic recommendation of Bordeaux wines from the left bank.



Ganache Amère; "A happy marriage of the sweetness of créme fraîche and the magic power of chocolate, with a sublime, pure bitter flavour."


Sweet, rich, same waxy taste, roasted cocoa, slightly spicy in the beginning.

So far it works the best with the Pinot Noir. They tame each other. The rich sweet chocolate is toned down by the earthy wine, but the creaminess allows them the marry instead of contrast. The earthy notes on the wine tone down and let spicy characters come out.

Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno

Pedro Ximénez, Toro Albala, Spain

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno, Spain

Maury Vintage, Dessert wine, France



1857; Milk praline with cinnamon biscuit-y center known as speculoos.

Light, milky creamy taste coupled with the same waxy taste, crunchy center, light cinnamon hints.

Works okay with the wine. It's borderline. The crunchy center wants to clash with the wine, but the creamy, milky chocolate taste recovers it and rounds out the wine stopping it from being a wrong pairing. It's not exact, but it's not bad either.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:


Mc Chouffe, Brown, strong ale, Belgium

10 year old Grant Burge Tawney, dessert wine, Australia

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 vintage, France




Sapho; Milk chocolate with almond praline center.

Basically a milk chocolate shell with a super soft almond-chocolate center. Kind of like giandja made with hazelnuts. Same waxy taste, but a hit of pepper up front. The waxy taste makes it practically no different than gianduja since this waxy hallmarks has hazelnuts. It's just a bit butterier than gianduja.

This works really well with the Pinot Noir. It's all about the nuttiness playing off the earthiness, and creamy texture smoothing out the alcohol edges of the wine. This was pretty good. Not exact, but very close.







Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Neipoort or Burmester tawny port, Both from Portugal.

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France




Galerie; Caramel center, with chocolate center in a chocolate shell.


Salty and very gooey caramel with a thin layer of a chocolate ganache in the center gives off sweet and salty contrast, but that same damn waxy chocolate taste overtakes the lingering palate.. This would have been the best balanced truffle if it wasn't coated with this generic chocolate shell. That waxy taste ruins the balance.

The wine works well with the pairing based on all other descriptions from the previous truffles. It's creamy and salty and the butters work well with the earthiness of the wine. The sweet chocolate brings out more of the earthy flavors.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

East India Solera de Lustau, Sherry, Spain

Neisson Rhum Agricole, Rum,  Martinque

Rivesaltes Ambré, Domaine de Rancy, France

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 Vintage, France

Generic recommendation of Red Bordeaux from the left bank, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, Cuvee La Charmille, I ères Cȏtes de Bordeaux, France



Passion Amande; White chocolate shell, cocoa butter, sugar, and caramlized salted almonds.

This is basically a white chocolate shell with soft chocolate and minced almond center. Barely salty, barely noticeable almonds, and it tastes like gianduja more than it does almonds.

Having said that, it's creamy, and the white chocolate is not over powering with a dominate milky or cocoa fat taste. It is like all other truffles in the collection, waxy and nutty. I wish the almonds were not minced to a finite crunch. There is no sense of caramelized anything let alone being barely salty enough to handle the chocolate.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Bartoli Moscato del panteliria, Italy

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, appelation Sainte Croix du Mont, France



More specific wine pairings:


Elysium Black Muscat

Suzanne

Grand Place

Criollo

Passion Amère



Oloroso Sherry

Sapho

Passion Amande

1857

Galerie


Overall this is a decent collection to share with friends. But you might have noticed my impatience with this collection. It's all same-y, and mass produced. The trademark waxy quality on these truffles leaves little to be desired. It's an odd milky, waxy, and nutty (hazelnut) flavor that permeated all of the truffles. This is a hallmark I have noticed on other Belgian chocolates as well. I am not sure if it's because it's mass produced with additives and preservatives or if it's just from blending chocolates. The single origin bars from Neuhaus are spared of this effect.

I am wondering if it's just a Belgian hallmark in general. I have been noticing regional hallmarks lately. England chocolate bars tend to be a lot sweeter than the American, French, and Italian versions. European chocolate in general tends to be milky, and creamier Especially with Swiss, German, and Belgian chocolates.

It also could be because these came in a sealed mass produced collection box. I am willing to bet if these truffles were made fresh and bought from a tiny shop in Belgium it would taste worlds different. It's always different when you are traveling and in the moment.

Still fun none the less trying to figure out which one of these truffles would end up clashing with the wine I chose. Interestingly enough none of them did clash, though a few came close to not working.

Get some wine, get some friends and crack open a box of truffles. Even if you don't choose Neuhaus, there are plenty of truffle makers locally you can chose from and go from there.

Tonight's focus was all about wine, and while I will always worship wine and chocolate, I am going to say that beer and chocolate is much cooler to work with and much more interesting finding out why things work and why they may not have worked. I love vino, but I am always going to be a beer girl at heart.

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Almonds, Sea Salt, Olive Oil

Once again I am dealing with the chocolate makers who have some of the finest wrapping paper in the business for their chocolate bars. A lovely fleur-de-Lis print.

Mast Brothers in Brooklyn, NY. Dark Chocolate + Almonds, Sea Salt, and Olive Oil. Using Madagascar cocoa beans and handmade techniques to make some fine bean-to-bar offerings.

Something I have come to love about the Mast Brothers, is subtly. I have had their chocolate before and I have requested more for review. My buddy Shane Welch of Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, often hooks me up with Mast Brothers Chocolate. But having their Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt or their Dark Chocolate + Salt and Pepper, the balance is soft and delicate on these bars. The salt is present but never overwhelming and the pepper on the salt and pepper bar is unique and worked incredibly well with chocolate.

There is also another connection to Mast Brothers that I fully support. It's their motto of American Craft. As someone who works in the craft beer industry, the idea of American Craft is something I fully appreciate and understand. Our bean-to-bar producers in the US are really coming around and making some unbelievably good chocolate. The rest of the world should sit up and take notice. As they should sit up and take notice of our craft beer scene. It's the best in the world!

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, Madagascar beans

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, almonds, sea salt, olive oil.

Appearance: Smooth and shiny surface, almond covered underside a few streaky lines on the underside with the almonds, simple non-monogrammed molding.

Score: 93

Snap: Light, airy snap. Firm, but relatively light with an audible snap sound.

Score: 91

Aroma: Dry roasted cocoa, slight medicinal, slightly tarry, a light tart and astringent aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Salty almonds, tart cocoa, hints of cherries, astringent cocoa, medicinal notes, and hints of tar.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth creamy chocolate with medium melt time, with crunchy, salty almonds.

Score: 94

I don't know if I am all the way sold on the Mast Brothers using Madagascar beans as their primary base for their bars, but in this case I am very sold. The tart and astringent cocoa was balanced by the salty almonds. The nutty taste of the almonds and the salt really interact well with the brightness of the cocoa and the cherry flavors and medicinal tar flavors. Harder to detect any discernible wood flavors like cedar which is classic for a lot of Madagascar beans due to the almonds, but the almonds are a welcomed flavor.

This is a delicious bar of chocolate and very easy on the eyes with the gorgeous almonds. But unfortunately without the almonds I believe this bar of chocolate would be unbalanced. I think they need a little more work in taming these Madagascar beans. Also the almonds helped tone down a bit of the tar characters and minty medicinal notes. It's still there on the taste, but thanks to the salt and almonds, it's covered up pretty good. Or a better way to look at is is that those flavors are blended into the background more.

Still, this was very enjoyable. I enjoyed crunching this one up. I love salted almonds and these were just right on this bar.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

Fine & Raw ~ Bonbon Bar

Oh yes! A bar of chocolate made with all natural ingredients and filled with a truffle center.  The Bonbon bar. Word to your moms!

This bar was given to me by my friend Emily Shartin, the chocolate buyer of Formaggio Kitchen. She wanted me to try a very flavorful bar of chocolate from a solid chocolate maker in Brooklyn, NY.

Fine & Raw is a chocolate company out of Brooklyn using natural ingredients and green methods of sustainability.

FINE & RAW is a fresh new company that believes the future is beautiful. To help bring this thought to life we strive to be green and sustainable where ever possible.

We'll be the first to admit we're not perfect. From the big issues, like fairtrade and carbon foot prints, down to using energy efficient light bulbs, we're learning to be greener all the time.

Our cacao is fairtrade and comes from a small cacao farmers co-op that practices sustainable farming. Cacao is a shade grown plant requiring a foliage canopy to grow. Our cacao farmers maintain the rainforests which provide natural symbiotic canopies for the plant. The farmers also grow an heirloom variety of cacao, which promotes bio-diversity of plant species within the rainforest ecosystem.

All our ingredients are organic, which means no unnecessary toxins, chemicals or pollutants are pumped into the environment. Our packaging is recycled and the inks we use are non-toxic and vegetable based.

We want the planet to be strong so it can grow more chocolate.

I have only had one previous experience with Fine & Raw. I reviewed their Mesquite bar. A strange bar that one was. Funky flavors mixed with chocolate. Bizarre yet fun. It's one of those bars that you have to try at least once and you might not enjoy it just as a bar. I found it kind of odd but then I started to think about melting it down and making variants of Mole sauces with it. It was only after thinking about what could be done with it that I fully began to appreciate it. 

I am not going to lie though. I was mostly excited for the Mesquite bar because of the wrapper. A vintage cowgirl with a lasso. It's pretty bad ass. 

Type: Filled bar.

Bean Varietal: Unknown, beans from Ecuador.

Ingredients: Raw cacao paste, cacao butter, blue agave, virgin coconut oil, cacao powder, himalayan sea salt.

Sample Size: 2oz or 54g

Description:

Dark raw chocolate bar with a thin line of bonbon truffle running down the inside center (2oz).

Appearance: Very damaged. This could come from a number of reasons, but it had a very oily and greasy feel to the bar. The oils in this bar began to separate from the cocoa. The foil wrapper was completely saturated with oils. It has a soft truffle center but the shell of the filled bar was very soft. This gave way to a poor snap character. I doubt there would have been a viable snap character anyway with the soft truffle center. But there would have been a small sound with a crisp chocolate shell. I don't know if this bar is always supposed to be this soft or if some how there was an issue along the way with heat exposure or any other reasons. 

I have had a similar experience with a set of truffles that came to me from Patric. They were Elbow truffles made with Patric chocolate. They tasted so fantastic, but they got damaged along the way some how. They had a matted appearance and a bit of a sunken in effect from super soft truffle centers. It's a hard call when things like this happen. They might look messed up, but still they tasted like heaven. This bar was no exception.

Because of this I am not reviewing this chocolate like a standard bar. I am going to talk about the taste, texture, and aroma. I will give it one overall score.

Aroma: Huge coconuts, almonds, and rich roasted cocoa. Once again, a bar of chocolate that smells like a deeply rich Almond Joy. Obviously the coconut oils impact the aroma. I was hoping that the coconut was a natural aroma based on other chocolates I have reviewed with a robust coconut and almond aroma. But none the less, this aroma is unbelievably good. The bar was so fragrant that my entire living room smelled like rich coconut and almonds.

Taste: Coconuts, lovely hits of sea salt, rich roasted cocoa, nice bitter notes blended with sweet cocoa notes, and slight bit of astringency on the first taste.

Balanced flavors with the sea salt, richly roasted cocoa, and coconut make for a fantastic tasting bar. It's delicious and robust. It has a good balance of sweet salty, and bitter cocoa.

Texture: Soft chocolate shell, a bit oily on the surface, smooth soft center, creamy, melts fast.

The taste, creamy texture, and aroma completely save the day for this bar. I just wanted to eat more and more of it. The sea salt gave this bar a perfect balance. Rich cocoa notes big coconut taste and aroma, bittersweet and sweet cocoa tastes where rounded out by the contrasting sea salt taste. Excellent flavors and tastes.

It may not be totally fair to not score this bar based on appearance and snap, but this is an unusual bar of chocolate as it's filled with a truffle center. I am not sure where the issue happened with it's appearance, but it deserves a solid letter grade based on how good it smells and tastes. It's quite a fantastic bar of chocolate overall.

score
A

Neuhaus ~ São Tomé 74%

If you know Belgian chocolate, then I am quite sure you have heard of Neuhaus. A large bean-to-bar company with wide distribution who are well known for their pralines and truffles.

With history stemming back all the way to 1875, including inventing the praline which in Belgium is a truffle but still called a praline, in 1912 and creating royal collections specially made in 1960 for they have a long standing history and reputation for fine Belgian chocolates. 

In 1912, Jean Neuhaus junior, grandson of the founder, took over the business.  He gave free rein to his creativity and invented the first filled chocolate  bouchée, which he named "praline".

In 1958 and 1960, Belgium celebrated the marriages of King Baudouin and Fabiola and of Prince Albert with Paola.  To commemorate these occasions Neuhaus created 4 royal pralines named Baudouin, Fabiola, Albert and Paola.

A little clarification on Truffles, Pralines, and Bonbon's via The Nibble.

• As mentioned on Page 1, in 1912, Jean Neuhaus created the molded, filled chocolate bonbon and called these filled chocolate shells pralines, the same word used to describe the caramelized almonds that had been made by the French (and known to the Belgians, who speak French) since 1636. The word praline in French refers to the sugar-coated almond. Why did Neuhaus use the same word for his filled bonbons? We don’t know, but it sure has created confusion ever since.

Some chocolatiers

subsequently enrobed their ganache centers (i.e., the original truffles), either by hand dipping (the way all chocolates were coated prior to Neuhaus’ invention) or in hard chocolate shells. In France or America, these enrobed ganaches would be called truffles. In Belgium, they are still called pralines.

Thus, when chocolatiers immigrated to the U.S., they might be selling pralines, truffles, bonbons or assorted chocolates, depending on their nationality. And, although the name of what they sold differed, the product might be the same.

This bar comes from their Origine collection. São Tomé and Principe are islands off the coast of Gabon right near the equator in the Gulf of Guinea. It's a Portuguese-speaking nation with São Tomé being the larger southern island.

[Image via Step Up OLPC]

[Image via Wissenladen.de]

Check out this post about São Tomé and Principe called "Chocolate Island" from Sarahan Vibe. 

[Image via Saharan Vibe]

Type: Bittersweet, 74%

Bean Varietal: Not indicated, possible Forastero.

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, soya lecithin.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz

Lot #: 09259

Appearance: Square bar with simple "N" monogram, a bit dusty from chocolate particles and a small corner nick that ruins the smooth shiny appearance. Deep dark brown color.

Score: 91

Snap: Deep firm crisp snap, clean but asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Big coconut aroma, coffee beans, almonds, wood, small floral hints. Smells like a fresh and natural Almond Joy. Huge coconuts but mixed in with roasted cocoa and coffee beans. Amazing aroma.

Score: 97

Taste: Nutty, wood characters up front, cinnamon, coconuts, almonds, dry,  mildly bitter, no acidity, a little hint of smokiness and a bright green character towards the finish. Slight hints of bananas. Big roasted cocoa finish through retro-olfaction.

Score: 94

Texture: Smooth, creamy, a bit waxy, but still very smooth, medium melt time.

Score: 92

I am sure some of the chocolate purists will turn their noses up to a mass produced Belgian chocolate producer, but this is the second single origin bar from a mass produced company that really hits all the right marks. It's not as raw as a smaller chocolate maker might produce, but that makes it a bit more palatable for the masses. There isn't anything wrong with that, but as I said some chocolate purists might turn their snobby noses up at that notion that chocolate can be flavorful and delicious and not so overly nuanced.

This bar had an amazing aroma of almonds and coconuts, and a big wood taste with ripe green features and spicy notes. It finishes creamy and soft like most Belgian chocolate do. It had a bit of a waxy texture but it only lasted for a second.

This is chocolate you want to start a good tasting with. It's very solid for an beginning taste and then you want to work yourself into more raw and less refined chocolates.

I can see this being a work chocolate. The one you keep in your desk and take small bites off of when you desperately need a chocolate break. It's mild enough for that kind of thing, but complex enough in it's flavors to satisfy a deep craving.

Final Score: 93.6

score
A-

2010 MSPCA Walk For Animals

 

Taking time out from chocolate to talk about Team BeerAdvocate for the MSPCA Walk For Animals.

BeerAdvocate.com and now my newest adventure 20°N & 20°S, generally focuses charity efforts towards one cause, animals. We are animals lovers and we care deeply about what happens to them. This is the focus we want to aim our efforts towards. It doesn't mean we do not support other causes. It just means that our general focus is towards animal charities.

For the past two years, Team BeerAdvocate has been the number one team donating in all of the Boston area. We keep getting better and better thanks to die hard beer lovers, friends and families, and animal lovers in general.

In our first walk, I only found out about it with one month before the walk. We managed to bring in about $1500. The next year we set the goal at $3,000. We ended up with just over $6,000. And then there was last year's effort. We set the bar at $6,000 and ended up with over $9,000. And of all things, we managed to raise that monster number during an economic crisis.

We had a lot of help from our friends who joined the team and businesses who contributed to our efforts. It has been truly unbelievable for to be able to manage this kind of fundraising. The folks at the MSPCA have said no one has rocked it like that before. The usual top teams before us managed around $3,000. Granted they don't have access to our huge network around New England or the country for that matter. But I am egotistical and want nothing more than to win and generate money for animals, so I feel no shame about my connections to a vast number of people.

This year we decided that if we could raise as much money as we did last year in an economic crisis, then we should be able to go even bigger this year. We set the goal at $15,000.

This means we are going to need all the help we can get. Small or large donations, we don't care as long as you can help in some way. I am asking that all my readers pitch in and help out to donate to Team BeerAdvocate. You can join our team or just make a donation to our teams effort.

The walk will take place on Sunday, Sept. 12th on the Boston Commons.

For businesses, breweries, restaurants, stores, chocolate makers, or any other business who wishes to contribute to our team, we are offering a deal for your company's name to be on our team shirts. For donations of $150 dollars or more, you will get your company name printed on the back of our shirts as supporters.




[Click to enlarge images.]


Our team shirts are donated by qrsts.com, the wonderful people who print all of our BeerAdvocate shirts. Whatever extra shirts we have left over from the walk, we take to the next beer festival we throw, and sell them to add to the next years walk team total. Last year we sold $200 worth of extra shirts. We will be adding that total to the team this year. Every single dime we raise in effort to the MSPCA, goes directly to the MSPCA.

To join our team follow this link and the password is beerlovers. Make a donation of $25 dollars and you will be apart of our team. You can also help us fundraise by getting your own friends and family to donate to your efforts and you customize your own donation page with images of your pets. I have Miss Chicken Von Waffles and Pork Chops Applesauce on my individual page.

Or you can simply send a donation to benefit the team effort without actually having to join the team.

If you care about animals as much as we do, please help us reach our massive goal and help us be the number one team donating for a 3rd year in a row. Do it because you love beer, do it because you love animals.