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Bruce Paton's Beer And Chocolate Dinner With TCHO Chocolate

Bruce Paton is hosting his 6th annual Beer and Chocolate Dinner featuring TCHO Chocolate.

I am doing a quick write up to highlight this menu because I fully support and back beer dinners featuring chocolate. I host a series of my own beer dinners around Boston, and have only hosted one beer and chocolate dinner to date. That will be changing soon!

THE BEER CHEF
Presents Beer and Chocolate Dinner
At The Pavillion by the Bay Treasure Island, San Francisco
Friday February 12, 2010
Featuring
Five Distinctive Craft Beers from Northern California
And TCHO Artisan Chocolate

Reception
6:30 PM
Beer Chef’s Hors D’Oeuvre Selection

Bear Republic Cuvee de Beer Week

Dinner
7:30PM

First Course
Cocoa Crusted Lobster Cake with Foie Gras Emulsion

Lagunitas 2008 Hairy Eyeball

Second Course
Slow Roasted Breast of Duck with Dried Cherry Chocolate Compote

Russian River Consecration

Third Course
Chocolate Six Spice Crusted Angus Short Ribs Braised in Imperial Stout

Speakeasy Scarface Imperial Stout

Fourth Course
Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Sabayon and Fleur de Sel

North Coast Old Rasputin XII

$125 per Person Inclusive of Tax and Gratuity
Please Make Reservations by February 5, 2010 At www.beer-chef.com Bruce D. Paton CEC Executive Chef

You do not want to miss this beer dinner.

Sexual Chocolate (NSFW)

Kama Sutra Chocolate and a Tantric Tablet Collection. Yep, you guessed it. An adult, pre-Valentine's day heads-up (no pun intended) post about intimate chocolates.

I also give a quickie (pun intended) list of Valentine's Day beer recommendations for your chocolate.

This post is NSFW. Please enter at your own risk. And for the love of god if you don't have a sense of humor or can't handle my particular brand of vulgarity, then you should forget about this post all together.

Amedei 9

Amedei, Pontedera, Italy (Tuscany).

I had been waiting to get my hands on anything from Amedei for a while. My friend Emily Shartin, the hero of my blog so far for all the glorious trades we have done, casually slipped this bar to me. I knew how much of a buzz was generating around Amedei, but I didn't know she handed me the 2009 Golden Bean award winning chocolate. Even with the tag right on the front of this bar, I completely disregarded or glanced over it. I was more curious about the nine different plantations the beans come from and the ingredients. I barely even looked at the front of the package because I was scouring the back for information.

These two articles will explain Amedei better than I can. They tell a much more detailed story of the brother and sister duo at the helm of Amedei. I simply cannot do that yet, as I haven't met them or have traveled to Italy to see their production in action. I simply haven't investigated them enough to do a full comprehensive write up of their whole company and history.

Amedei, The Italian Chocolate That Seduces The World.

Sublime, rich, dark -- the world's best chocolate. Michèle Shah

Ever since I started exploring chocolate, and learning more about single origin, bean-to-bar producers, and Italian chocolatiers, there has been some mentioning of this grand Italian producer called Amedei. Their bar Porcelana has made a lot of news about being the worlds most expensive chocolate. Food & Wine wrote this about Amedei Chuao.

In November, a competition in London awarded a gold prize to one of Cecilia's handiworks, a single-plantation chocolate called Chuao. Two other Amedei products tied for silver.

Both the visionary French pâtissier Pierre Hermé and the visionary Spanish chef Ferran Adrià have said that Chuao might, in fact, be the world's greatest chocolate.

Porcelana and Chuao are constant award winners. Amedei 9 has it's own significance and it's own accolades. Especially since Amedei 9 was blended with beans from nine different plantations. I had no idea what to expect when reviewing it.

It's been no secret based on some of my write up's thus far on chocolate (see the Maglio Origine post) that I am completely smitten, if not a little biased (maybe a lot biased) towards Italian chocolate producers. There is a fine tuned touch that most producers from Italy have mastered with their chocolate making skills. They have managed to make the most delectable bean-to-bar, single origin, or blended bars. They have this signature mark of being the smoothest tasting chocolates. Rounded edges on even the most bitter of chocolate. The care they put into each step in the chocolate making process is world renowned. You wouldn't even know you were eating an 85% bitter chocolate bar if someone didn't tell you it was that high in cocoa percentages.

So, now that you know where I stand when it comes to Italian chocolate, I promise that I was fair as possible with my assessment of Amedei. Once you understand that I didn't know what I had when I reviewed it, you will see why my passion for Italian chocolate remains.

Amedei is located in Pontedera, Italy. It's in the northern region of Tuscany, close to the water near Pisa.

The abridged version of their story is the brother and sister duo Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri, had no prior experience when starting out. They made praline fillings and remolded wholesale chocolate. Cecilia began to fine tune her craft while Alessio began to travel and investigate the various regions of chocolate through out the world. Read the Journey To The Country Of Origin from their website. Finding beans from the greatest chocolate producing regions of the world, they transformed themselves and are now regarded as one of the best chocolate producers in the world. Again, read the articles from the beginning of this post to gain a deeper prospective of Alessio and Cecilia and their efforts with cocoa plantations.

[Image via Transfinito]

Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri.


Taken straight from the package of the "9" bar:

The "family treasure". This blend fully expresses the Amedei philosphy. Combined here are cacaos from 9 plantations which, over the years, have been discovered, restored, and rendered productive again by Alessio Tessieri: an exceptional raw material. From this, Cecilia created a powerful and balanced dark chocolate, in which the aromas of the plantations persist in the unmistakeable flavour of this chocolate.

In 2007 Amedei 9, won the silver in the dark chocolate category from the Academy Of Chocolate in London.

2. Best bean to bar:

Gold – Amedei, Chuao - (top marks)
Gold – Amedei Porcelana
Gold – Amedei, Toscano Black 70%
Gold – Michel Cluizel, Maralumi
Gold – Valrhona, Araguani

Silver – Malagasy, Mora Mora
Silver – Amedei ‘9’
Silver – Michel Cluizel, Mangaro
Silver – Domori, Puertomar

In 2009, Amedei 9 took the top honor and won the Golden Bean Award from the Academy of Chocolate.

The Golden Bean. Best bean to bar dark

• THE GOLDEN BEAN Amedei - No 9
• Gold Amedei - Porcelana
• Gold Amano - Madagascar
• Gold Amedei - Toscano Black 70%
• Gold Valrhona - Manjari
• Silver Domori - Il Blend
• Silver Domori - Teyuna
• Silver Amano - Montanya
• Silver Amedei - Toscano Black 63%
• Silver Amano - Ocumare
• Bronze Domori - Puertomar
• Bronze Domori - Puertofino
• Bronze Valrhona - Caraïbe
• Bronze Amano - Jembrana
• Bronze Amedei - Toscano Black 66%

I reviewed last year, one the top Chocolates in the world and didn't know it was awarded one of the best chocolates in the world until I began to recap my notes now. I am the dolt who totally disregarded the winners tag right on the front of the package. Even though Chuao and Porcelana were/are the most coveted, I had the big winner in my hands. Well, let's see what I had to say about this apparent masterpiece.

Amedei 9

Bean Varietal: Blended bar with beans from 9 different plantations.

Type: 75% Bittersweet

Sample Size: 1.75oz or 50g

Ingredients: cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla.

Appearance: Silky, smooth bar, shiny, deep rich dark brown color, simple monogrammed molding.

Score: 93

Snap: Good clean snap, medium audible snapping sound, clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: The first thing I noticed was mint. Fresh minty nose followed by the classic roasted cocoa notes. Light floweriness before inundated with tobacco smokiness, and a faint aroma of grapes.

Score: 96

Taste: Interesting grape and melon taste in the initial staged of the chocolate opening, extremely low bitterness, but a tartness keeps trying to get through. It ends up being subdued, but still lets you know it was there. Mint from aroma appears next, followed by berries. There are definitely Madagascar beans in this bar that make their presence known at the end. Same citric brightness that was trying to get through initially comes through at the end, followed by woody notes, and creamy finish. Finishes dry and not cloying.

Score: 98

Texture: Hard and smooth, slow melt melt at first, but once it opened up it finished like a soft, creamy Madagascar bar.

Score: 95

This is a hallmark Italian chocolate bar. It takes you on a journey. More like a flavor roller coaster. It's unbelievable that you get distinctive varietal hallmarks in stages. It's everything that I want in a chocolate bar. All the classic berry notes, fresh tobacco aroma, new characters like melon and mint, and finishes clean like a Madagascar bar, my newly favorite region. If it didn't have that creamy finish on the end I would have scored the texture lower for sure.

Trademark Italian rounded edges like I talked about before in this post, meaning extremely light bitterness, but citric acid that cleaned the palate at the end.

I really didn't know when I reviewed this that it was voted one of the best dark chocolate bars in the world. My notes agreed. It certainly makes me feel confident in my new chocolate reviewing abilities.

Final Score: 95.2

score
A

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate 75% + Fleur de Sel

Mast Brothers Chocolate Brooklyn, New York.

Take a second to marvel at their gorgeous packaging. Each bar has a different and eccentric package pattern. I love the way they look.

[Image via Lovely Package]

Lovely Package has good collection of images with their various products and packaging. They also have way better photography than I do giving much better justice to these special chocolate wrappers.

A collection of Mast Brothers Bars were sent to me from my good friend Shane Welch, brewer and owner of Sixpoint Craft Ales. Shane has used Mast Brothers cocoa in his beers before and raves about their chocolate. Shane and I also talk a lot of shit to one and other be it politically or in general. That's what home slice's do. He demanded that I try the Mast Brothers chocolate after I proclaimed my love for Italian Chocolatiers. Then one day in the mail, a wonderful package of beer and chocolate was delivered to my door.

From their website:

The Brothers

Rick Mast culled his culinary craft in heralded New York City kitchens such as Gramercy Tavern, Soho House, and the Outermost Inn on Martha's Vineyard, and under Jacques Torres at his Manhattan chocolate factory. A classically trained musician, Rick plays piano and is an amateur banjo player.

Michael Mast, prior to handcrafting chocolate, spent many years in finance for independent film and television in New York. Making chocolate was a disciplined an studious hobby. In recent years, her has combined his love for cocoa, travel, and photography with trips to Central America and Africa.

The Mast Brothers are located in Brooklyn, New York making artisanal chocolate bars. These are hand made bars with cocoa from Madagascar, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador.

Upon receiving their bars, I immediately sent a request for information. How much cocoa butter, why soy lecithin? I indicated my connection with Shane Welch, hoping that would lend some credibility. I heard nothing back. That only means I have minimal information to go on as far as where the beans come from for each particular bar. I know they use single origin beans, but I am not sure of the varietals. Each bar lists ingredients, but not cocoa origin or varietals.

They do have a blog and a Facebook page, but I didn't know that they had those pages when I reviewed this chocolate.

Upon reading their Facebook notes, they seem to do a lot of beer and chocolate tastings. Men after my own heart due to the nature of my beer background. Not to mention when I used to teach beer and chocolate tastings when I worked at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Ma. That's where my chocolate journey began.






Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate 75% + Fleur de Sel

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Sample size: 2.5 oz

Type: Flavored Bittersweet 75%

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, cocoa butter, sea salt, soy lecithin, vanilla beans.

Appearance: Slightly knicked up, but that won't reflect on the score. I believe that came from shipping. Shiny, and simple molding. Slight streak through the bar as if blooming may have begun to occur.

Score: 87

Snap: Clean snap with clean break lines, good snapping sound.

Score: 94

Aroma: Smokey, tobacco, slight roasted cocoa, a little earthy, fruity, berries.

Score: 95

Taste: Salt is the first thing that comes through, but then dissipates as it is not blended through the bar. It's actually quite soft and not overbearing. Adds a nice balance to the bar.

Cocoa has big berry taste, low acidity, no sharp pangs in the neck. Takes a while for the flavors to open up due to slow melting. Smokey tobacco notes, flowery lavender and ginger notes mixed in with berry and smoke notes. Lingering tartness and bitterness at the end when the chocolate has completely melted.

Score: 97

Texture: Dry, hard texture, extremely slow melt, but opens and becomes creamy as it softens though the melt. The salt is delicate and not coarse, it is not gritty, and smooths itself away quickly.

Score: 92

I am guessing that this particular bar was made with the Venezuelan beans. The big berries and smokey nose indicate that that may be where the beans came from. Probably Forastero bean varietal.

The sea salt was excellent for this bar. A nice balance to the sweet berry flavors. The sea salt was sprinkled on lightly, and was not overdone and not too coarse to interfere with the texture.

Very pretty chocolate.

Final Score: 93

score
A-

Amano ~ Madagascar 70%

Amano Artisan Chocolate.

An artisanal bean-to-bar chocolate maker from Orem, UT. The Salt Lake City area in Utah. Their name means "hand made" in Italian. 

The have a solid FAQ where they explain in good detail why they do the things they do. For instance why Salt Lake City?

We believe that the high altitude and dry weather of our location aids in the flavor development process, just one of the many things that allow Amano to create a superior chocolate. It is worth noting that Amano is located at 4,441 feet (1,454 meters) above sea level — higher than many of the Swiss chocolate makers, this makes Amano one of the highest-altitude chocolate manufacturers in the world!

They answer honesty if they are Fair Trade, which they are not. And they answer if they are Kosher, which they are. They answer some really good questions about their operations and about some basics of chocolate.

Please read their FAQ here.

They even have a very detailed guide to tasting. I have had that tasting guide listed on my sidebar since I started this blog. I came across their notes in doing my own research on how to taste chocolate. It is a great read on how to taste chocolate.

This chocolate bar came to me once again by trade with my friend Emily Shartin. I was very excited because I had another go with a Madagascar bar from the Sambirano Valley.

After trying Madagascar chocolate from Rogue Chocolatier, I am happy to say that this was exciting for me. I really enjoy Madagascar beans. They are very unique, and for me at this moment in time, I find them to be the best that there is.

Amano backs up their chocolate with a single origin guarantee and how to tell if other chocolate says it is Single Origin but really not. Here is a quick list of what to look for.

Labeling:

-If the chocolate is labeled or marketed as a single variety bar, it does not contain chocolate from beans from other variety -- unless clearly labeled on the chocolate's packaging.
-If the chocolate is labeled or marketed as originating from a specific origin or uses the name of a particular origin, it may be assumed by the consumer that it is from that origin unless it is explicitly labeled otherwise on the chocolates package.
-If the chocolate is labeled or marketed as being from a specific variety of bean, unless specifically labeled otherwise, it will not contain any other varieties of bean.

They also discuss cross contamination as well as the effects of cocoa butter from different beans.

Amano Madagascar 70%

Lot #: 3/4/66

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole vanilla beans.

Bean Varietal: Venezuelan Criollo cultivated in the Sambirano Valley of Madagascar.

Type: Bittersweet 70%

Sample size: 2oz or 56g

Appearance: Very light in color. It is a dark brown, but far lighter than most bittersweet bars. Looks almost like milk chocolate. Not very shiny, slightly chalky. Good molding.

Score: 92

Snap: Excellent snap. Nice audible snap, clean break.

Score: 99

Aroma: Big rubber aroma, smokey, mild roasted bean notes, Slight hints of black pepper, mildly fruity. Rubber notes make all other aromas hard to pinpoint.

Score: 87

Taste: Tangy acidic notes, very delicate flavors, very mild bitterness, bright citrus notes in the beginning, slight hints of wood become present in the middle of the chocolate opening up, roasted beans, tart berries, a very slight vodka note once the berry flavors open up, but not ester-y or alcoholic hot.

Score: 95

Texture: Hard and bit crumbly if bitten into, very slow melt, not very creamy. Smooth melt, with zero grittiness.

Score: 79

This was a great bar, but overall not as good as the Rogue Madagascar bar. The rubber aroma was too dominating for other aromas to come forward. The light creamy milk chocolate appearance was fantastic, but still a little chalky looking and not shiny. I was least impressed with the texture, it's almost too hard. But being hard gave way to a great snap quality.

The flavors are delicate and much more subdued than I expected. Bright citrus flavors are to be expected with Madagascar beans, but this bar seemed like it was holding back. I still appreciated the delicate nature of this bar from it's color and taste despite all that is to be expected.

Most curious were the vodka notes again. They were present only briefly when the berry notes began to surface. This one had no boozy heat on it, but the flavor was distinctly vodka. I need to research more on what causes this effect on Madagascar beans.

Final Score: 90.4

score
B+