Dark, with milk, with whole hazelnuts or with cocoa bean nibs… We love chocolate 😍!!! To the point that we could devour one or two tablets out of pure greed. But like a good wine, chocolate is enjoyed slowly, and if possible in moderation (wow, it's going to be difficult, that 🤨). Yes, tasting chocolate is an art, and we're going to explain how to enjoy every bite...
Some useful details before unboxing your tablets 🍫
Foodies who read this article already know that chocolate is a complex food. Not less than 500 aromatic molecules can hide in your tablets! And with each cocoa harvest, each roasting, each new chocolate bar, the aromas can vary.
Identify the different aromas
To bring order among all these molecules, we classify them by aroma families. There are florals, fruity, woody... but also more surprising flavors, animal (musk, amber, leather), smoky (tobacco, roasted coffee, toast... for budding scholars, we also say empyreumatic 🤓), or chemical (well, if it smells like tar or medicine, it's better to pass it on 😖).
Can't put your taste sensations into words? We advise you touse an aroma wheel (thanks Google), a useful tool for novices and common to all tastings (wine, dark chocolate, coffee).
💡 Tip for beginners: keep in mind that chocolate is constructed like a perfume. Come first the top notes, the most lively, floral, vegetal and fruity, then heart notes, warmer, like honey, spices and of course cocoa. Finally, these are background notes, more powerful, which come at the end of the mouth: licorice, tobacco, wood, amber…
To find out more about chocolate, click here!
Prepare yourself before tasting
To enjoy this taste experience, you need a magical ingredient that “chocovores” often lack: time ✨. Chocolate is tasted slowly, appreciated with all the senses. It takes time for the aromas to express themselves... In short, voracious people refrain!
Your palate must also get used to recognizing the different flavors of chocolate. So don't be disappointed if your first tasting leaves you a little unsatisfied, your sensations will be refined over the course of the tastings.
Because that's the good news: to identify all the subtleties of a chocolate and verbalize what you feel, the experience must be repeated. Again and again 😍. It's good to take your time, right?!
Then, we prepare for the tasting. It is best to enjoy chocolate on an empty stomach., when the receptivity of the taste buds is at its maximum. If you prefer to protect your blood sugar, enjoy later in the day, 2 hours after a meal is best.
The palate must remain neutral, so in the 30 minutes before tasting, avoid menthol products (chewing gum, toothpaste), coffee, or iced products which anesthetize the taste buds. Also avoid smoking, it's better for the taste, and not just before tasting chocolate 😉.
Finally, sit in a bright, cool, low humidity room. Avoid cooking and its delicious smells which could spoil the experience. There you are, you are ready to enjoy!
And presto, we taste the chocolate!
Enjoying chocolate well, it's simple but precise 📐! Choose 4 or 5 bars of different vintages. Always taste the chocolate with the least cocoa content first to finish with the strongest. Take your time and awaken all your senses:
- View : bright, it has been well tempered and preserved. The color must be dense and homogeneous, deep brown for dark chocolate, red brown for milk chocolate, ivory for white chocolate.
- Touch must be dry and smooth. If it is granular, it has crystallized during conching: the flavor will be altered and the mouth feel unpleasant.
- Hearing : a good quality tablet “snaps” when you break it. The more cocoa there is, the louder it cracks, otherwise it means she had a little heatstroke 🥵!
- The smell : Place a square of chocolate in your cupped hands. Inhale then exhale deeply with your mouth closed: retro-olfaction brings the first sensations (roundness, bitterness, fruit, etc.).
- Finally, the taste! Take 2 squares of the same chocolate. Eat the first one while chewing, then rinse your palate with a sip of room temperature water. Then let the second square melt in your mouth while the aromas are released 🤩. Texture, flavors, intensity... Don't forget to note everything you feel.
