Crazy for Cacao

[Adina P]

A couple pics from my chocolate tasting party yesterday.  We had a total of 9 of us at my house while my fabulous hubby took the kids for a trip to a Dr. Suess day event in town.  

It was super fun and I highly recommend hosting a chocolate tasting party.  I did it because I'm a chocoholic (or does chocophile sound better?) and because I'm really interested in mindful eating practices and thought this would be an awesome mindful eating exercise.  A dab of education and lots of yum!

Looking back I would say we (I?) got carried away and 16 different varieties might be too much (I got a bit of a cacao induced hangover I think...lol). We tried everything from milk chocolate to 72% dark, though the majority were some kind of dark. Flavors included mint, spicy, cardamom, currant, beet and more. The last one we tried was a plain milk chocolate Hershey's and although I suspected it would be less exciting after all the nuanced varieties we'd tried, I was surprised it smelled like spoiled crayon.  And the taste wasn't much better: sugar with chocolate flavor.   But as one of my friends noted, it will still be great for S'mores!

We did the tasting blinded.  I had each chocolate numbered and the variety listed inside the little card.  At first I was all school-like about it and had note cards for everyone so they could write down what they saw, smelled, tasted.  But about 1-2 chocolates in we realized it was a party with nobody talking so we scrapped that plan and decided we'd each taste the same chocolates together and discuss.  Much better.

If anyone wants to try this at home, let me know and I'll give you some tips! (Though the internet is full of them too).

P.S. the dogs were amazingly very quiet the whole time...didn't hear a peep out of them back in the mud room until Daddy and kids came in the front door while the party was winding down.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I get invited to so many stupid parties where people are trying to sell handbags, candles, or makeup. Not interested, but this party I would love :) What a great idea. Another wonderful chocolate company in Fort Wayne, Indiana is DeBrands. I highly recommend ordering the milk chocolate turtles and their sundaes are the best ever.

[Adina P]

I was hoping that some of the conclusions others went home with was:

-- Quality is more satisfying.

-- Eating a really delicious chocolate is more satisfying than eating something just because it is chocolate

-- Paying attention to and savoring good food is more pleasurable and more satisfying than eating mindlessly, while distracted, etc

-- Pleasure should be a part of eating and there shouldn't be shame in what YOU like.

[Adina P]

I'm not a big caramel person, so it wasn't one I'd choose again.  I believe it was a Trader's Joe brand.  The chocolate part wasn't very melty in my mouth, the caramel was good but runny and grainy, and the salt chunks were...salt chunks along the bottom (not many though).  One of my friends brought that as it is her favorite.  You can buy Lindt sea salt and caramel at my Wal Mart if you want to try one version.

Another one of my favs was the beet truffle.  We have a local mom and pop chocolatier called "Petits Noirs" and this beet truffle was 60% cocoa on the outside and the inside chocolate cream was made using beets.  If you didn't know it contained beets you'd not necessarily identify it. Only one of my friends guessed what it was because she's a total foodie.  But once you know what it is, it is obvious.  It made the truffle kind of cake like.  Someone's husband, who tried some leftovers, said it reminded him of red velvet cake.  

I am not familiar with Vosges, actually.  As much as I love chocolate I'm a new to 'fancy' chocolate. 

Umm...not sure what conclusions we all drew.  I did decide I'm still not a serious dark chocolate lover.  I like the milder darks, but prefer darks no darker than 60% cocoa overall.   But a good quality chocolate goes far...and as poor quality as plain Hershey's is...it leaves you wanting more.  I also learned that chocolate liquor as the main 'chocolate' ingredient lends to a less melty chocolate (as per the ones we tried).  It was just such a FUN way to try chocolates.  I am excited to expand this to cheeses.  I won't host that one, but I'm kind of a plain cheese lover (cheddar, mozza, feta) and kind of gun shy about fancier ones (even though I've tried a few and was unimpressed)...but doing it in a group sounds fun to me.  No commitment to loving any one cheese or ordering a hunk of something and being disappointed.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You may already be familiar with Vosges, Adina, but if you're not, I think you're about to fall in love, lol. My food snob DD once gave me one of their exotic samplers. Pretty amazing flavor combinations and ingredients: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh I have kept crayons in my desk for kids over the years and they really stink after a while. I know just what you mean.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How is caramel with sea salt chocolate???

So what conclusions did you draw from this eating exercise, lol?

[Adina P]

The palate cleansers were Carr's table water crackers and room temp water.
The favorites varied. Mine was black currant with little slivers of almond which was mildly dark. One liked the milder Chile. Another liked the caramel with sea salt.
Spoiled...just smelled sour and waxy.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Yummm I love chocolate!

[Camilla and Darwin]

THat sounds like a super fun and tasty party idea!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have never heard of this, but it sounds delicious fun! What did you use as a palate cleanser between tastes?

And what kind did the majority like best? Results, please!

PS: How do you know what spoiled crayon smells like? Do crayons spoil? If so, why don't they have a "best by" date?