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Post by sugaralchemy on Dec 13, 2006 13:33:42 GMT -5
There is such a wide range of cacao taste possible depending on bean type / processing / etc. and most of the people here either make their own chocolate or are very interested in doing so. So that leads me to ask, what kind of taste(s) do you enjoy and are trying to achieve in your chocolate? What kind of taste(s) do you dislike the most? What is your preference in terms of vanilla level/type? How does the darkness of your chocolate impact your cacao preference? I'm curious to hear the feedback from this forum. I'll refrain from posting my perspective for a while as not to influence your postings
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Post by aguynamedrobert on Dec 13, 2006 17:29:09 GMT -5
Good Questions... For me... I like a good chocolate taste but not the Deep deep chocolate taste that often comes from forastero and a few I know of that are from criollo and trinitario. So I like my chocolate light... As for flavors I like the fruity and floral notes. I also like the sour notes of madagascar as well...those are my favorites to taste. As for percentages I like the 65-75% range for my palate...I get all the flavor in that range and bitterness isn't too bad in that range, at least for me. what about you? Robert www.chocolateguild.com
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Post by prairiegirl on Jan 14, 2007 17:54:27 GMT -5
I like a good deep chocolate taste for my chocolate preferably in the 65% range. My favourite is the Criollo from Venuzuela. My husband prefers forestaro and Arriba.
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Post by vivachoco on Jan 16, 2007 16:55:54 GMT -5
Yes, really good questions. And also, I would like to know how people go about making that exact taste they like. I guess one of the main reasons I wanted to start making my own chocolate was that I don't like the taste of dairy or of too much sugar. Somehow I seem to have a super sensitive radar for both. Well that and actually being sensitive to both. Apart from the sensitivity issue, it is really about looking for a clean pure chocolate taste that would not be too bitter but yet would be somewhat complex. I thought I knew what kind of chocolate I liked, but as I try more different beans and different chocolates from different manufacturers I find that my taste evolves. But one thing remains: search for clean not too bitter but full flavor. I really appreciate John's thorough, honest, and insightful discriptions of cocoa beans on his product pages. I have found them to be quite accurate and really helpful. I have found that I rather enjoy the smokeyness of the bean from papua new guinea (or 'peet' as John discribes it). His suggestion to serve it with something like scotch opened a whole new world for me. I like the plainness of forastero from Ghana. I recently tried mixing it with trinitario from panama. John discribes the panama bean as 'mild.' And indeed, it nicely mellowed the ghana bean giving me chocolate (at 72% cocoa) that is fairly low on sugar, pure chocolate taste, no bitterness and an amazing aftertaste. I have yet to find a way to prepare criollo in such a way that i would enjoy the fruity and berry notes. Working on that.
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