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Willie's Delectable Cacao ~ Javan Light Breaking 69%

Willie's Delectable Cacao

 

** This is just a straight up review. I promise to give more details and a more in depth write about Willie's with the next review.

“Sourced near Surabaya in East Java, Indonesia, this single bean cacao has been carefully roasted in our factory in Devon using traditional methods to capture the bean’s light caramel notes. Its characteristics change with each harvest – like fine wine.”

Javan Light Breaking

Type: Bittersweet, 69%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, but probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cocoa solids (69% minimum), cocoa mass, cocoa butter, Cuban raw cane sugar.

Sample Size: 80g or 2.82oz

Batch #: 3-0002



Appearance: Square tablet, monogrammed, light in color, soft brown, a bit banged up, with nicks on the edges that left chocolate particles all over the surface.

Score: 87

Snap: Excellent snap, firm and crisp. Unlined molding gives way to asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Roasted peanuts, sweet caramel, deep coffee notes, a little green leaf aroma, slight floral hints, and mild notes of tar and tobacco.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet sugars up front, nutty, and caramel, then very quickly opens up a little green and woody, acidic and tart, lightly bitter like a medium body cup of coffee, roasted cocoa, tar, mildly fruity with hints of strawberries.

Score: 92

Texture: Smooth surface but a little rough on the tongue and lightly grainy, a bit chewy, medium melt time.

Score: 90


The aroma was simply amazing on this chocolate. Deeply rich and roasted cocoa notes with big roasted peanuts and a wonderful creamy caramel aroma.

The taste I feel like didn't match the quality of the aroma. While it was good tasting cocoa, it reminded me more of coffee than chocolate with the acidity and bitterness. It wasn't sharp acidity, but like I mentioned above, more like the kind of bitterness from a medium roasted cup of coffee. The bitterness lingers on the palate like a cup of coffee as well making it difficult for retro-olfaction flavors to come through.

I really wanted to taste big roasted peanuts on this bar as indicated in the nose. It had a nutty flavor but I feel like it didn't match the nose. I wanted the same thing for the caramel aroma. I wanted this chocolate to be buttery and sweet like the caramel aroma. It was flavorful and rich, but over powered by the lingering acidity.

Having said everything I wanted to see happen with this chocolate, it doesn't mean it wasn't good chocolate. It had interesting flavor spikes. Green leafy flavors, freshly cut wood, slight hints of strawberries, earthy charred flavors or tar. It bounces all over the place up front with these flavors but then they are overtaken with acidity.

The texture wasn't as smooth as I had hoped for, but with old school techniques, it's fairly smooth. It has an interesting chewy texture as well coupled with a medium melt time. 

Final Score: 91.6

score
B+

Jacques Torres French Kiss Cookies

While in Brooklyn, Ny. over the 4th of July weekend, I stopped by Jacques Torres in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn. While there, I picked up a box of their French Kiss cookie mix.

Today, I had a hankering for them. I also had to go off the cuff today and have some milk with them. I am not supposed to have American milk so much these days. Too many added hormones to the milk and it wrecks my skin. Funny how I can have regular milk or raw and unpasteurized milk in Europe with no problems whatsoever. I have no idea if it will do it now, but if it does, it was completely worth it to have these super rich and disgustingly good and messy cookies. 

One box of cookie mix with Belgian chocolate disks. All you need is 1 stick of butter and one large egg.

 

A few tips:

I added a tiny hit of vanilla extract for some added liquid to the mix. You can also add a small hit of almond extract instead which works awesomely with cookie dough. 

These are supposed to be big and only yield about 14 to 16 cookies. When mixing the dough, it might look like they will not yield that much, but they do.

They are so super gooey that a cooling rack is NOT a good idea until they have sat out and cooled on their tray for a longer period of time than you would allow for normal cookies.

I found that I manually formed most of these cookies. The disks are so big and I wanted to avoid having some with little or no chocolate and some being all chocolate. 

You MUST have these with milk! They are so rich and chocolate-y that you simply can't avoid a glass. Also, if you eat them warm, they are single handedly the most gooey and messy cookies I have ever eaten.

Laurent Gerbaud, Belgium

Image via Station Gourmande

I recently got back from a quick trip to Belgium. The point of the trip was to witness my husband Todd and his brother Jason, get knighted by the Knighthood of the Brewers' Mash Staff (Belgian Brewers' Guild). Yes, it was a trip all about beer. But the beer helped me with a good tip on chocolate.

While visiting Moeder Lambic (probably one of the best beer bars in the world), Jean Hummler of Moeder Lambic recommended Laurent Gerbaud to me. We were discussing side hobbies and passions outside of beer. I told him I write about chocolate and that I am staying the most touristy part of Brussels, the chocolate shops were plentiful and equally touristy. A couple of saving graces for the serious chocolate fan were Valrhona, Galler, and of course the famed Pierre Marcolini. 

Jean told me Laurent's shop was very close to the bar. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it over there in time. I also, wasn't able to make it to Pierre Marcolini. This is okay with me because it just means I HAVE to go back now and maybe I will be back for Christmas. Imagine all the special treats at Christmas time. Nothing is more special than a gaudy European chocolate shop at Christmas time.

Not to worry. On one of our hardcore drinking nights, we naturally ended up back at the Moeder Lambic and amazingly, Jean took time out of his own personal day to get me a few noshes from Laurent Gerbaud. 

Since I wasn't able to visit his shop or speak with him directly, here are some blurbs about Laurent, his concept, and his special blend of couverture chocolate via his website:

LAURENT GERBAUD, chocolatier in Brussels marries chocolate, fruit and spices for 7 years. During a prolonged stay in China, he discovers the rich realm of Asian tastes and smells and begins to coat delicious kumquats (small candied oranges) with dark chocolate: an unexpected delicacy. Back in Belgium he passionately continues to create tasty combinations : "I do only what I like. When I am developing products, my only guide is my personal taste". The ingredients that compose each of his creations are all selected among the best ones in their league, and each delicacy is hand-made: " The chocolate and every ingredient we use are noble and precious: their character can be preserved only through a hand-made treatment."

These jewels are presented in a sophisticated packaging that visually enhances each product and turns them into irresistible temptations: precious gifts or a personal treat. The very distinctive LAURENT GERBAUD's logo features a red seal with the word 'chocolate' in Chinese. The deep and bright colours help create a distinctive identity to the range and contribute to evoke the world of tastes and travels in store.

LAURENT GERBAUD's chocolates are currently sold in more than fifty delicacy stores and specialized tea shops in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, London and other main cities in Europe.

The new range of LAURENT GERBAUD Dark Chocolate 70% is built around an exceptional chocolate couverture prepared by Domori according to an exclusive recipe. Domori, one of the best luxury couverture chocolate makers in Europe, works only with the best cocoa beans in very small quantities, using a manufacturing process that allows the expression of all aromas of the chocolate. This philosophy met exactly LAURENT GERBAUD's own objectives, and so began a very nice partnership. This exclusive Chocolate is to be compared with vintage wines: these wines are made of specific types of grapes which develop special aromas according to their growing soil. The same happens with chocolates: they are made of specific cocoa beans selected for their aromatic and tasting qualities. LAURENT GERBAUD's exclusive mix is composed of Trinitario beans (5% of global cocoa production) originating from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar and of Nacional beans (2% of global production), a Forastero unique of its kind, exclusively grown in Ecuador. The Trinitario beans give the chocolate its richness and aromatic intensity whilst the Nacional beans care for its exceptional length.

Treatment of small quantities of beans as well as low temperatures during the whole manufacturing process are essential factors to the preservation of the subtle and unique aromas of those noble cocoas. Not using soy lecithin ensures the mix is closer to the original chocolate recipe. This Dark Chocolate with intense and powerful taste has been developed especially to fit perfectly with the fruits used by LAURENT GERBAUD in his compositions.

The Milk Chocolate 50% designed by Domori for LAURENT GERBAUD is also a mix of rare Nacional beans from Ecuador. It holds 50% of cocoa, has exceptional sweetness and softness. A touch of Guérande salt completes this subtle picture. The Milk Chocolate contains a very small percentage of soy lecithin.

Now, these got back to the States in the best condition I could manage. They were stashed in my carry on, kept close to me without a lot of bumping. But being loosely packed, don't expect shining displays of glory. I was meant to eat these in Belgium, but selfishly, I stowed them away to write about when I got home. 

 

 

The plain disks were loaded with the aromas from the candied orange peels and candied ginger. But you can taste the cedar wood notes from the Madagascar beans and the drying effect and rounded edges from the Nacional beans. Hints of cinnamon, cherries, cedar wood, and some hidden berries.

Excellent quality. Rich, bittersweet, not heavily sweetened. With the salted cashews, this is the prefect blend. I like that the salt and cashew oils tone down a lot of that cinnamon flavor.

**Todd loved cashews. Too bad for Todd, he was Knighted in Belgium. He got a medal and all the attention he could handle. I am not sharing my Belgian prize of these cashew chocolate disks with him. 

 

Prunes dipped in chocolate. Again this blend works wonderfully with dried fruits. Sweet, prunes, but not overly sweet, and rich dominating chocolate.

However, the dried fruits draw out more of the cinnamon notes. I like the salted cashews which tame the cinnamon notes and allow for more of the raw cocoa taste to come through while being blended with the cashew flavors.

The second picture are chocolate balls filled with a gorgeous hazelnut paste of butter. Lightly sweetened and naturally oily. Like a chunky peanut butter filling but better because it's delicious hazelnuts. Simply fantastic.

The candied ginger and orange peel I passed on to my husband. I am not a fan of candied peels, and I really don't like ginger all that much. I did take a nibble into the ginger, and I can say it did work with really well with the chocolate blend. If I can recognize a good match in something I don't even like, then that is worth noting. Again, not my favorite so I passed it to my husband.

And the other are assorted truffles or bonbons. Again, using the house blended cocoa. Lovely flavors with that awesome finishing touch of Madagascar cedar wood flavors, cherries, and that clean drying finish of the Nacional beans. 

I am so glad this was recommended to me. In a sea of tourist chocolate like Godiva and Neuhaus, this comes a great treat and a shining beacon for Belgian chocolate. 

Next time I am in Belgium, I will have this chocolate with Jean, and take his beer list and do a real comprehensive Belgian beer and chocolate tasting. Those will be true notes to look forward to.

Thank You William Curley!

I haven't had much time to blog about chocolate recently. Work, beer dinners, charity auctions, a trip to Belgium, and next week a trip to Denver. I have been incredibly backlogged. But I haven't forgotten about a very special package sent to me by William Curley in London.

A while back, I wrote a rather harsh review of one of his chocolate bars. A friend of mine stormed London and brought back over 50 bars of chocolate for me. WC was definitely on the list. The Caramel Sea Salt bar from WC was fantastic. But one of the bars of chocolate was off. I stand by the review.

Mr. Curley had seen the review and offered to send a replacement. Sending things overseas is a big deal to me. Not only did he send a replacement bar, but two other caramel bars, caramelized hazelnuts, and a box of assorted truffles.

Way above and beyond customer service. These things really matter. Yes, if something is off most people do expect some sort of compensation. I am just not one of these people who demands it unless the service has been really bad or the person behind it is unworthy or rude. William Curley couldn't be more gracious. I am grateful for such a nice package.

 

This a serious assortment of truffles too. Interesting and unusual flavors not to mention WC uses famed Amedei chocolate for his coverture chocolate.

* Every truffle contains butter, cream, and invert sugar. May contain nuts, sesame seeds, wheat, alcohol, honey, and gold leaf.

Amedei Chuao 

Made with Chuao cacao (Criollo) from Amedei in Italy. 70% dark chocolate from the Chuao peninsula of Venezuela and topped with a small hint of gold flakes. Amedei is considered by me and many around the world to be one of the finest chocolate makers in the world WC uses their chocolate as couverture chocolate. Amedei Chuao is widely considered one of the best chocolates in the world and have won many awards for this chocolate. Chuao beans are also considered to be some of the worlds most rare and finest cacao. 

Soft, smooth texture, slightly tangy, rich, buttery, and creamy filling with hints of pepper and honey. (Some flavor profiles may be because of direct contact with other truffles in the box.)

Normally I find beer and chocolate a much more suitable match. I think this is a red wine truffle all the way. This truffle is complex and almost a little savory.

Raspberry & Toscano 

Half raspberry gelee filling topped with a layer of soft truffle filling made with Amedei Toscano (Criollo, Trinitario blend) 70% dark chocolate.

Soft, creamy and delicate chocolate filling on top of a sweet raspberry gelee square with the seeds in it. Natural flavors make this more sweet and fruity than tangy. Chocolate is sweeter and softer than the Amedei Chuao.

Very, very nice truffle.

Fresh Mint

Super soft center slightly sunken in shell top, light and delicate mint flavor, bright but not overwhelming, brief tangy sharpness up front to this truffle, smooth and creamy texture. Slightly milky after taste on the chocolate.

Once again, a very nice truffle. Subtle minty flavors and uncomplicated cocoa flavors. 

Caramel

Soft, gooey center, tangy. At first I thought this was the Heather and Thyme truffle. The caramel had honey like flavors and herb tastes that were similar to flavors found in beer. Naturally I thought it was the heather but the thyme flavors were virtually nil. And identified the thyme and heather truffle later on. It could be a small taste of the Assam caramel bar! I really hope it is, because it's quite delicious and would be amazing in a full bar.

Passion Fruit & Mango

This one was a big rough looking around the edges, but gorgeous in taste. A bit acidic and tart from the fruits, but softer passion fruit and mango flavors made for a lovely truffle and balanced the rich chocolate.

A nice little surprise with this one.

Apricot & Wasabi

 

Soft apricot gelee topped with a layer of soft ganache. Barely noticeable wasabi flavor. A bit disappointing with this one as I was expecting some heat. No heat and virtually no wasabi flavor. On the upside, it was still a delicious bite, with more focus on the cocoa flavors and stone fruit flavors.

Blackcurrent & Juniper Berry

Very nice truffle. Black current gelee topped with a juniper berry ganache. The flavors pop and are quite distinguishable, but do not linger and are not over powering. The rich chocolate is also not over powering. It's almost palate cleansing in a way as the rich flavors sort of cancel each other out. They make their presence known and then bow out to the other flavors.

Sea Salt Caramel

This is my favorite. As was the Sea Salt Caramel bar, this one is a small bit of that. Rich, super soft, buttery, and lightly salty caramel around a molded chocolate cover. The top design is covered with cocoa pods. This is the taste of Amedei that I love. Rich chocolate that takes it's time opening up so you are allowed to enjoy the caramel. Once you have been swept away by the rich caramel, the bold and savory cocoa flavors leave a lasting lingering finish.

Just fantastic!

Piedmont Hazelnut

This top shell design reminds me of beer rings or the logo of Camrbidge Brewing Co. I expected this to be a gianduja center but was delighted at the actual hazelnuts inside. Sweet and honey like flavors, a crispy hazelnut bottom, with a chocolate ganache top. Lovely and not heavy. Gianduja can sometimes be very rich. This was very sweet but light and delicious.

A nice break from all the soft textured truffles. Though the gelee centers have been very enjoyable.

Richmond Park Honey

Sweet and lightly tangy, buttery ganache with soft smooth finish. Very delicate with slight floral hints. This was one I was least impressed with flavor wise, but with the super high quality of these truffles, it's not like it's bad quality. Still has a rich cocoa flavor with a gorgeous buttery, and soft texture. Still fabulous.

Toasted Sesasme

I found the missing seeds from this truffle under the Piedmont Hazelnut. The toasted sesame seeds were nice with chocolate. They gave it almost a sesame seed brittle taste. However, the ganache center was very floral and citrus-y. Bright and but not tart ganache with lovely roasted cocoa.

Thyme and Scottish Heather Honey

Very herbal and flavorful. Not too cloying with the honey. The thyme comes out right up front finishing with a soft heather honey flavor. The herbal flavors roll nicely with the rich chocolate. A sweet lingering finish is left from the soft honey. 

Once again, a very big thank you to William Curley for taking time out to send a lovely care package all this way. I am forever grateful and the truffles were to die for. Excellent quality. I can't wait until I am back in London so I can sit in his shop and have more of his fine offerings.

Look soon for me to post my notes from the Caramel bars and the house bar reviews part 2.

Cream-Nut Milk & Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters

 

Mighty Tastee! Since 1910

Stamped with the Made in the United States of America seal.

Cream-Nut is natural peanut butter made by the Koeze Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

History:

The Cream-Nut story begins when Sibbele Koeze emigrated to America from the Netherlands in the 1880’s. He built upon his Old World commitment to handcrafted, artisanal food and in 1910 established a thriving produce business.

What Sibbele Koeze started with his dedication to quality, value, and service, remains the story of Koeze Company today. Sibbele’s son, Albertus, went to work for his father and soon after directed the Koeze Company’s entry in the manufacture of fine hand-crafted peanut butter. Now, more than eighty years later, Albertus’ grandson, Jeff, is still making the same heritage, all-natural peanut butter.

To make a vintage product, we use vintage machinery. Albertus would feel right at home with our classic peanut butter equipment. Though more costly to run and maintain, this machinery allows us to slow down the process and focus on the craftsmanship of Cream-Nut peanut butter.

Selected Virginia peanuts are carefully roasted to a rich dark color, then coarse ground to perfection. To insure attention to detail, we produce small batches, one at a time. We add nothing more than a pinch of salt. There are no artificial colors, preservatives, or sugar, and it’s never homogenized. The result is the best tasting, all-natural peanut butter available. Prized in West Michigan for generations, we’re proud to introduce Cream-Nut to a national audience.

While visiting Brooklyn, my homie Shane Welch, picked up a box of these and demanded that we try one right there on the spot. We were hanging out at a local bar that shall remain nameless for preservation. But with beers and vodka/sodas, these were an excellent treat.

Shane said that they were some of his favorites, but I had never had them before. And after having tried them, I enjoyed them quite a bit myself. They are like caramel turtles only better because it's made with natural peanut butter and not caramel.

If you can find these little gems, get them! I would like to try the peanut butter on it's own next.

Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate. The dark chocolate look slightly ashy, but they were much richer. I think I like them better.

Jacques Torres, DUMBO, Brooklyn

I stopped by Jacques Torres in Brooklyn while visiting over the July 4th weekend. Our friend Cathy Erway, who was showing us the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, told us we NEEDED to try the iced hot chocolate. With the weather being as hot and humid as it was, it was a life saver and unbelievably good.

We also tasted some truffles in the store as well. I didn't buy any to bring home, as it was just too hot to carry around. But I did enjoy the Grand Cru truffle.

Chocolate covered pretzels and marshmallows. 

Chocolate bars and blocks. Word on the street is, Jacques Torres shouldn't be calling his "Jacques' Bean To Bar" a bean-to-bar chocolate bar. Word is, he sources the beans from other companies. But this is a rumor that I never asked about or contacted their company about... yet.

The label bean-to-bar is mostly irrelevant to the average fan of chocolate for the time being. But as chocolate makers grow and the demand picks up for real bean-to-bar chocolate bars, if the rumor is true, they better come correct about it.

Truffles and bark.

Chocolate covered things. Popcorn, nuts, and cornflakes.

 

After checking out the store and buying 72% hot chocolate cocoa, and Jacques Torres French Kiss cookie mix, we headed over to a small park right at the Manhattan Bridge for a a nice little break to sit by the water and people watch.

 

Mast Brothers Brooklyn, New York

A quick trip in to Mast Brothers Chocolate in Brooklyn, New York while visiting over the fourth of July weekend.

I have become quite the fan of the Mast Brothers and even welcomed them to be apart of a special beer and chocolate dinner I hosted last month here in Cambridge. 

The American Craft Beer (Fest) Dinner @ 6/16/210

Click on images to enlarge. 

 

 

Their library of chocolate was running low. Despite these hot summer days, chocolate sales are not slowing down. 

There they are, Michael and Rick rocking the beard masks. Word! And some hand packaging of the finished bars. 

After we took a quick tour, I went with Natasha Mast, the lovely wife of Rick, to a cool little beer hall the Radegast Hall and Biergarten, right next door to watch the World Cup games and drink some beers. They brought a fresh Madagascar bar with sea salt and almonds and the new Grand Cru Patanemo Bar from Venezuela. It was soft and melt-y from the humidity outside, but paired with a Munich Dunkel, it was amazing.

Next time you are in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, stop by their place and get a few bars of amazing chocolate.

Montezuma's ~ Papua New Guinea 64%

Montezuma's organic dark chocolate with beans sourced from Papua New Guinea. Organic chocolate makers from the UK with a bittersweet single origin bar, part of their "Exciting Bars" collection.

Via their website:

A wild and raw country with an immense landscape that produces cocoa the like of which you will love or hate with some degree of passion. This cocoa comes from smallholder plantations in the Island Regions where the husbandry is uninhibitedly rural without a hint of intensive farming. Combined with uniquely rich and fertile soil the farmers proudly produce cocoa without comparison. 
 
Made from only Trinitario beans, this chocolate has a distinctive smoky tobacco flavour that needs to be savoured and enjoyed in a darkened and private room so nobody can disturb the experience!

Additional Information

Traces of Nuts
Genetically Modified Free
Additive and coloring Free
Soya Free
British Made
Preservative Free
Gluten Free
Vegan Friendly
Vegetarian Friendly
May contain slight traces of milk.

Again, they have the most certifiable details about what is and isn't in this chocolate. I love how that last stamp comes after the Vegan friendly stamp.

As mentioned in the review for the Venezuelan Milk, they have a tremendous commitment to fair trade and natural ingredients in their products. They give great details about their company and their ethics which I fully support.

What's mostly missing from their website though, are more details on the regions they source their beans from. Papua New Guinea is a strange but interesting place where new species of animals, bugs and reptiles are still being discovered. Describing the landscape of where this cocoa comes from would be amazing. Lot's of chocolate makers have a Papua New Guinea bar of some sort in their collection but not too many talk about the region itself.

Yes, in the second image, the dark smudge on the chocolate is indeed from my nose. I couldn't stop smelling the aroma on this bar and was fascinated with a few distinctive aromas. I got carried away.

Papua New Guinea Dark

Type: Bittersweet, 64%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario

Ingredients: Cocoa solids (64%), sugar (34%), Vanilla (<1%).

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5oz



Appearance: Smooth, deep brown chocolate color with simple non-monogrammed molding, a few plastic marks on the top surface. And no I am not taking points off for my nose mark.

Score: 92

Snap: Light snap for a thick layer of chocolate. Firm and crisp sounding.

Score: 93

Aroma: Deep, rich smokiness, fire roasted red chilies almost distinctively South American despite the cocoa beans being from Papua New Guinea, pen ink, deep dark berries, roasted cocoa, very slight hints of flowers, and a barely noticeable hint of cinnamon.

Score: 95

Taste: Sweet, deep, rich cocoa flavors, spicy with big chili flavors, woody, inky, a little banana-y, berries, more roasted chilies from retro-olfaction. Big bold flavors, complex, and rich.

Score: 93

Texture: Overall smooth texture but with a a few slight hints of graininess, creamy, medium melt time.

Score: 94

Big bold chocolate with rich smoky flavors, fire roasted chilies on the aroma and lingering finish on the palate. Big berry flavors, wood, and flowery berries. Their website describes smoky tobacco, I didn't pick up tobacco as much as I picked up distinctive roasted chilies.

There is a lot going on with this chocolate. It's very complex  and flavorful, but most curious of all is the chilies. It's all over the aroma as smoky chilies mixed with bold berry aromas.

There weren't a whole lot of subtitles with the flavor of the chocolate. It's all pretty straight forward, but there are a few small hints of flowers and cinnamon on the aroma to keep it interesting.

Delicious chocolate, fun to sit back and think about the complex chilies and smokey aroma.


Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

American Craft Beer (Fest) Dinner @ Green Street 6/16/10

Easily the best beer dinner I have ever hosted. Easily.

For those who are regular followers of this chocolate blog and may not realize, my day job is working for my husband Todd, who is the co-founder with his brother Jason, of BeerAdvocate.com. I manage and organize all the beer festivals we host in around Boston, and I set up tastings and dinners around the city as well.

The American Craft Beer festival was just last weekend. The week leading up to the festival was Boston Beer Week. Our official event was hosted on the Wednesday before the festival at Green Street in Cambridge with our good friend Dylan Black, the owner of Green Street.

We called it the American Craft Beer (Fest) Dinner not only because it was the official event for the American Craft Beer Festival, but because we included all aspects of American craft featuring beer, cheese, chocolate and cooking. All of which are in the same boat in this journey of making quality foods and drinks using the best ingredients all by fine American producers.

With chocolate being a passion of mine, and beer being the main event for the week we decided to host a beer and chocolate dinner including American craft cheese from New England. Emily Shartin, the chocolate buyer of Formaggio Kitchen, worked closely with me to help make this dinner come together. She helped bring in Jasper Hill Farm, one of my favorite cheese makers in the US and helped us secure our orders for the chocolate. She also regularly brings me chocolate to sample and try of some of her favorites and has been a hero to this blog.

We invited my good personal friend and founder of Sixpoint Craft Ales, Shane Welch to come be apart of the dinner. Sixpoint being from Brooklyn and working closely with artisan chocolate makers Rick and Michael Mast of the Mast Brothers Chocolate from Brooklyn, naturally we invited them to be paired together for the dinner.

I also invited a new friend to the Boston area, Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate in Columbia, Mo. to come and be apart of the dinner. He stayed for the whole weekend to check out the beer festival. Hopefully more beers on the market will be made with his products. Pairing beers for his chocolate was the tricky part. With the Mast and Sixpoint, they already have a good working relationship, Alan sells cocoa to Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, but since Jolly Pumpkin hasn't been available to attend one of our beer festivals for a while, and Patric makes some very serious, and amazing chocolate, I had to find a brewery worthy of the match.

And then it came to me, Cambridge Brewing Co. Local and long time friends Will Meyers and Megan Parisi, both Head Brewer and brewer for CBC. I couldn't have been more right to have chosen them for this dinner and you will see why as I get into this dinner.

This dinner despite all the planning, discussions, and tastings with brewers, really belongs to head chef Greg Reeves. I worked with Greg once before to host the Ithaca Beer Dinner, Green Street's first beer dinner as well as hosting various tastings with Greg for special beer releases paired with Green Street's infamous tacos. Simply put Greg is masterful. If there is a beer he hasn't tried, he just needs a few key descriptors of the beer to knock it out of the park. Most chefs worth their salt can do this, but after having worked with a lot of amazing chefs, I don't think anyone is better at it than Greg Reeves. I do have to honorably mention Steve Brand from Upstairs on The Square who is also very masterful at beer pairings and truly loves beer.

I should preface that this had a very strange sounding menu. Things that sounded odd, and seemed strange ended up being some of the best pairings I have ever had.

I also have to preface that my old, outdated camera that has done me well for so long doesn't like beer apparently. It loves food and gets wonderful shots of food, but never seems to do me any justice on beer pictures. So please don't mind my shoddy photography on the beer.

Welcoming: The Audacity of Hops from Cambridge Brewing Co. A Belgian IPA. From Will's notes, Audacity of Hops (Belgian Double I.P.A., 8.8%): grass/fruit/floral nose, hints of phenol/sulphur yeast Belgian notes, funky. Quick pale malt notes and floral hop finish, medium hop bitterness.

We then opened with some of Green Street's famous tacos. We wanted to get the expected out of the way early. Molé is to be expected with chocolate pairings. Savory and classic. So we introduced a chicken molé taco and the Mast Brothers placed some cocoa nibs on each table which we loaded up inside the taco as well. It wasn't a deep brown mole taco, more of an essence to the taco. This ended up being the perfect match to the Audacity of Hops. It was a little spicy, and the hop flavors from the Belgian IPA interacted nicely. The chicken and the sweet malts enhanced one and other.

[The Audacity of Hops on the right in first pic.]



First Course: Cured & cooked hams with mint, basil, melon, cocoa nibs, and a chocolate aioli. Patric Chocolate Madagascar cocoa nibs, and Patric Chocolate 70% Madagascar Bar with nibs.

Beer: CBC's Spring Training IPA, (Will's Notes) American IPA, 6.3%: fruity/floral/grassy nose, low bitterness, clean malt palate.

[My bad pictures of the beer.]

This pairing came together on one request, that we definitely use Patric's Madagascar cocoa nibs. It was the first thing I sat down with Will Meyers and Megan Parisi to taste. Interestingly enough it worked out really well with the Spring Training IPA. Normally I wouldn't have gone this route haven't had little or no success with pairing chocolate and IPA's together. But with these nibs from Madagascar and the hallmark flavor profiles being woody, cedar wood, cherries, and a tart base, it ended up being a natural fit for the grassy and fresh IPA which isn't hop heavy.

Chocolate aioli? What? When Greg mentioned he wanted to make this, I think all of us at the planning meeting were a little curious. It sounded weird, and being paired with melons and ham it really didn't sounds like it would work. I have learned to trust Greg, and I went with it. Mainly because I was curious as to how we would pull this off. It more than worked.

The Sambirano Delta River Valley at the top Northwest of this map. Just barely inside the parallel of 20N and 20S. This is where Patric sources his Madagascar beans. Read my original reviews for the 70% with nibs to get a full understanding of this chocolate.

70% with Nibs review.



The flavors were all in perfect balance. The light floral, grassy IPA being balanced with the salty hams and sweet melons. The basil added the right herbal pop to the dish. The chocolate aioli made with the melted down 70% Madagascar bar with nibs was salty, buttery, rich with roasted cocoa, and savory adding more of a balance in bringing out the ham's flavors and more of a sweetness to the IPA. This course was fresh, light, and extremely flavorful. A great way to get started.



Second Course: Warm handmade pretzels sandwiches with melted Cabot clothbound cheddar (aged at Jasper Hill Farm cellars) with Mast Brothers Patanemo Grand Cru bar 75% (Ocumare de la Costa, Venezuela) melted for dipping.

Beer: Sixpoint's Righteous Ale, 7.2% Rye Ale

Handmade pretzels with kosher salt, and salty cheddar cheese balanced by sweet malty rye beer, and an amazing new grand cru chocolate from the Mast Brothers. This is the one course I couldn't stop dipping my finger in the chocolate until it was all gone.


A new bar for the Mast Bros. from the Ocumare de la Costa region of Venezuela. This is going back to their roots a bit. Originally the base for their bars was made with Venezuelan beans. Not the same region, but still Venezuelan. They have switched to Madagascar, but I didn't think was entirely the right move. While their Madagascar bars taste good, it tastes a bit unbalanced to me. I found their Venezuelan bars more more balanced and refined.

[Source: travelmarcelo.com]

Ocumare de la Costa is in the northern coastal region in the Aragua State of Venezuela.

Via: The Nibble

•Criollo & Trinitario •Darker, robust •Cashews, peanuts •Spice, pepper

Ocumare 67. Originally from the Ocumare de la Costa valley, a Criollo and Trinitario hybridized blend. Interesting flavors of cashews, peanuts, spice, pepper, and sometimes dairy. The tone is a little darker than Ocumare 61 and it does not possess 61’s sharpness. It is more robust than 61 in overall character, with a heavier body.

The salty pretzel and salty cheddar were nearly too dominating, until you dipped it into the chocolate and took a sip of the rye beer. Then it was magic. Originally I thought the chocolate would be melted into the pretzel together with the sandwich, but the chocolate was so rich, it was better to have dipped each bit in the chocolate.

The chocolate was rich, fruity, and bold. Awesome roasted cocoa flavors which helped soften the cheese and pretzel. I wasn't able to fully get the range of this chocolate with everything going on for this pairing, but the rye was a spot on match for the chocolate. The rye actually stood out on the beer and the sweet malts softened the bitter edges of the chocolate allowing more robust fruity notes to come out and helped tame the salt and bitterness of the cheddar.

Once again something no one quite expected and wasn't sure how would be based on the way it sounded. Salty, big, robust cheddar on a pretzel with melted chocolate. And of all things paired with a rye beer. This dinner just kept getting better and better.


Third Course: Pan Roasted Duck breast, Patric Chocolates Rio Caribe (Venezuelan) 70% Chocolate Rissotto, Cherries, chocolate gastrique.

Beer: CBC's The Colonel. Will's notes: Tart barrel aged Porter with Brettanomyces, 6.5%. Complex fruity nose, tart bright acidity, a little funk/barnyard. palate hits tart and fruity first, then roast characters come out with mellow American oak - hints of vanilla and char - in the finish.

 

This is the chocolate I reviewed like a beer geek might review a lambic or a guezue. Very funky, deep, rich chocolate from the North Eastern coastal region of Venezuela. I ended my review of this chocolate with "I am not even sure if I really like this chocolate, I think I just like how raw and aggressive it is. This is not a beginners chocolate."

Rio Caribe 70% review.


Of course both Greg Reeves and Will Meyers loved it as it isn't even remotely close to what you might expect chocolate to taste like. The funkier and more different it is, the bigger the challenge and the more fun it is to pair is how they both looked at it.

The duck breast was cooked perfectly. Soft and game-y and a little steel-y tasting which I happened to love. The cherries and cherry gastrique added the right pop of sweetness to the dish and interacted extremely well with the beer. The sour Brett notes of the beer along with it's roasted porter notes worked so well with the chocolate risotto.

The chocolate risotto was expected to be slightly bitter due to the chocolate, but ended up being amazing. There was no bitterness, only rich, savory, roasted chocolate notes. Lovely chicken stock added a glossy shine to the perfectly cooked rice, and a hint of a spicy character to the risotto.

The beer was something I was slightly concerned about as I am not personally a big fan of Brettanomyces beers. But this was fantastic. The tartness, was not overbearing and the oak flavors added a lovely richness to the steel-y game taste of the duck breast. Naturally the cherries and the the roasted porter notes were a hit. It was extremely drinkable and delicious.

I have never had anything as odd as this before, yet so right.


Fourth Course: Bayley Hazen blue cheese on toasted brioche with a Mast Brothers Madagascar 72% chocolate-strawberry confiture with Mast Brothers Nibs.

Beer: Sixpoint's Old Krusher, 9.8% Barleywine made with farmed Amish Maple Syrup.

A huge way to end the already super-flavorful night. Sixpoint's new barleywine made with Amish maple syrup and Bayley Hazen blue cheese was a big hit.

This blue cheese is a personal favorite of mine with big Earthy notes, salty, bold, and big steel notes from the blue veins. This can be considered a more rustic blue cheese, but don't let anyone fool you and say it's mild. I usually pair this cheese with Double IPA's for the same reasons behind pairing it with an American-style barleywine. Lot's of hops with alpha acids to cut through the cheese, and sweet malts to help mingle with the steel-y blue veins. It's a no-brainer, natural, and amazing pairing.

The strawberries added the right balance of tart to the course with the sweet brioche that had the consistency of an English muffin and it helped round everything out. I didn't notice much of the cocoa except for a few hints with the nibs. I think the cheese was frankly too big to notice the subtitles of the chocolate, but it still managed to work incredibly well with the beer.

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the beer and I didn't do the right thing by taking a sip of the beer first to try and get an understanding of it before the pairing. I do know I liked it a lot with this course and am anxiously looking forward to finding more of it. 

We finished our night with more beer from CBC and samples of Mast Brothers bars and Patric Chocolate bars. I was able to taste that Patanemo Grand Cru from the Mast Brothers in bar form. All I can say is that I can't wait to review it.

It only took 3 cocktails after the dinner to tone down the effects of the chocolate. I heard from several people that it took a long time to finally unwind and sleep after that dinner.

I had a wonderful time meeting the Rick and Michael Mast of Mast Brothers Chocolate and Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate. It was a very big deal to me that they would travel all that way to come to my beer dinner. And of course it was great to hang out with Will and Megan both of whom I have known for years and absolutely love. And I can't forget my close friend Shane Welch, whom helped me convince those hipsters at Mast that coming up for one of my events would be more than worth it. Dylan Black of Green Street really did a great job of hosting this event and making it all possible for us.

A big thank you to Valerie Conyngham of Vianne Chocolat for coming to attend the dinner and David Goldstein of Boston Chocolate Tours for attending as well. Also on hand were the chocolate makers of Taza Chocolate. 

I am sure a lot of this dinner sounds interesting, bizarre, weird, strange, amazing, fantastic. It was all of the above. If you missed it, I can't say I feel sorry for you unless you live out of town. It was truly an amazing dinner and Greg Reeves is amazing. Everyone had a lot of fun and left very happy and full.

Look for more events of this nature from me through BeerAdvocate as I launch a new series of beer dinners called "Things We Love." I have no doubt chocolate will come up again.

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

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