How to Taste Chocolate
Blog post by Lindsay Mustard, Holistic Nutritionist
Tasting dark chocolate is an art, like being a wine connoisseur. It requires a highly sensitive palate, a passion for chocolate and takes a lot of practice. Is tasting chocolate really a job that anyone would ever complain about though? We doubt it! In this blog post, we are going to teach you how to taste chocolate like a pro! When it comes to dark chocolate, practice with the best chocolate available within your fingertips - Zazubean Chocolate. Zazubean is a woman-owned Swiss made chocolate company that specializes in crafting organic, fairly-traded, vegan and low sugar chocolate. Their chocolate is sweetened with coconut sugar or stevia, depending on the bar, and contains superfoods such as turmeric, acai and maca. Coupled with the nutritional benefits that dark chocolate has to offer, their bars just went from good for you to great for you!
Before we delve into today’s post, let’s all agree on one thing; life is too short to eat bad chocolate. So whether you're new to eating high-quality dark chocolate, or you’ve been consuming the best chocolate for years, your taste buds are always in training. You might be able to taste the nuances right away, or it might take you more time. Regardless, make the investment in higher quality dark chocolate and you will be setting yourself up to taste the most delicious and nutrient dense chocolate when your tastebuds awaken!
Setting Up Your Tasting Board:
The first step in creating your chocolate tasting spread is selecting 5-6 varieties of chocolate. Ideally, they range from white chocolate, to milk, dark and ultra dark chocolate. The greater the range, the more you’ll taste as these chocolates are vastly different in taste! Arrange your chocolate board from the lowest cocoa percentages to highest. When you start taste testing, you will start with the darkest chocolate offered. If you start with the sweeter, lower cocoa percentage ones, it will simply taste bitter and you won’t be able to detect the nuances in flavour. Sweeter chocolates containing milk and sugar have a tendency to stick to your tongue, so by consuming the darkest first, you save your palette allowing it to taste all of the notes each chocolate has to offer!
The next step in the taste testing requires your other three senses; eyes, ears and hands! Look, listen and feel is the next step in the process. When you select your chocolate, it should have a glossy look to it and be free of white spots. If it contains white spots, it has likely bloomed, which means that it was exposed to various temperatures which can affect the temperature and texture of the bar. Sound-wise, the bar should snap. This sound signifies that the bar was properly tempered to ensure that it is tasting its best! The last step before tasting the chocolate itself is the smell! Take a deep inhale with the bar close to your nose. You should be able to detect fruity, nutty, sweet or salty chocolatey notes from your first sniff! By smelling the chocolate, you are utilizing your olfactory nerve, a cranial nerve that is directly connected to your limbic system, a system that processes emotions and your amygdala, the storage centre for our emotions. As you smell the chocolate, you might recall a memory about the caramel chocolate almond bark your parents made around Christmas time, or reminisce about your trip to the sea simply because of the salty aroma. Your sense of smell is directly connected to your memories, so let your mind run wild as you pinpoint what the smell reminds you of!
The last and best part in our opinion, is the tasting of the chocolate! If you remember anything from this blog post, remember this, let the chocolate melt on your tongue. That single tip will help you taste the flavours, richness, bitterness, saltiness and all of the aromas that the chocolate has to offer. Take it to the next level by breathing in and out of your nose slowly as the chocolate begins to melt. As the temperature rises, additional aromas will begin to be released. So be patient and let it melt slowly - there’s always more where that came from!
There you have it! Everything you need to know about tasting chocolate like a pro! Gather your friends and create a chocolate tasting board. We suggest trying the following lineup from Zazubean; Bling White Chocolate, Slinky Grass-Fed, Slinky Creamy Hazelnut Oat, Flirty, Lunatic, Nudie and Slinky Super Panama. A little bit of everything and a whole lot of flavour. Enjoy!