Post by reelchemist on May 27, 2008 8:34:06 GMT -5
Well I just spent a whole heap on chocolate of the single origin variety. A mate of mine very kindly stopped in at Bittersweet cafe and picked up a swag of goodies, thanks Seneca for stocking a world class range. Fortunately this is about the only time of the year you can ship chocolate to Australia, cool in the USA, cool in Oz and the choc arrived safely, no melt issues.
I have been curious as to how my efforts in chocolate making stack up on the world stage, the only quality single origin chocolate that I have been able to get is Cluizel and man that is setting the bar very very high. I also wanted to taste what was out there. My stash from the USA included the two Amano bars, two Askinosie bars, Pralus Sao Tome and Madagascar, Domori Madagasgar, Bittersweets Dominican and Tabasco and I got all the Cluizel ones too. I was very very happy with my purchase, so many different flavours and the same origins had similarities but also subtle differences. My favs were Askinosies Ecuador wow that is my ideal chocolate, a bit of everything infact I shall pop another piece right now, it reminds me of a superb sweet Spanish sherry that I had the other night - name escapes me at the moment - it was a fairwell from my old job as a wine chemist and we were quite a few bottles in (I am now a drug developement chemist - I don't think I will have a quite so work related fairwell from this job ). I also loved Amano and Pralus Madagascar (so Madagascar yet so different - Amano supremely creamy) and I have always been a huge fan of Cluizel Sao Tome (both the plantations). I realise that this is highly personal, I tasted whilst looking at reviews on seventypercent and that was very clear.
A couple of things I learnt, some good, some not. First, it is very clear that making chocolate is a dificult task, a Pralus bar had little of what I call a delamination where it doesn't quite pull away from the mould properly, bubbles and swirls were there too. Some were excellently finished, all were well tempered and refined, most roasts I felt were right on the money. Importantly the chocolate that I have made could mix it with them I think. This is a testement to you John the Alchemist, superb sourcing of beans! I have trialed almost every bean you have and the origins were spot on, the Madagascar you had just recently that was incredible, my fav so far. The Dominican, yep yep yep, and the Panama I just did reminded me a lot of the Askinosie Soconusco. Oh and the Venezuela Ocumare was exactly that.
Actually that is a point I want to discuss if anyone else has an opinion, I absolutely hate Ocumare, I can barely force myself to eat it. I was going to raise this point a while ago but I wanted to explore it further which is why I got the Amano bar. When I first got the beans and roasted them (lightly as recommended) I thought I had stuffed them up, they made me feel sick. Anyway I kept the chocolate I made as a curiosity just like some Dominican chocolate that I under roasted, that is definitly bad - no doubt. Now the reason I didn't like it is because to me it has a beany flavour, or barnyardy, I think it smells like horse dung, yeah definitly. However, I eventually brought some in to work to run it and some other chocs I had made past the sensory experts in the department and they just loved it. I literally almost fell over, so I took it around to whoever I could find and these were the comments "wow, such depth, so much going on, the fruityness is amazing and there is chocolate there too, can I have some more" etc etc. What!!!!!!!!?! Anyway, apparently noone else can taste this character (sensory experts and wine researchers), so I awaited in anticipation for my Amano bar and yep there it was, that flavour again. Incidently I noticed it at a lower level in the Panama beans. Also I got the flavour in some cocoa powder I got from Poland. Now the last thing I want to do is put people off, it was apparently my greatest success. What I want to know is does anyone else not like Ocumare, it seems crazy to me with the reviews the bars get? Am I cursed, do I have some repressed memory of a trauma suffered at a farm? I have thought about this a bit (not the farm), working in wine chemistry there is a lot of research into identifying compounds from wine and characterising what effect they have on wine aroma, flavour, astringency, bitterness and colour. Typically detection thresholds for flavour/aroma compounds are explored and you find that people can have hugely different thresholds to the point where some can't even detect them - they lack the physical ability. Take the compound responsible for the smell in your pee after eating asparagus, a huge proportion of the population can't detect it - I can't. Also whether you perceive the aroma to be negative or not depends on the person. Perhaps I am someone who can detect it at a low level or have a negative association with it? Actually Pinot Noir can have a character similar, which is why I don't like it.
Well, I have enjoyed expressing my views and excitement at my first opportunity to sample chocolate widely, I love chocolate and what is being done with it now - thanks so much John. I find the Ocumare thing quite curious and would be interested to hear comments and sorry if I offended anyones favourite chocolate - after careful investigation it is me not you.
I have been curious as to how my efforts in chocolate making stack up on the world stage, the only quality single origin chocolate that I have been able to get is Cluizel and man that is setting the bar very very high. I also wanted to taste what was out there. My stash from the USA included the two Amano bars, two Askinosie bars, Pralus Sao Tome and Madagascar, Domori Madagasgar, Bittersweets Dominican and Tabasco and I got all the Cluizel ones too. I was very very happy with my purchase, so many different flavours and the same origins had similarities but also subtle differences. My favs were Askinosies Ecuador wow that is my ideal chocolate, a bit of everything infact I shall pop another piece right now, it reminds me of a superb sweet Spanish sherry that I had the other night - name escapes me at the moment - it was a fairwell from my old job as a wine chemist and we were quite a few bottles in (I am now a drug developement chemist - I don't think I will have a quite so work related fairwell from this job ). I also loved Amano and Pralus Madagascar (so Madagascar yet so different - Amano supremely creamy) and I have always been a huge fan of Cluizel Sao Tome (both the plantations). I realise that this is highly personal, I tasted whilst looking at reviews on seventypercent and that was very clear.
A couple of things I learnt, some good, some not. First, it is very clear that making chocolate is a dificult task, a Pralus bar had little of what I call a delamination where it doesn't quite pull away from the mould properly, bubbles and swirls were there too. Some were excellently finished, all were well tempered and refined, most roasts I felt were right on the money. Importantly the chocolate that I have made could mix it with them I think. This is a testement to you John the Alchemist, superb sourcing of beans! I have trialed almost every bean you have and the origins were spot on, the Madagascar you had just recently that was incredible, my fav so far. The Dominican, yep yep yep, and the Panama I just did reminded me a lot of the Askinosie Soconusco. Oh and the Venezuela Ocumare was exactly that.
Actually that is a point I want to discuss if anyone else has an opinion, I absolutely hate Ocumare, I can barely force myself to eat it. I was going to raise this point a while ago but I wanted to explore it further which is why I got the Amano bar. When I first got the beans and roasted them (lightly as recommended) I thought I had stuffed them up, they made me feel sick. Anyway I kept the chocolate I made as a curiosity just like some Dominican chocolate that I under roasted, that is definitly bad - no doubt. Now the reason I didn't like it is because to me it has a beany flavour, or barnyardy, I think it smells like horse dung, yeah definitly. However, I eventually brought some in to work to run it and some other chocs I had made past the sensory experts in the department and they just loved it. I literally almost fell over, so I took it around to whoever I could find and these were the comments "wow, such depth, so much going on, the fruityness is amazing and there is chocolate there too, can I have some more" etc etc. What!!!!!!!!?! Anyway, apparently noone else can taste this character (sensory experts and wine researchers), so I awaited in anticipation for my Amano bar and yep there it was, that flavour again. Incidently I noticed it at a lower level in the Panama beans. Also I got the flavour in some cocoa powder I got from Poland. Now the last thing I want to do is put people off, it was apparently my greatest success. What I want to know is does anyone else not like Ocumare, it seems crazy to me with the reviews the bars get? Am I cursed, do I have some repressed memory of a trauma suffered at a farm? I have thought about this a bit (not the farm), working in wine chemistry there is a lot of research into identifying compounds from wine and characterising what effect they have on wine aroma, flavour, astringency, bitterness and colour. Typically detection thresholds for flavour/aroma compounds are explored and you find that people can have hugely different thresholds to the point where some can't even detect them - they lack the physical ability. Take the compound responsible for the smell in your pee after eating asparagus, a huge proportion of the population can't detect it - I can't. Also whether you perceive the aroma to be negative or not depends on the person. Perhaps I am someone who can detect it at a low level or have a negative association with it? Actually Pinot Noir can have a character similar, which is why I don't like it.
Well, I have enjoyed expressing my views and excitement at my first opportunity to sample chocolate widely, I love chocolate and what is being done with it now - thanks so much John. I find the Ocumare thing quite curious and would be interested to hear comments and sorry if I offended anyones favourite chocolate - after careful investigation it is me not you.