20°N & 20°S

Patric Chocolate ~ Madagascar 67%

For at least year, I have been talking to Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate located in Columbia, Mo., through Twitter. I found him in the beginning days of wanting to start this blog. That was back in May of 2009. I didn't have much to talk about when it came to this blog because I didn't really begin to upload my previous reviews of 2009 until Jan of 2010. "Hey, I am a blogger with no content yet, but I want to know more about your product."

Once I began to get the ball rolling, I became reacquainted with Alan and Patric Chocolate. As he tells it, he kept running across my site as I began uploading the reviews and and he kept asking, "Who is this person? I think I have talked to them before."

I had a similar experience in finding his brand. Twitter searches of chocolate, Google searches of bean-to-bar producers, his name repeatedly came up. So I started to follow him. I watched all the tweets come in for new releases.

Very envious and jealous that I wasn't one of the recipients of these special release bars, I began writing about everything I have had or was getting my hands on. Eventually our paths crossed again and this time I was fortunate to be on the receiving end of a sample collection from him. Most generous of him.

How lucky am I to have this life?

Alan sent me his whole line from drinking chocolate, cocoa nibs, to a collection of his bars. All of his bars using Madagascar beans, which currently happen to be my favorite region. Plus his newer release of Rio Caribe, from Venezuela.

I am trying to come up with the best way to use those nibs. I hope I can find a worthy enough recipe. He does have a recipe for cookies using his nibs. I will make sure I blog that adventure when the time comes.

Look for two newer bars to hit the market soon. All Alan will say about it, is that one is a refined version of a classic in his profile, and the other one will be an entirely new origin. I can't wait. They better end up on my door step.

                         [Image via Scrumptious Street]

I just spoke with Alan today for about an hour and a half about various matters including his love for Madagascar beans, beer, which brewers are using his cocoa beans, and how he can venture into the beer world with his cocoa nibs, and what he thinks of 20°N & 20°S.

When I asked Alan, about how he came to use mostly Madagascar beans, he described it like finding music worth buying. Talking about how you hear pop music and you nod your head to it, but the music you really want to buy blows you away. It was sort of like this when he found the flavor profiles of Madagascar beans.

He and I both agree, that while there are very different regions with different experiences and flavor profiles, Madagascar beans tend to be the most interesting. At least for the time being. You never know what is going to come around the corner and wow you. Be it a new hybrid, or an old classic.

His beans from Madagascar in the Sambirano Valley, come from a family owned farm. It was split off from a larger plantation. The beans originally came from Java, but little is known about the exact origins of how chocolate came to be in Madagascar. Some have noted that it was the French who brought the beans to Madagascar.

Alan is reluctant to talk about specific bean varietals. With 12 known genetic families and many, many hybrids around, he takes the safe route in not specifically identifying a varietal. Without genetic testing, there is no way to know for sure. The original beans arriving in Madagascar were Criollo probably from Mexico or Venezuela. But later imports added more of a genetic variation. This is general information collected from the back of the Patric Chocolate bar.

Alan has a good blog where he talks more extensively about the myth of the Criollo bean. I have this highlighted on my side bar about chocolate information.

Something Alan and I have in common aside from many tattoos, is beer. As he begins to sell his nibs to brewers, he is beginning to make the same comparisons as I have with craft beer and craft chocolate making. It's all about the care and effort put into your product. Drinking craft beer and understanding how it is made, has made me understand my palate better. It's helped me to taste and understand chocolate better. All the same nuances of smelling and tasting apply. We are one in this community of making craft artisanal products. It takes time to branch out and get your name out there. And it takes advocates such as myself to push brands we like and care about into the forefront of our taste experiences.

This begins my journey with Patric Chocolate. Well technically my journey began by tasting amazingly delicious truffles made with his Madagascar cocoa. But this begins my journey with his bean-to-bar creations.

Patric Chocolate Madagascar 67% (Sambirano Valley)

Type: Bittersweet 67%

Bean Varietal: Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter (3.75% by weight of coco butter added. Cocoa butter is made with the same Madagascar beans.)

Sample Size: 50g or 1.75oz

Lot #: 101835

Appearance: Simple molding with a monogrammed P. Shiny and smooth, a little lighter in color than the usual deep rich browns.

Score: 94

Snap: Excellent crisp snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 97

Aroma: Big almonds upon first opening, hints of mint and tobacco like a minty snuff tin. Mild tar and rubber notes, roasted cocoa.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet at first, then tart citrus, acidic, bold flavors, big vodka taste and cedar notes, roasted cocoa, and black cherries.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth and creamy. Fast melt.

Score: 94

There is a lot going on here. The flavors are so big and robust. Big, sharp citrus, wood, and vodka. I still to this day do not know what causes that characteristic, but it is all over this bar. It finishes with a little bitterness, black cherries, and classic roasted cocoa flavors.

I love this bar for it's big characteristics. One of the few bars with a score this high was the Rogue Madagascar Sambirano 70%. That bar had the same big vodka esters but was a lot softer on the edges. I loved it for the soft edges. But I love this Patric bar for the bolder flavors. It's so bright and kicks you in the face with flavor. This bar has all the classic hallmarks of the region the beans are grown in. 

Two American small-batch producers of chocolate have rocked my world by way of bean-to-bar. This completely reminds me of American craft beer. All the classic beer making countries have their traditions and history, but it's the Americans coming in with these small craft creations and are completely stealing the show. Stealing the spotlight, the thunder, and all other analogies you can think of.

Final Score: 95.2

score
A

Aroa Fine Chocolate ~ Boston

Aroa Fine Chocolate
1651 Washington St.
Boston, Ma. 02118
617-425-4988

At the last minute I was emailed by a good friend Veronique Le Melle, of the Boston Center For the Arts, about a chocolate tasting happening at Aroa Fine Chocolates in the South End of Boston. I just told Veronique, over the weekend about my new hobby which is 20°N & 20°S. Come Monday there was an invite for this open house. I was so grateful to have been able to go. Wait until you see the post below to find out why I was so grateful.

Another friend of mine Robert Aguilera, my old boss from Formaggio Kitchen, had been telling me for just over a year to come over to Aroa Fine to meet the owners and the chocolatiers to get a good feel for their concept. Finally, I was able to make this happen.

Aroa organized an open house with champagne and beers with a small tour of their facility too see their machinery and tempering equipment. Anything you wanted to taste was available including truffles, pastries, chocolate dipped strawberries, and teas.

They also have tastings in their shop every Tuesday with chocolate history and sampling for only $10. Look for future beer and chocolate pairings with BeerAdvocate and Aroa Fine.

Aroa works exclusively with El Rey chocolate. El Rey is one of the bean-to-bar producers of chocolate in Venezuela working with some of the great bean regions of Venezuela. Why they chose Venezuelan chocolate.

Fair Trade via Wikipedia:

El Rey offers consumers gourmet chocolate made from fairly traded cacao beans direct from small and large-scale growers in Venezuela. El Rey has managed to eliminate all kinds of middlemen, otherwise known as “coyotes”, who pay lowest possible price to growers by establishing Aprocao a democratically run cooperative that pays above market price for its cacao beans. Their trading partners are small growers and large who deal directly with Aprocao without intermediaries. Through Aprocao El Rey teaches growers how to manage the soil in a sustainable agricultural system promoting natural cycles without chemical pesticides or fertilizers and how to ferment each cacao harvest to earn the best price.

Tim Brown is the Executive Pastry Chef hailing from Cape Town, South Africa.

Bio Via Aroa Fine website:

From South Africa to England to the United States: Tim Brown’s journey from bed boy to Executive Pastry Chef at Aroa Fine Chocolate

Most professional chefs begin learning about food at home, watching their mothers and grandmothers preparing family meals, but Tim Brown’s journey to the professional kitchen began in the misery of boot camp in the South African Army.

“It was hotter than hell,” he recalls, “and I was facing the prospect of a year of required service in the army or another military division. All I could think about was how on earth I might get out of there! Near the end of boot camp, all the sections of the military held what can only be described as a glorified career day. You name it, they were there: navy seals, the air force, paratroopers, all of them putting on their best show to attract people coming out of boot camp.

“I was sitting next to a guy from Cape Town, where I’m from, trying to figure out which of these divisions would make a year go by the fastest, when he told me about his brother, who had landed in an army kitchen and had a great time: all the food he could eat and all the milk he could drink. This intrigued me. Since food is like a currency in the army, I also had to assume that this fellow was never wanting for smokes or biltong (what Americans call jerky).

“I got up, headed over to the Catering Corp presentation, and was immediately hooked. Here was my easy way out of having to run around the bush playing soldier. I had no idea it would provide me a career that would bring me to America and Aroa Fine Chocolate.

“After boot camp, I was sent to Catering College for three months of training. It was even easier than I had expected: the food was great, there were hardly any drills, and there was no rifle to clean every night. What’s more, we could sneak over the fence at night and party until dawn.

“After some basic food and sanitation courses, to my amazement and delight I was shipped back to Cape Town rather than to some remote army post, and I landed in the Officers Mess under Sergeant Major Samuels. I didn’t realize it then, but this was the defining moment of my career, because Sergeant Major Samuels was more like a general manager of a fine hotel than an army officer. He was driven to provide the best possible service and food to resident officers and visitors, and he took me under his wing.

“That doesn’t mean I was led directly to a stove. I started out as a bed boy, making beds and polishing boots, hoping for tips from officers. When my duties were finished but my shift wasn’t over, I usually landed in the kitchen, where I would lend a hand as needed. Soon enough, Sergeant Major Samuels decided to move me into the kitchen full-time.

“In the beginning, I really did not like the actual cooking as much as the theater of the lunch or dinner rush: Waiters coming into the kitchen needing this, needing that. Chefs yelling for stewards to clean up. It was unbelievable. From where I was standing, in front of the toaster, I was getting a ‘high.’ Actually, a chef told me that the correct word for this feeling was ‘rush.’ I figured he should know, because he was a recovering addict!

“By the end of the year, Sergeant Major Samuels asked me if I wanted to stay, but I was determined to show off my new skills to every hotel and restaurant in town. He kindly arranged a job for me at a local seafood restaurant. I had never seen anything like it: volumes and volumes of food going out of the kitchen, lunch and dinner. On my first shift I must have prepared 200 pounds of French fries. That was all I was responsible for. Go downstairs and order the potatoes. Bring them up. Blanche them. Get them over to the service line thirty minutes before the start of the meal period. Listen to the chef calling out the orders. Have the fries in the right place at the right time. And don’t forget to make sure the fryer is on and the oil is hot, a lesson I learned the hard way.

“Slinging fish and chips was fun, but I knew that I needed a degree or some sort of certificate, so I took an apprenticeship at a winery outside of Cape Town. I spent the next three years been yelled at, making regular trips to the doctor for cuts, some deep and some not so deep, and learning. At the end of my apprenticeship I wanted to leave South Africa, because I thought that the food was old and boring. The culinary scene has changed vastly in the decade since I left, and now there are countless chefs with great reputations and great restaurants.

“So I moved to England to see what I could see. It was a great step for me. I saw a lot of different foods in one place. I bounced from job to job trying to experience as much as possible. My work visa was only valid for two years and time was running out rather quickly, so I decided to apply for work in English-speaking countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. The Emerson Inn and Spa in upstate New York was the first to offer me work and assistance obtaining a visa, and that’s how I came to America.”

In addition to helping open Emerson, Tim has trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Poughkeepsie, New York, and at the Valrhona School of Chocolate in Hermitage, France. Prior to joining Aroa, he was the Executive Pastry Chef at the acclaimed Wheatleigh Hotel in the Berkshires and the Turnberry Isle Resort and Club in Miami, Florida.

Aroa Fine Chocolate is thrilled to have Tim Brown running its kitchen, where he is using his broad array of skills and experiences to craft El Rey Venezuelan chocolate into the finest pastries, truffles, candies, and other confections in the Boston area.

Let's get to the chocolate and pastries. Click on any picture to expand. Trust me you will want to for these pictures.

At first glance:

Hot chocolate collections.




Welcoming assortments: Hand painted chocolate lollipops in the shapes of shamrocks and lobsters, chocolate dipped strawberries, and some left over Valentine's day heart lollipops.

 

 

Whoopie pies, chocolate dipped Madeleines, and lime salt caramels.





Lovely pastries.




These were probably my favorite of the night. Pate de Fruit's made with Guava, Cassis (black currents), and Passion Fruit. They were so soft and not overly chewy. They went fabulously with the free-flowing champagne. Also pictured is their chocolate dipped dried apricots.







Production line and tempering machines. Dark, white, and milk.

Melanie, the gracious pastry chef and tour guide though their various truffles.

Truffle tastings: Mexican and Vanilla, Stout (made with Guinness).






Bourbon (Jim Beam) and Port Wine.







Various Truffles.









Macaroons.





And as a parting gift, Melanie had given me a taste of their Earl Grey and Peanut-butter and Jelly truffle. In the gift bag included more information about Aroa Fine along with a Rio Caribe 60% semisweet bar, El Rey tasting kit, and another small box of truffles.









This was an amazing little open house. The folks at Aroa Fine Chocolate are very generous, informative, nice, and thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to new people about their products. Everything I tasted, I loved. I highly recommend this place. I just wish I new about it before the BeerAdvocate Extreme Beer Festival last weekend. I would have sent festival attendees and brewers in droves over to this place.

I had a good time as well, talking to David Goldstein of Boston Chocolate Tours. He usually starts his tours of the South End with Aroa Fine.

What a great evening with chocolate and new friends in the industry.

British Chocolate Invasion

 

A few weeks ago, I contacted a good friend of mine named Angelo, who lives in London, to "pretty please, with sprinkles on top" bring me back a collection of chocolate from some of the shops in London. He was coming out to visit Boston for our BeerAdvocate Extreme Beer Festival. I figured it would be a great way to save myself individual ordering and shipping costs.

Well, he certainly completed the mission and now I really don't know what to do with myself. I already have about 25 bars of chocolate in a queue up for review. I can't say my life is hard. I won't allow anyone to pity me. No, don't. Do not feel bad for me.

Long chocolate Bar from CocoMaya.

 

Chocolate stiring cubes and chocolate bars from Melt.

 

Melange Chocolate flavored chocolate strips. Not even bars, but rather delicate, thin straps of chocolate.

 

Paul A. Young chocolate bars.

 


Willie's World Class Cacao chocolate bars.

 

William Curley chocolate bars.

Demarquette chocolate bars.


 

 
 



Montezuma's Organic chocolate bars.

Rococo chocolate bars.

A single bar from The Grenada Chocolate Company.

Theobroma Cacao Single Origin buttons.

And this is going in the garbage because this household supports Tottenham Hotspur!

 

Thank you Angelo, for spending a lot of pounds to keep me busy for a while! 20°N & 20°S fans thank you too!

Valentine's Day Haul

 

Yep, my husband knows what I like. I had been recommending L.A. Burdick's all week on Twitter as a great recommendation for others on Valentine's Day. My Husband followed my advice. I got a nice full package of goodies.

L.A. Burdick's makes handmade truffles and chocolates. They have three cafes with an actual restaurant located in Walpole, New Hampshire. The other two cafes are in the Flatiron district of New York City, and Harvard Sq. in Cambridge, Ma. At the Harvard Sq. location, you can get a beautiful cup of hot tea, coffee drinks, or one of their fabulous hot chocolates. They also have small pastries. The Harvard Sq. pastry comes highly recommended by me personally.

First thing I pulled out was a bag of chocolate intended for hot chocolate. It came with a whisk too. If anyone is familiar with L.A. Burdick's, they make simply the best cup of hot chocolate. It's so rich and delicious. So to have the ability to make my own at home is a great gift.

I pulled these out of the bag next. A collection of single origin dark chocolate bars Burdick's is making now. I am very happy to see these bars, but I am thinking about all the chocolate I have to review. Over 25 bars in the queue, with more on the way from London, England, and Brooklyn, New York.

Venezuela 72%
Grenada 75%
Madagascar 64%





  

An assortment of chocolates. The picky side of me wishes they came in the wooden box collection they have for truffles, but what I am going to do, complain that I got truffles anyway? Pfft.

These are Burdick's famous Mice and Penguin Truffles. Delicious and cute. They also have other specialty truffles they offer through out the holidays. Like ghosts for Halloween and bunnies for Easter.

And finally, one last little assortment of chocolates.

Now that Valentine's Day is over, that doesn't mean you can't still go over there and pick up a nice steaming hot chocolate. Don't miss their Lunar New Year collection as well. It's the Chinese New Year, Year of the Tiger. They ship for those not lucky enough to live close to one of their locations.

Burdick's also offers a 4 day, in-depth Chocolate Cooking School at their facilities in Walpole. 

Burdick Chocolate offers a four day, hands-on workshop teaching the basics of fine chocolate making. This is a rare opportunity to build a familiarity with the ins and outs of preparing chocolate bonbons and confections and to gain a basic command of this complex food. We cover the practical arts of cooking ganache fillings, tempering chocolate, hand-cutting and dipping of bonbons, truffle making, the creation of distinctive chocolate confections, and more. The workshop offers an all-round education into the connoisseurship of high quality chocolate – from its history, to the sourcing, preparation and preservation of it in the home kitchen.

Each participant will go home with a course handbook covering what they learned in the class; plus all of your “kitchen” results will be packed up at the end of the work week and shipped home for your family to enjoy!