Patric Chocolate

To Blog or Not To Blog

2010-11-11T11:25:00.003-06:00

So, since I started this blog, Facebook has really taken off, and I am far more active at communicating in that medium. I haven't posted to this blog in well over a year, and I don't anticipate continuing it. Still, I hesitate to delete the posts as I believe that they have a great deal of relevant and useful information for chocolate lovers. That being the case, at least for now, I'll be leaving the blog running, but inactive.

If you are trying to purchase Patric craft chocolate bars, please head over to our site here:
http://www.Patric-Chocolate.com

You can find Patric on Facebook here:
http://www.Facebook.com/patric.chocolate/

All the best to any loyal readers that I may have had,

Alan "Patric" McClure

Single-Malt Scotch Whisky: The Fine Chocolate of the Beverage World

2009-05-15T13:39:00.030-05:00

Since I have been scarcely old enough to consume alcoholic beverages, I have had an interest in Scotch Whisky. At the age of 21 as I tried to figure out what in the "spirits" category appealed to me, I kept feeling drawn, again and again, to Scotch. At first I just ordered whatever was affordable, but gradually I became more interested in pricier blends, and upon arriving in Columbia, MO to finish my B.A., I was introduced to the multifaceted world of single malts. I've never looked back. Now I have enough familiarity with the whisky-making process, various distilleries, and their geographical locations and styles, that I don't feel completely lost, but at the same time, I realize that there is a great deal left for me to learn, and so I persevere--let me tell you, it's a tough life. ;-)

At any rate, perhaps because I still have so much to learn, it only recently began to occur to me that fine chocolate and single-malt Scotch whisky have so many qualities that they share. True, this is not the first time that I have said that chocolate is analogous to Scotch in its complexity of flavor, but I have also said the same about chocolate and wine, beer, or even cheese. So let me take the opportunity to clarify that the similarity that I have now come to see between chocolate and Scotch is much more than just noting a certain level of shared complexity. In truth, I sometimes feel as though I'm tasting a distilled single-origin chocolate when enjoying a dram of a favorite single-malt.

Here are just a few reasons why this might be:

1) Texture and Body: Scotch has body and texture supported by various compounds, some of which, if they were encountered in wine, would be referred to as "tannins." Among other compounds, these tannins often give Scotch a particularly pleasant body and mouthfeel. Whisky writers may describe various characteristics as thick, creamy, viscous, light, medium or full, syrupy, firm, rounded, smooth, silky, oily, and even chewy. Length is also relevant when speaking of Scotch and can be impacted by such compounds. In all cases, I am reminded of fine chocolate.

Texture is one of the things that, as a chocolate maker, concerns me most. I am not generally partial to thin, fatty, or waxy chocolates, nor those that are overly refined with a sticky mouthfeel or coarsely refined and rough to the tongue. Rather, I prefer a fine texture, with a full, almost thick, mouthfeel, which I believe adds to length of the tasting experience, and impacts flavor in a positive way. I would certainly use creamy, viscous and even chewy as descriptors. Of course, some of these characteristics of chocolate are, in part, due to cocoa butter content, presence or absence of emulsifiers, and refinement/conching of the chocolate, but as with whisky, tannic polyphenols in chocolate also play a substantial role in this mouthfeel, and the length of the chocolate-tasting experience.

2) Aroma: Scotch often has, amongst other aromatic compounds, plentiful fruity esters due to initial fermentation, skillful distillation, and common cask aging in Sherry or other wine/spirit barrels, that may lend a bright, sweet, floral, honeyed and fruity mouthwatering quality to the beverage just as careful fermentation adds such qualities to a fine cacao-based chocolate. There are other aromatic profiles that may be shared by Scotch whisky and chocolate as well, including herbal, spicy, nutty, buttery, coffee-like, caramel and vanilla notes amongst others, but interestingly and more to the point, Scotch can even be found to have a clear chocolate note present in its flavor. A brief scan through the late Michael Jackson's (no not that one) Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch shows more than a handful of references to chocolate, including descriptors such as: chocolate, black chocolate, chocolaty, spicy chocolate, chocolate cream, chocolate powder, bitter chocolate, light chocolate orange, and chocolate digestives amongst others. One difference, however, is that some Scotch whiskies, also contain simple compounds, called phenols without the "poly-" prefix, that are aromatic, smokey and medicinal in nature. These compounds are due to the smoke from peat fires, that are used to dry/flavor the malted barley in the kiln. In any case, when it comes to chocolate, smoke flavor, caused by simple phenols, has historically been seen as a defect. Still, despite any differences, Scotch and chocolate have a lot to share when it comes to aroma.

3) Taste (i.e. sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, etc.): As with most foods of more than just slight complexity, Scotch whisky can have any number of possible combinations of sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and even saltiness. Chocolate, of course, is often classified in terms of its bitterness to sweetness quotient: Bitter/unsweetened, Bittersweet, semisweet, sweet, etc., but chocolate also has an often overlooked acid component, though it can be far more obvious in some single-origin chocolates than others. Additionally, though it seems to have mostly fallen out of favor in dark chocolate, chocolate companies often used to add very small quantities of salt to help round out and balance the flavor. Still, balance is a subjective quality, and as with chocolate, where a mouthwatering tartness, overarching sweetness or rather more dry bitterness may be preferred in different amounts by the chocolate maker and chocolate connoisseur, single-malt Scotch whisky may also come across as anything from a sweet honeyed elixir to a drying, spicy, even medicinal and peppery concoction, and lets not forget the salty, seaweed-tinged single malts that exist. The beauty of both single-origin chocolate and single-malt Scotch, in this regard, is in the diversity and complexity of combinations available, to which there is essentially no end.

All of this has caused me to wonder if my preference for Scotch above all other spirits is based upon the same part of my palate that is drawn to chocolate above many other foods. Complexity, sure. But as you can see, there is more, much more that is shared in flavor and texture. Let's put this hypothesis to good use with a couple of pairings.

Here are a couple of my personal favorite single-malt Scotch whiskies that go very well with Patric Chocolate. I have made an effort to choose two bottles that are true bargains, as they are most amazing whiskies, yet come in at prices between $40 and $60. Both whiskies have been paired with Patric Chocolate's 67% Madagascar.

First a clearly complementary pairing:

Longmorn 15-year is a full-bodied whisky with clear aromas of apples and citrus that follow through to the palate. When combined with the fruity citrus qualities of the 67% the pairing really shines as the whisky helps elevate the prevalent fruits rouges of the bar, most notably the cherry, which fills the mouth and nose, and for its part, the chocolate highlights the otherwise light nuttiness and more noticeable spice of the Longmorn. This whisky and chocolate seem to meld together perfectly and effortlessly like two old friends.

Next a pairing with substantial contrast:

Talisker 10-year is a huge whisky with real island character--smoke coming through immediately in the nose and palate--brightened by only a touch of sweet fruit in the aroma, which is only slightly more noticeable on the tongue. While the Longmorn and 67% may go together like two old friends, the Talisker has a slightly more difficult relationship with the same chocolate. However, after careful attention, it becomes clear that Talikser's smokey character is supported by the subtle roasted edge and mild bitterness of the chocolate, as the chocolate's roasted quality seems to grow by the second. Furthermore, the fruit of the Talisker, which heretofore was more of a slight hint, expands in the mouth and nose, becoming far more encompassing. Best of friends, perhaps not, but the Talisker and 67% are like two sides of the same coin, each with its own important role to play as equal parts of the whole.

Eat chocolate; Enjoy Life!

Alan McClure
Chocolate Maker
Patric Chocolate

Working at Patric Chocolate: Guest Blogger Ilene

2009-04-13T08:38:00.001-05:00

I started working for Patric Chocolate when I moved to Columbia about seven months ago. As a self-professed dark chocolate lover, I was looking forward to my new gig, though I would quickly learn I didn’t quite realize what I was getting myself into. It didn’t take long to recognize that my narrow view of fine dark chocolate and the reality of it were quite different. Below I shall relay my thoughts and experiences here at the factory (my coming of age story, if you will) in an informal blog for your reading pleasure:

My first memory of what I believed to be fine chocolate is a tad hazy, as is true for most any memory. It was a school trip and I was a wide-eyed 17-year-old traveling through Switzerland. One of the many orchestrated stops was at a chocolate shop which I’m sure had some relevance, but it evades me now. I do, however, recall perusing row upon row of delicious chocolates before carefully selecting a medium sized package in a radiant shade of royal blue. “Lindt,” it read. Ah-ha! Real chocolate! I even saved the wrapper.

Fast forward eight years. Good news, dear readers! My once naïve opinion of quality chocolate, Swiss or otherwise, has been revised. I’ve found the light. My taste buds have been reborn. I’ve discovered chocolate the way it was meant to be: pure and complex yet simply delicious.

How did my revelation occur? It all started my first day on the clock at Patric Chocolate.

I had no idea what to expect when I walked through the factory doors. I had only recently heard of the company, but certainly never expected to work there. I showed up dressed like I was headed to a disco. Needless to say, my wardrobe required some alterations.

When I finally looked out into the Patric Chocolate workshop, I noticed a large, odd-looking device constructed from seemingly random hardware store materials situated in the center of the room. I soon learned this was the winnower. Of course I didn’t know what that meant, but I went with it.

My job was to sift and sort the cracked cacao beans. And sift and sort I did. And sift. And sort. And sift. I sifted until I wanted to scream out in weakened defeat. By the time I got home I was exhausted, sore and a good two shades darker from the coating of cacao dust that had settled comfortably into every nook and cranny of my being. What have I gotten myself into?

The days and weeks that followed were somewhat challenging. Not in a bad way, mind you, but this was hard work! It had been a while since I’d been on my feet all day and done a lot of heavy lifting. Sure, it took some getting used to, but I found it to be rewarding work. Especially when you see (ahem, taste) the finished product. Plus, I’ve got a little definition back in the ole’ biceps.

Eventually, like any job, I learned what I was doing. First I figured out the winnowing machine. It’s really quite amazing when you break it down. It is an integral part in the “bean-to-bar” concept. Here is my simple layman’s version:

After Alan roasts the cacao beans, we pass them through a cracker, thus breaking them up. Wait. Back up. Before Alan roasts the beans, we hand pick through each and every 150 pound bag that enters the factory to ensure you get the best quality chocolate possible. It’s a tedious, yet necessary process. Anyway, after we crack the roasted beans, it’s time for the sifting (my specialty)! We manually sift the beans to separate smaller pieces of shell and cacao from the larger pieces. The size of the sifting screen gradually gets smaller, as does the gap of the cracker. This method is repeated several times. This is also where I get my biceps workout. I’m scooping and dumping and pouring and sorting beans into this tub and that tub. It took some time to get a cohesive system buffed out, but it’s now as smooth as Mr. Clean’s head.

While I’m busy sifting and sorting tub after tub of cracked cacao, the winnowing machine is hard at work. I should note that this process takes two people. I usually man the ground (the sifting and such) and my co-pilot, Chris, is operating the winnower. When turned on, the winnower sucks and blows the unwanted bean shells to one location while allowing the lovely, fragrant nibs to fall to another. It requires her to climb up and down a ladder many times throughout the process. The nibs are the finished product, thus the fruits of our labor.

I remember the first time I tried a nib. Unfortunately, I was unable to control the inappropriate contortion of my facial features. It appears that I expected something sweet and let me tell you, those little guys are anything but. Nowadays, however, I have to fight the urge to pop a few in my mouth as we’re working. I don’t, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to.

Obviously, winnowing is not the only thing happening at the factory. We get to eat chocolate, too! And by that I mean taste. Let’s once again rewind to my first week of work and another awkward example of my foodie ignorance. We all gathered to have a tasting, my first. Alan hands me a small square of chocolate that I pop right in my mouth like a melted Milk Dud. A few chews and gulp, it’s gone. “Yum,” I think, “and it didn’t even stick to my teeth!”

Then I notice the silence. I look around and it appears that everyone around me is meditating. I’m confused. Their eyes are closed in what seems to be bliss. Or is it concentration? Then I hear a few soft smacking noises and realize everyone still had their chocolate in their mouths. They are tasting. I pretend to still have mine rolling around my tongue. Then we discuss what we actually tasted. Some berries, some nuts…and I realize I did notice some of those flavors. I’ve been working on refining my tasting skills ever since. I’m still not the greatest, but I’m getting better. It’s fun.

Anyway, the nibs we get from winnowing are eventually added to the refining machines. They are two big drums containing a granite base and two granite wheels that crush, grind and heat the nibs until they become a beautifully smooth pool of liquid chocolate. Or chocolate liquor, to be specific. A small amount of sugar is then added along with additional heat and the speed of the refiners is eventually reduced. The process produces a strong, almost sharp, scent within the refining room. However the rest of the factory smells absolutely delicious. Just ask the regular mail delivery drivers.

Four days later, the refiners are emptied out. It’s not a complicated process, nothing more than delicately pouring the chocolate into multiple large molds, but somehow I always manage to get chocolate all over me. Those drums are heavy!

The chocolate filled molds then go to a shelf where they age for a couple of months. When the time comes, the blocks are added to the tempering machine where they are melted, cooled and carefully reheated. By the by, I’ve learned that chocolate is a very persnickety little devil. If it is not heated and/or cooled at exactly the right temperature, and I mean exactly right, we have to readjust and start again. After Alan molds the bars of scrumptious chocolate, they cool properly and we wrap them. Yep. Every little thing we do here is by hand!

I remember when Alan was first teaching me to wrap bars. I looked at the stacks of wrapped chocolate and said, “They look like little bars of gold.” He replied, “Well they kinda are.” And after all the work that goes into them, I can see his point.

Anyway, I’ve given you a crash course in the kinds of things we do here at Patric Chocolate. I’m quite pleased to be able to add “chocolate making” to my list of job skills, but more importantly I’ve learned so much from my experiences here. I’m proud to be a part of a locally owned small business that has achieved some awesome things in a relatively short period of time. I can’t wait to see (and taste!) what happens next.

Chocolate: The New Fine Wine?

2009-03-03T10:17:00.010-06:00

Those of you who have heard me speak, who follow this blog, or my tweets at http://www.twitter.com/PatricChocolate, know that I always dwell upon the many similarities between fine chocolate and other fine foods, with a specific emphasis on wine. I do this not because I want to charge more for fine chocolate, but because I truly believe that the similarities are clear when carefully considered, and that my comments will help people to think about chocolate in new and different ways. Of course, I work with chocolate each and every day, so this is something that is on my mind more than it will be for the average person, but lately the issue has been on my mind even more than usual.

I think that the main cause of this recurring thought is that I have been doing a lot of demos lately (demos are where, at stores or various events, I hand out samples of Patric Chocolate and talk about my products). Demos are interesting because I have the opportunity to interact with a lot of people who didn't stop by JUST to hear me speak, or to learn about fine chocolate, or even chocolate in general.

At a demo I am speaking with people who are at the store, for example, to do any number of things, from buying produce, to cereal, to seafood, and anything in between. There is no guarantee that the people with whom I am talking, in this fairly chocolate-neutral venue, have ever asked themselves the question "What makes good chocolate good?" All of this being the case, it should really have come as no surprise to find that when I asked people "What is your favorite chocolate?" most people would essentially say, "I've never thought about it."

Now, let me clarify that I am not speaking badly of the people who made these statements. They were clearly being honest with me, and that is exactly what I was looking for as an intro into a conversation about fine chocolate. Still, I can't help but be a bit disappointed that I didn't have more people who knew exactly what they liked and, importantly, why.

I guess that part of my disappointment rests upon the fact that people have much better selections of chocolate bars at their disposal now than they did 10-15 years ago, and that at least the _idea_ of fine chocolate no longer seems counter intuitive to most people. On top of that, people are constantly asking me about chocolate and wine pairings, so the comparison of chocolate and wine must somehow be infiltrating popular culture. Still, there are only about ten artisan bean-to-bar companies in the US, when compared with thousands of wineries, over one thousand craft breweries, and at least hundreds of artisan coffee roasters. You'd have far more luck finding someone in any American town espousing the beauty of single-bean coffee than single-origin chocolates. You'd have a much better chance finding serious beer appreciation clubs than any such chocolate clubs anywhere throughout the nation. And, you wouldn't have to look too hard to find a respectable dessert wine at many decent restaurants, despite the fact that the same restaurants would almost always be serving desserts made without an interesting chocolate.

All of this is to say that though we may be moving in the right direction, we are far from being at parity with the other items mentioned above. This being the case, and since part of this struggle, perhaps even most of it, has nothing to do with actually tasting chocolate and everything to do with learning more about chocolate, I'd like to take just a moment to highlight ten simple reasons why fine chocolate really should be seen to be in the same realm as other fine foods and beverages. I hope that you find them interesting.

1) Over 600 different aromatic constituents have been classified by food scientists while trying to understand what gives chocolate its flavor. These components make chocolate one of the most complex of any food or beverage in the world, and this doesn't even include the delicate balance of slight acidity, bitterness, and sweetness that we taste as a square of chocolate melts across the tongue.

2) Chocolate is made from fermented cacao seeds. This fermentation, as with any fermented food, adds complexity of flavor that simply doesn't exist in the raw material, just like with wine, beer, and cheese.

3) Chocolate is made from roasted cacao seeds. The roasting process, again, adds additional flavors and helps create and strengthen the quintessential and inimitable "chocolatey" note. Flavor technologists have been trying to mimic chocolate's flavor for many years and still have not come up with an acceptable substitute.

4) Combining #2 and #3 above, chocolate is one of only a handful of foods that are both fermented and roasted. This is a large part of the reason why #1 above is the case.

5) Terroir, a term used to discuss the impact that soil-type and macro- and micro-climate have on grapes, and therefore on the wine made from grapes, is also entirely relevant when it comes to cacao as any chocophile who has enjoyed single-estate chocolate from differing years could notice.

6) The definition of terroir can be expanded when it comes to cacao to include the naturally occurring yeast and bacteria populations in a certain place and the impact that they have on the fermentation of the cacao, since the fermentation of cacao is due to these naturally occurring microbes, and not added cultures. This is one reason that cacao from Madagascar's Sambirano Valley, for example, tends to have such bright citrus and berry tones to it (i.e. The specific mix of bacteria and yeast in that area help to create such flavors). Compare this to other naturally fermented fine foods such as some wines, and Belgium's tradition of naturally fermented Lambic beers.

7)Single-origin chocolates can have as many differences as similarities, just like single-bean coffees, leading to chocolates that can seem as different as night and day to the initiated. Some may be intensely fruity, while others are quite earthy, for example.

8) From freshly harvested seed to finished bar, chocolate takes longer to make than most beer. Craft chocolate makers may even age their dark chocolate for months to impact the flavor in positive ways before molding it into bars--something that used to be common practice in the early 1900's.

9)Fine chocolate is very rich, and is made for being appreciated in small quantities. Eating an entire bar of fine chocolate often takes from several days to a week, and in this way is comparable to fine wines that are intended to be appreciated in moderation instead of consumed as quickly as possible. For this reason fine chocolate is not the same as chocolate candy, and even further removed from mass-market chocolate candies, with their heavy doses of sugar.

10) Fine chocolate is best enjoyed slowly with your full attention on the melt, texture, and release of flavor of the chocolate. It shouldn't be chomped and gulped down as quickly as possible or the true complexity and character of its flavor will never be unlocked and uncovered. In this way chocolate is also analogous to artisan coffees, fine wine, and craft beers among other fine foods.

Hopefully most of you will find these facts as interesting as I do. My wish in sharing them is two fold:

1) That you keep these things in mind as you appreciate chocolate in the future, always pushing to further expand your comprehension of this amazingly delicious and complex food.

2) That you share what you have learned with those around you that might appreciate it.

Chocolate companies cannot change the public perception of chocolate alone. It really will take each and every one of you to help create the chocolate sea change that we need. Sure, such a change will help Patric Chocolate and companies like it, but more importantly, it will lead to a growing market for fine chocolate that can support more privately owned small chocolate making companies, thereby creating a substantial variety of quality fine chocolates for the marketplace. Even those who think that they don't have a preference will have to take note, and as for the rest of us...well, we will be in chocolate heaven.

Very best,

Alan

Eat Chocolate; Enjoy Life

Patric Chocolate Nib-Chip Cookies

2009-02-19T11:21:00.006-06:00

What is delicious, buttery, chewy and chocolatey all at once?

That's right, Patric Chocolate Nib-Chip Cookies.

Here is the recipe that will become a staple in your home:

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ lb unsalted butter (two sticks)
1 cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup Patric Chocolate’s Roasted Cacao Nibs

Procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 375 F. Adjust oven
rack to middle position.

2) Combine flour, salt and baking
soda in bowl.

3) In a mixer cream the butter and mix in sugars.

4) Add the vanilla and egg to the
butter mixture and beat to combine.

5) Beat the flour mixture into the
butter mixture until just combined.

6) Stir in the Patric Chocolate Cacao
Nibs.

7) Refrigerate dough until cool and
stiff.

8) Drop by rounded teaspoons onto
a good quality baking sheet (thin black baking sheets are not good options).

9) Bake for about 10 minutes and remove from oven. After several
minutes remove to a rack to cool.

Patric Chocolate Takes on the New Web

2009-02-11T07:33:00.004-06:00

When Patric Chocolate first started we had a website, and shortly thereafter a blog. At the time, it felt like I was "hip" and "with it," but times soon changed.

Now Facebook, Twitter, and sites such as Flickr allow companies a way to tell their stories with passion and to build a connected community and fan-base. So, with the excellent advice of a couple of good friends, Patric Chocolate has taken the leap into the New Web:

The Patric Chocolate Facebook Page -- If you are on Facebook, please spread the word and become a fan. We have a review system as well so that you can tell everyone what you think about our chocolate and other fine chocolate products. I'll be posting new chocolate-related videos and photo albums from cacao sourcing trips, and giveways will be available for Fans.

The Patric Chocolate Twitter feed -- Follow my daily chocolate-making process, learn about special events, and interact!

Thank you for your support; during these tough economic times, it really does mean a lot!

Very best,

Alan
Patric Chocolate

P.S. Don't forget to sign up on our mailing list on the top-right of the page. I send out a monthly newsletter with product specials, new products, events, and educational chocolate information. If you change your mind later, it is easy to unsubscribe with one click. No worries

P.P.S. By the way, if you've never seen what your mild-mannered chocolate maker looks like, there is a story in the Kansas City Star, just out today, that has quite a few good photos.

Patric Chocolate now Twittering

2009-01-31T16:39:00.003-06:00

That's right. I've given in. I'm now twittering for Patric Chocolate. Follow my chocolate-related micro-blogs here:

http://twitter.com/PatricChocolate

Alan

Chocolate-Myth Busters #4: Organic Chocolate Tastes Better (or Worse)

2009-01-24T12:50:00.011-06:00

Potential Myth To Be Busted:

Organic chocolate tastes better (or worse) than non-organic chocolate.

Long Response:

I have responded to similar questions in several interviews, and most recently spoke about the issue at a chocolate forum hosted by Charles Chocolates in San Francisco during Slow Food Nation.

An interesting thing to note is that while the most flavorful chocolate that many people might encounter on a daily basis, especially when we are talking about a grocery store, is organic, there is also another tier of chocolate bars, in terms of quality and price, with which most people are generally unfamiliar. This higher tier includes bars that are more expensive per ounce than the average organic chocolate bar at the grocery store, in some cases by multiple factors.

The interesting fact is that most of these more flavorful bars are not certified organic, and do not mention organic on their labels in any way. To add more to the story, though most of these companies have not been marketing organic bars, it is generally the case that when they have ventured into this part of the chocolate market, the resulting bars have been looked down upon by chocolate connoisseurs in terms of the quality of their flavor. This is not to say that they have been considered to be as uninteresting as their organic, grocery store-bound cousins, but only that when compared to the best bars on the market, these organic bars have generally not been nearly as good. So, with the relatively low quality of flavor of some of the initial organic bars that came to market, and then the overall low opinion by chocophiles, of the newer, higher-end organic bars, it seems that some chocolate connoisseurs have begun to form an opinion that great chocolate cannot be made from organic cacao.

There have been various reasons given for this newly found rule of thumb, from organic cacao being wild and untamable to the supposition that there is simply not any good cacao being grown organically. On the other hand, there has also been a more or less unspoken, and completely contradictory assumption on the part of other chocolate lovers--that some chocolate makers may have furthered--which is the idea that all fine cacao is basically organic anyway, and that this is part of the reason that fine chocolate has such a good flavor. If a reason is given for believing this, then it is usually that the small farmers who grow cacao are too poor to purchase the fertilizers and pesticides that would turn organic produce into non-organic produce in the first place. As one might imagine, none of these claims are the whole truth and nothing but the truth; things are more complex than they appear, and the complexity has grown as new and existing fine chocolate companies have just fairly recently begun to release brand new organic bars that are finally starting to destroy the belief that no organic chocolate can be really good chocolate.

In the US alone, there are several bean-to-bar companies with certified organic products, and others who list "organic" in their ingredients list. Furthermore, there are definitely other companies that don't advertise organic cacao in any way, but who do use it in some of their products; so far Patric Chocolate fits into this final category as our Madagascar cacao is certified organic. When combined with some of the newly emerging organic bars from fine chocolate companies in Europe, specifically France and Italy, it turns out that increasingly, there are bars on the market that many of those who take chocolate very seriously would recognize as serious contenders in terms of quality.

In closing, however, let me hasten to add that it is not a safe bet to believe that all, let alone most, fine chocolate is made with organic cacao if it isn't listed on the packaging. Also, judging a book by its cover, or a bar by its label, when it comes to the word "organic" either being present or absent, is bound to lead to you purchasing chocolate that is not what you expect in terms of flavor. Better would be to ask your local retailer for a sample of something that you would like to try. You'd be surprised how often they have sample bars sitting around for just such occasions.

Short Response:

The presence or absence of the word organic on a chocolate bar label does not speak to its quality in terms of flavor.

Very best,

Alan
Chocolate maker and myth buster

Got some chocolate myths that need busting? Send them my way by posting a comment below (even anonymously), or emailing me directly at:
customer.service@patric-chocolate.com

Chocolate Aftertaste and Microbes in Your Mouth

2009-01-03T10:59:00.013-06:00

Hi all,

Yes, I know it is an odd title for a blog post, but I came across an article at Science Daily that really got me thinking about the impact of our invisible little friends on the flavor of chocolate. Of course I've already talked about the impact of bacteria and yeasts on the flavor of chocolate as regards post-harvest processing of cacao such as fermentation--where I've compared the result to wine and beer--but the flavor impacts that I'm thinking about now have nothing to do with changing the chocolate itself, and everything to do with what happens after the finished chocolate is in your mouth.

The authors of the study cited in the article above have noted that certain chemical compounds that are normally tasteless, when exposed to microbes that are naturally present in the mouth and/or throat, are transformed into aromatic compounds that impact flavor in interesting and unique ways, in some cases giving off what we would consider to be the "characteristic odor" of a particular food. Specifically, the paper focuses on what we often call "aftertaste." The idea is that it takes some time--maybe 20-30 seconds--for the bacteria to carry out the transformation from the odorless compound to the aromatic compound, so it isn't until the end of a tasting experience that certain flavors become obvious.

Thinking back to all of the chocolates that I've tasted, some with magnificent, long-lasting finishes, and others that seem to spiral so quickly to an unsatisfying demise, it makes me wonder once more about the reason for the differences, and whether the microbes in my mouth had any say in the matter. There are a million implications to all of this, including whether the compounds that these bacteria might be processing are naturally present in cacao or not, and if not, how they get there--fermentation, oxidation during drying, roasting??

Lots of food for thought, so to speak, and speaking of thought, who knows, maybe they'll find out that there are microbes that change the way we think as well.

'Til next time,

Alan

Chocolate-Myth Busters #3: Criollo Cacao Tastes Better Than Other Types?

2008-10-27T15:57:00.017-05:00

Potential Myth To Be Busted:

Chocolate made from Criollo cacao tastes better than chocolate made with other types of cacao.

Response:

Often sound bytes and catch phrases are latched onto. These condensed bits of seeming wisdom make us feel comfortable that we really have an understanding of something. When it comes to chocolate, "Criollo is the best type of cacao" is one of the little oft-repeated phrases that can be found plastered all over the internet. The problem is that most people repeating it don't really know what Criollo is. The question is whether any of us really know.

Historically, Criollo was the type of cacao grown and consumed by the native peoples of Central America and southern Mexico--notably, the Olmecs, and later the Maya, amongst others. This is probably the type of cacao that the Spanish first encountered, and this is the type of cacao that has generally been held in high regard ever since. It is now held that Criollo cacao broke away, at some point, from one of the populations of what is called Forastero cacao that originated in South America in the Amazonian region. At what point this sub-population of Forastero became different enough, some might say inbred enough, to be referred to as a different type of cacao is hard to say. Were people involved in the change during this early development of Criollo? We have no historical record, but considering the skill with which other plants were domesticated, there is a good chance that people were involved in the breeding of this offshoot, and that they did so for some specific reason. It is posited that the reason would be related to the lack of bitterness and astringency in Criollo due to the relative lack of polyphenols, something which also explains the light color of the cotyledon and Criollo trees' relative fragility when compared to the susceptibility to insect attack and various diseases of Forastero populations.

In fact, the reason that this is all important is because the Criollo is so fragile that it has basically, some might say entirely, been destroyed by diseases that impact cacao. Because of this, Criollo has been hybridized, probably starting in the 1700's, with Forastero populations to strengthen it, while maintaining a somewhat moderate level of bitterness and astringency, though there are certainly very vigorous hybrids that don't seem to have this low-bitterness Criollo characteristic at all. As of the 21st century, there are literally thousands of hybrids with bean colors ranging from white to deep purple, and bitter and astringency qualities from low to quite high. Additionally, we now know that there are some Forastero populations that have white beans. So what?...you might wonder. What does this have to do with the potential myth above?

The point is that Criollo, as it once existed, no longer does, and if it does exist at all in its pure state, probably only does so in the middle of long-abandoned indigenous communities and/or cacao groves. Though there are some companies using the term "Criollo" on their bars, until DNA testing can be done that rules out hybridization of any kind, something that was more likely to happen than not, the term Criollo should just be seen as a relative. In other words, something is "Criollo-like" or "Criollo-type" or "Criollo-heavy" etc., but pure Criollo?? I wouldn't bet my money on it. That said, we can see the vast majority of all cacao in the world as a spectrum, with Criollo-heavy on one side, Forastero populations on the other, and hybrids mostly in the middle. I say mostly in the middle because it depends upon the Forastero populations that we are considering. After all, Criollo and Forastero are still the same species, i.e. Theobroma cacao. They aren't even two different subspecies. This being the case, and considering that Forastero is a very general umbrella term that is used to identify many different populations, there are certainly some Forastero populations that are more similar in characteristics to Criollo, than some hybrid cacao populations are. All of this depends on the genetic stock that was hybridized in the first place. I know that it seems that I am getting further and further off track here, but bear with me and I'll jump right back into flavor in a moment. The point is that there is so much complexity in the cacao world that saying that Criollo tastes better than Forastero is a problematic statement. First, there is the question of whether Criollo really even exists anymore. Next there is the question of what Forastero is really signifying, and finally there is the fact that hybrid cacao populations are all over the map, with some being very Criollo-like, and some being less like Criollo than some Forastero populations are. That said...

We are still only talking about bitterness and astringency here, and there is much more to flavor than that--much, much more. Bitterness and astringency both impact flavor, but neither is an aromatic quality. Cacao has aromatic qualities even prior to fermentation and roasting, but after these two complex processes, the flavor of cacao becomes so complex that some argue, based upon scientific studies, that it has more flavor components than any other food in the world. Some of these flavor compounds are due to internal chemical changes occurring during fermentation and drying of the cacao, but others have to do with flavor compounds created by the yeast and bacteria that are then absorbed by the cacao. These absorbed flavors have more to do with the microbes that are active during fermentation than they have to do with the genetics of the cacao, and the types of microbes are dependent upon the climate, microclimate, weather patterns, and other things that would be classified as terroir. Still, there are even further changes that the cacao undergoes during roasting, and dependent upon the roast profile and the chemical compounds present within the bean, some of which are due to fermentation and drying, and others of which are due to genetics, we end up with a sum total of flavor that is difficult to decode or classify.

Have I boggled your mind yet by getting you to think about the complexity of cacao? I hope that I have, because that is the very point of this rant. And believe it or not, what I have written above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to decoding cacao flavor. So, does Criollo cacao taste better than other cacao? Well...

If it exists, and it is fermented and dried properly, and it is then roasted properly and skillfully turned into chocolate, then...maybe. It may have lower amounts of bitterness and astringency than other cacao, but that certainly isn't all that there is to flavor. Some people believe, though admittedly they are still mostly in the minority, that some Forastero and/or hybrid populations will give, when well-fermented and properly dried, cacao that is incredibly complex in flavor, if perhaps somewhat more bitter. What is more important? Complexity or bitterness? And are these two qualities mutually exclusive?

And here we are with more questions than answers again. Maybe that is because, at the end of the day, when it comes to foods it all boils down to personal taste. So, here is my answer in short.

In Short:

Does chocolate made from Criollo cacao taste better that chocolate made with other types of cacao?

You be the judge, and I mean this literally. Buy chocolate made by companies that take chocolate seriously. Taste it and decide if you like it. Whether it says Criollo on the label or not, and whether it really is Criollo or not, you'll either like the chocolate, or you won't. As you get more serious about chocolate, you'll begin to figure out with increasing precision what it is that really draws you to a chocolate--what qualities you like most in a chocolate. Who cares what the cacao is called at that point. Enjoy your chocolate, that is the whole reason for its existence.

Very best,

Alan
Chocolate maker and myth buster

Got some chocolate myths that need busting? Send them my way by posting a comment below (even anonymously), or emailing me directly at:
customer.service@patric-chocolate.com

Chocolate-Myth Busters #2: Belgian Chocolate Is the Best in the World?

2008-10-20T08:14:00.011-05:00

Potential myth to be busted:

Belgian (or Swiss) chocolate is the best in the world!

Response:

This is a commonly held belief and something that, as a chocolate maker, I hear often. Many people have a story about receiving chocolate brought back from Belgium/Switzerland and how it was the best that they had ever had. With all of this circumstantial evidence, one might well assume that there is a large grain of truth to the statement. Here is the actual truth:

There is no best chocolate in the world. Taste in chocolate is based upon two main things: culture and individual education/experience, and these all vary infinitely for everyone in the world.

It will certainly be possible to find people in Belgium/Switzerland that prefer dark, more heavily roasted, French chocolate, but most will prefer a very creamy milk chocolate. This is because this is what they are used to. This is what their culture tells them is good.

Do I agree personally? Not at all. I prefer the following type of chocolate:

Start with quality cacao, roast minimally, add just enough sugar to moderate innate cacao bitterness and astringency present in even the best quality cacao, conche in such a way to lead to a pleasurable balance of flavors where cacao is still the star player, age slightly for further flavor development, mold and enjoy.

Belgian/Swiss styles on the whole are more like this:

Start with mid-quality cacao, add lots of sugar, lots of cocoa butter, milk, and lots of vanilla and/or malt.

The average person off the street in the US would probably prefer the Belgian style (though that is changing), and chocolate made according to my preferences may, at first taste, be quite unexpected for people who are used to eating Beligian-style chocolate. Yet, I find that when people are wine drinkers and foodies in general, they make quite an easy transition from thinking of chocolate as brown, sweet, creamy, milk and vanilla-tinged stuff, to a product that is a a little bit thicker on the palate, and with complex notes of fruit, nuts, cocoa and an otherwise robust profile. Not everyone likes it, but many do or learn to like it more than other styles. The key is often for people to understand that it is different for a reason, and what that reason is, and then to eat the chocolate with that in mind. Expectations have to first be destroyed and then re-formed. Do you remember the first time that you tasted coffee, wine or beer? Did you really enjoy it? Some of the most complex and interesting foods in the world take time to finally understand; that is how I see it.

Does this mean that my chocolate, or chocolate that I like, is the best in the world? Not at all. It still just means that I like it best, and that there are more and more people finding value in it.

Those of you starting to feel that I am taking too much of a relativist approach however by saying that quality only has meaning in relation to an individuals culture and personal experiences, have no fear, I'll give you something a bit more concrete.

Let's say that we look to people who take chocolate very seriously, write about it, review it, talk about it, hold tastings, and have a good grasp of the variety of chocolate out there. If there was a general concensus amongst these chocolate literati that certain types of chocolate are better than others, couldn't we say that this "type" of chocolate is best? I'll leave that up to you to decide, but I'll tell you approximately what they would choose. A chocolate:

Made with good/high-quality cacao
That is a dark chocolate with a percentage from 65%-80%
That has a roast profile from moderate to heavy
With a moderately creamy texture, often due to a small amount of added cocoa butter
That has a small amount of vanilla, no malt, or even no flavoring added at all

Keep in mind that all of these people are individuals and that they don't all think as one uber-expert, so the above is just a summary that encapsulates the general tendencies of the group. It is certainly possible for a chocolate to fall within the above framework and be considered bad by most of those chocophiles and the inverse could be true. One thing that is interesting to mention, however, is that almost none of these chocolates would be Belgian or Swiss. Most would be French, Italian, and increasingly, American.

In short:

Taste is subjective, but most chocophiles do not prefer Belgian/Swiss chocolate to other chocolates.

Myth busted?
You be the judge.

Best,

Alan
Patric Chocolate
Disclaimer: There are certainly chocolates made in Belgium or Switzerland that do not fit the description given above of Belgian and Swiss chocolate. By using the terms Belgian or Swiss chocolate I mean to point to the generally preferred styles of chocolate in those countries, and not to say that all chocolate made in either country is of that style, even if the vast majority may be. In either case, my intention is not to speak badly of any companies.

Got some chocolate myths that need busting? Send them my way by posting a comment below (even anonymously), or emailing me directly at:
customer.service@patric-chocolate.com

Chocolate-Myth Busters #1: High Percentage = Healthy?

2008-10-15T10:01:00.009-05:00

Potential Myth:

"People often say that higher percentage chocolate bars are better for you, is this actually the case?"

Response:

There has been a great deal of research over the past couple of years concerning polyphenol antioxidants in cacao and chocolate, and it does appear as though there is a good deal of scientific data backing up the potential health benefits of eating cacao and chocolate. Judging by this, one might logically assume that high cocoa-percentage chocolates are healthier than those with lower cocoa-percentages. This can be accurate, but its accuracy depends on several things:

1) First of all, cocoa percentage includes the amount of chocolate liquor (ground up, winnowed, cocoa beans), cocoa butter and cocoa powder in the chocolate. However, if we see the number 70%, this doesn't tell us the proportion of those three ingredients. If there is a great deal more cocoa butter in one 70% bar than another, then considering the fact that cocoa butter, which is simply the fat of the cocoa bean, doesn't contain antioxidants, then that would meant that one 70% bar could have lower levels antioxidants than another. In fact, it is much more than theoretically possible for a 69% bar to have more chocolate liquor in it than a 75% bar, and therefore have a higher levels of antioxidants.

2) Secondarily, there is the issue that the antioxidant levels in cacao are reduced substantially during the processing that makes it taste good (i.e. raw unfermented cacao tastes quite bitter, astringent, and un-chocolate-like). Cacao is one of the few foods in the world that is both fermented (and then dried) and roasted, and the fermentation and drying--and according to some researchers, roasting too--lead to a substantially reduced amount of antioxidants in the cacao itself. This means that unless you are willing to forgo the reason that people like chocolate in the first place--it tastes amazing--and essentially turn it into a bitter health tonic, then chocolate will always have reduced antioxidant levels when compared to raw, unfermented cacao. That said, if you want to choose bars that may--and that is a big, big, maybe--have higher antioxidant levels, then you will probably be best off choosing the worst tasting, most bitter and astringent dark chocolate that you can find. If this doesn't sound appealing, then simply take solace in the fact that the best tasting dark chocolates will still have higher antioxidant levels than most other foods, and when you combine that with the beauty of its flavor, it can't be beat.

In Short: Higher percentages on a chocolate bar can be a simple rule of thumb if one wants to figure out which bar has higher antioxidant amounts, but this rule of thumb is often quite inaccurate due to different fermentation rates of different qualities of cacao, and different proportions of cocoa butter to chocolate liquor and cocoa powder, which all impact antioxidant levels. Perhaps better is to buy the dark chocolate that you like best, while trying more robust chocolates from time to time to see if they have grown on you, in order to focus on enjoying the chocolate for what it is--a delicious food--rather than try to turn it into the next health-food fad. We all know where those fads lead, and it is rarely good place.

Myth (Partially) Busted,

Alan

Got some chocolate myths that need busting? Send them my way by posting a comment below (even anonymously), or emailing me directly at:
customer.service@patric-chocolate.com

Chocolate-Myth Busters

2008-10-02T09:02:00.009-05:00

I've been doing quite a bit of myth busting concerning chocolate "facts" since the Patric Chocolate blog first started, but it took a loyal reader to point out the obvious:

"Here’s something you could run with for years [...] Chocolate myth busters – published, blogged and wild rumors in the chocolate world debunked. I continue to see incorrect information take on a life of its own. "Facts" that aren’t facts."--David Arnold

...And as soon as it was suggested, I thought, "Why haven't I been doing this from the beginning?" Truly a "Duh" type of moment.

The problem is that I have been writing almost exclusively more lengthy and complicated articles, and then I always end up getting so busy that they often never get finished. Of course, I still intend to finish all of those unfinished items, and I'm sure that I will--sometime--but I'm realizing that I need something simpler. I need something that is relevant and interesting, but not too time consuming to write. Chocolate-Myth Busters is intended to be just such a recurring topic.

So, I have some ideas of my own, but I am also interested in dealing with topics that interest my readers. That said, please let me know of any potential myths that you would like to see busted. Here is an example of what I am looking for:

"People often say that higher percentage chocolate bars are better for you, is this actually the case?"

Trust me, no matter how simple you think a question might be, I guarantee that there are a hundred other people out there wondering the same thing, and you just might be surprised at the answer.

So, take just a second out of your day to suggest some potential myths that need busting! Feel free to add them to the comments below (no need to sign up for any account), or email me personally at:

Customer.Service@Patric-Chocolate.com

Very best,

Alan
Chocolate myth buster at your service

What Else Can Cacao Do?

2008-08-12T12:54:00.040-05:00

Some time ago I asked you, the loyal Patric Chocolate blog readers, to speak up and let me know what you would like to see me write about. Those who responded had many great suggestions, and they have been heard! Here is just one of the suggestions:

"I know we get chocolate from cacao beans and [...] alcoholic drinks are possible from the pulp. I’ve even had a pulp fruit spread. What else can the fruit (berry) be used for? Do we always discard the large outer shell?"

--D in NYC

Many parts of the cacao fruit are delicious, from the unique "chocolate" notes of the fermented and roasted cacao seed to the sweet-tart floral qualities of the seeds' fresh pulp; the cacao fruit truly has a lot to offer. The one exception seems to be the exocarp of the fruit--normally referred to incorrectly as the "pod"--from which no food or beverage seems to be derived. I have tried to keep things reasonably simple, so I haven't touched upon foods such as chocolate pastries and candies for which many ingredients are needed, and in which chocolate often plays only a supporting role. Here are just a few of the uses to which people have put cacao throughout the years:

Cacao Fruit: The Mystery Continues

2008-07-31T12:59:00.005-05:00

Click to enlarge
Out of all of the interesting chocolate-related facts that surprise people, one of the most surprising tends to be the fact that cocoa "beans," far from being true beans, are actually the plump, buttery-pulp-covered seeds from a somewhat melon-shaped fruit that grows on the trunk of a tropical tree.

This fact, however, often overshadows a lesser known point of interest, which is that the fruit, often called a "pod," is not a pod at all. It is also not a fruit type called a "drupe," though even many academic papers and books make this mistake. Examples of actual drupes are "stone fruits" such as peaches, plums, cherries, and almonds. In other words, drupes have their seeds encased in a hard shell, or endocarp, and this "pit" or "stone" is then surrounded by the, generally, fleshy and edible part of the fruit. Cacao, on the other hand, is arranged quite differently. Cacao fruits have a somewhat thick and tough, though not hard, skin, within which is contained the many pulp-covered seeds. The seeds themselves do not have a hard shell. The fruit is, therefore, not a drupe in the least. What is sometimes referred to as the "shell" of the cocoa bean is nothing more than the dry seed coat of the fermented and dried cacao seed. When the seed is still moist, the seed coat could not be further from anything resembling a shell.

All of this being the case, and after a 2007 conversation with Steve DeVries of DeVries Chocolate really drove this point home, I began to wonder what the accurate botanical classification of a cacao fruit should be, if not a drupe. With this in mind I stumbled across a paper by Douglas Lehrian and Gordon Patterson of the Hershey Foods Corporation, in a collection published in 1983, that mentions quite clearly that the cacao fruit is a berry! The discovery was exciting, but still, I was a bit hesitant to rely on this information alone. I forwarded this find to DeVries, who promised to pass it by some botanists that he knew, and after some weeks, the botanists seemed not to have any major problems with the classification. At last, I thought, we can be relatively certain that the cacao fruit is actually a berry, and at this point I finally shared the findings with my Patric Chocolate blog readers. Yet, this certainty was not to last...

Unknown to me, the cacao fruit drama crept quietly along in the shadows, hidden by the busy chocolate holiday season which runs from October through April. Come June, however, I got an e-mail from DeVries in which he shared the updated opinions of the previously mentioned botanists. Time had allowed them to reflect more thoroughly upon the issue of the cacao fruit, and they were now of a slightly different opinion. Interestingly, the botanists felt that the cacao fruit was actually not a true berry, but instead was closest to a pepo, one of many types of false berries. However, they still did not feel strongly enough about this to make a final pronouncement, and this fact in itself led to additional skepticism on my part.

As I did some research into what exactly a pepo was, having never before encountered the classification, I wrote back to DeVries with my thoughts, some excerpts of which follow:

"As for cacao, it does seem very pepo-like, but I’m starting to wonder if this is a case of the human desire to classify something within an extant system that is really not complex enough for it.

It seems to me that generally in pepos, most of the edible fruit is not directly surrounding each seed as a pulp, but instead there is a type of internal seed layer with a fleshy edible layer right behind it (cucumber, various squash, [most] melons), and right before the “rind.” The cacao fruit certainly looks similar externally to some pepos, though, but I still wonder. Could Theobroma fruits, including cacao, be different types of fruit, yet to be named? Maybe this is why the botanists could be having some reservations--because they are wondering similar things."

Of course, I am no botanist, and my common-sense pronouncements certainly don't settle the issue entirely. For this reason, I was interested to receive a further e-mail from DeVries that included a quote from an 1861 publication of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The following botanical description of the cacao fruit was given:

"The capsule (berry-like,) not dehiscent, quinquelocular, with polysper-
mous compartments, and a ligneous leather-like bark. Seeds
nestling in a buttery fleshy pulp. "

Once again, it is stated that the cacao fruit is not a true berry; rather, it is "berry-like." Still, it doesn't seem that we know enough yet to say what the fruit truly is; we simply keep stating what it isn't. Are we happy enough to note that the cacao fruit is the perfect specimen of the rare and little-known Pepo-Like, False Berry? Perhaps not. So, if luck is on our side, the botanists will not lose interest in the issue either. After all, if they finally conclude that there is no extant classification that accurately includes cacao, then, at last, the botanists might be able to come up with a new classification that finally takes cacao into consideration.

Until then, the cacao fruit mystery continues, but we have come a long way in only one year. I'll be sure to keep you posted if any further botanists decide to weigh in on the issue. Until then, fine, dark Pepo-Like-False-Berry-seed paste maker, Alan McClure, signing off.

Blogging and the Three Chocolatiers

2008-07-18T09:25:00.008-05:00

No, I promise that I haven't forgotten the blog. In fact, quite the contrary, as I have been working on it more than ever. Unfortunately, however, the two topics on which I have been working have required so much research that the blog has seemed to be stuck in its tracks. On the other hand, once the topics are finished, they will each be taking up multiple blog posts, and will keep the Patric Chocolate blog moving at a good clip.

In the mean time, I hope that all of you in the fine chocolate belt of the US--Missouri of course--will join me this Tuesday for an event called the "Three Chocolatiers." Though most of you know that I am not a chocolatier, but rather a bean-to-bar chocolate maker, I didn't dare destroy such a clever title, so for one night only, an honorary chocolatier I'll be.

I'll be doing a demo on chocolate making from the bean, with plenty of things to taste, including chocolate, nibs, and roughly ground, pre-conched chocolate. Additionally, after my demo, a true chocolatier/confectioner genius Christopher Elbow and then author Elaine Gonzalez will also be doing demonstrations. It should be a great time!

Here is information about the price and the location--it is a fundraiser by the way, done in conjunction with Les Dames D'Escoffier:
http://www.kcrestaurantguide.com/chocolatierform.pdf

Best,

Alan

Request For Blog Topics

2008-05-07T13:11:00.002-05:00

Hello all,

I already have a list of topics that I will be covering on this blog over the next year or so, but I certainly want to make sure that I am not overlooking other issues that are of particular interest to my readers. If you are interested in hearing my take on a chocolate-related topic about which I have not yet written, then please leave a comment below mentioning the topic.

For those of you that don't have any particular topics in mind, if you see one in the comments below that does interest you, then please note your interest in the comments as well.

The topic ideas need not be technical or science-related, though they certainly can be. If you simply would like to know more about something, or if something just doesn't seem completely clear to you, then that is fair game for a topic.

I look forward to seeing all of your ideas!

Very best,

Alan McClure

Chocolate: The Best Known, Least Known Food

2008-04-15T21:31:00.009-05:00

(Photo above: Porcelana Sapling at the Estacion Experimental Chama in Zulia state Venezuela--December 2006)

Not long ago, during a friendly conversation about chocolate--as if there were any other kind--culinary historian, and NYC chocolate tour director, Alexandra Leaf, said to me that she thought of chocolate as the "best known, least known food in existence.” That comment got a chuckle out of me as I realized that not only is it true, but that the reason it is funny in the first place is due to the irony that something as well-loved as chocolate, a food to which people are exposed, in one form or another, virtually from infancy, a food that impassions a large part of the the human community with its complexity, unique flavor and texture, is virtually a stranger to us in terms of how it actually comes to be chocolate!

To some extent this is to be expected; after all, with expanding globalization it is rare nowadays that many of us know from whence all, or even most, of our food comes. Still, it is probably safe to say that even if we are not sure whether the orange that we are eating comes from Florida, most of us are reasonably certain that the orange did originally come from a tree. Even this much is not generally known about chocolate. In conversations I’ve had over the past several years, with people of all backgrounds, levels of education, economic statuses, sexes, and everything in between, most people truly are astonished when I tell them that chocolate has its ultimate origin in the bitter, pulp-covered seeds of a fruit that grows on a tree. This need not be the case!

Personally, I have dealt with the issue of chocolate’s complex provenance many times, and in many ways, in the posts of this blog, and there is a good chance that all of you reading this post have seen me mention these facts in one way or another. However, my blog posts are not enough. They simply cannot reach the majority of the population. That is why you, as the choco-literati, must take it upon yourself to help educate others about the glory and the beauty of cacao and its long and difficult voyage to chocolate. You can do it! You can spread the good word, the chocolate gospel, the truth about the best known, least known food in existence! The next time a friend of yours bites into a chocolate bar in front of you, by all means drop a little chocolate knowledge in their general direction. After all, though most people know only a little about chocolate, it is a subject that few can resist. You might even get to share a bit of their chocolate as a sign of appreciation.

Enjoy,

Alan
P.S. My utmost appreciation goes to Alexandra Leaf for the inspiration for this post, and for her work as a culinary and chocolate educator!

The Chemistry of Chocolate Part 2: General Cocoa Bean Chemistry

2008-04-04T08:22:00.015-05:00

Chocolate doesn’t just grow on trees. Well, actually it does…kind of. Chocolate is made from the fermented and dried seeds--often called cocoa beans--of a fruit, a large berry in fact, that grows on a tropical tree between approximately 20ºN and 20ºS. It was once commonly thought that two subspecies of cacao trees existed, Theobroma cacao ssp. cacao—commonly called Criollo—and Theobroma cacao ssp. sphaerocarpum—commonly called Forastero. However, more recent research suggests that the idea of two separate subspecies is incorrect, since though Criollo and Forastero populations certainly have differing phenotypes, they are sometimes far more similar than different, with some Criollo and Forastero populations being much more alike than either is similar to various hybrid populations. We will touch on this issue more in this installment of The Chemistry of Chocolate, as it is quite relevant to the chemistry-based role that genetics can play on the flavor of cacao. First, however, let it be noted that it is common in the chocolate industry, and especially in chocolate marketing within the industry, to talk about the following three categories of cacao: Criollo, Forastero, and Trinitario.

We have already seen the terms Criollo and Forastero, and the name “Trinitario” stems from the hybridized trees of Criollo and Forastero parentage in Trinidad following a “blast”—either disease-based or hurricane-based—in the first half of the 18th century. Because the name Trinitario had relevance in speaking of the first well-known hybrids of cacao, it gradually also came to be used in a generic sense by many people, for almost any hybrid, despite the fact that many hybrids have nothing to do with Trinidad as their origin. Therefore, though in Trinidad there is still said to be true Trinitario cacao, in the sense of it being closely genetically related to the original, and though some of this cacao was spread to other geographical regions, the term is generally more confusing than it is helpful. For this reason, I will not use the term Trinitario, but will use the more generic term “hybrid,” which, though leaving much to be desired, since it lacks the specificity needed to delineate the hundreds—at least—of cacao hybrids that now exist, will serve the purposes of the Chemistry of Chocolate series just fine. Finally, then, for ease of discussion, we can generally say that there are three main categories of cacao: Criollo, Forastero, and hybrids, and within each group there are certainly countless populations with divergences in phenotypes and flavor profiles of prepared samples, and this means that none of these categories can be seen as a single homogeneous "variety." However, there are also some general rules that can be stated, which are gleaned from a study of the various populations that are generally seen as fitting within the three categories listed above. Let us first discuss Criollo.

We know that Criollo cacao was historically cultivated by the Olmecs--perhaps as early as 1000 BCE-- and then the Maya in Central America and Southern Mexico, and it is likely that these Central American cacao populations had originally come from populations in western Venezuela and the surrounding areas, where such Criollo populations continue to exist, though often in slightly hybridized forms. Interestingly, Criollo matures more slowly, produces fewer fruit, and has low disease and pest resistance. With all of these seemingly negative qualities related to Criollo, one might wonder why the Olmecs and those pre-historic peoples who came before them even bothered to propogate it. The answer is likely in the flavor, in that the Criollo cacao populations are generally particularly nutty, mild, lacking bitterness and astringency, and therefore are often more subtle and pleasing as regards flavor. This being the probable case, despite the drawbacks of such cacao, it gradually came to be favored by certain indigenous peoples of Central America, finally making its way from its likely origin in Venezuela, up to Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico. The underlying chemical reasons for the flavor of the Criollo cacao, which are related to the genetics of this type, are also quite interesting, and will give us a foundation for dealing with the chemistry of the other cacao types.

One clue that helps to unlock the mystery of the general flavor differences between categories of cacao, is that while Criollo seeds have white interiors prior to fermentation and drying, Forastero seeds have purple interiors. The missing purple chemical in Criollo is the same one that colors polyphenol-rich blueberries: a flavonoid bound to a sugar that, when taken as a whole, is called an anthocyanin glycoside. Though this compound itself is not thought to be bitter or astringent, it has been noted that where it is present in cacao, certain other flavonoids are present as well, and in higher amounts than in cacao with no purple pigment. These other flavonoids, such as catechin and epicatechin, tend to be bitter in their simpler non-complexed form, and in their complexed forms, somewhat less bitter but more astringent. Astringency is a dry/puckery feeling in the mouth caused by the higher molecular weight flavonoid polymers--often referred to as tannins--reacting with protein in the saliva and on the tongue, and though always present in cacao, in excess, the sensation can be quite unpleasant.

Interestingly, not only does the relative lack of these particular flavonoids lead to a less harsh product in the case of Criollo, which has about 2/3 of the amount that Forastero has, but the balance of flavor is shifted even further, as other flavor notes within the cacao become more noticeable in the absence of the flavonoid harshness. Therefore nutty, fruity and other positive qualities of the cacao tend to be more noticeable. However, flavonoids aren’t the only bitter chemicals that are present in Forastero. Theobromine, an alkaloid related to caffeine, is also quite bitter, and present in perceptible quantities in Forastero. We will touch upon theobromine in more depth when discussing roasting later in the series, where it will have a large role to play. Another potential difference between Forastero and Criollo cacao, though the amounts of data present to support it are still limited, is that Criollo or Criollo-heavy hybrids may generally have more free amino acids in their composition. This could well play a role regarding flavor differences between Criollo and Forastero during roasting, a possibility that we will also discuss later in this series.

As for hybrids, they can have many different combinations of the above Criollo and Forastero traits. They can seem remarkably similar to Criollo, with only slightly bitter and astringent, very light, pink cotyledons, or they can seem far more like Forastero, with purple, more bitter seeds, and sometimes hybrids can actually include many more bitter and astringent compounds than even average Forastero populations. Hybrids can, thus, not be lumped into one category for the sake of flavor description or internal seed chemical composition, especially since the degree of variation within the whole range of hybrid populations far exceeds variation within Criollo and Forastero populations. This is one reason why, though all three terms--Forastero, Criollo, and hybrid--can be tricky in terms of usage, almost always requiring a bit of supplementary definition, the aforementioned term "Trinitario" is almost useless unless very clearly defined. That said, Criollo also risks becoming a useless term as some people have tended to refer to any hybrid with some amount of noticeable Criollo parentage as Criollo, when, as a hybrid, it obviously cannot be. It is reasonable, therefore, to want to know the whole story behind someone's usage of the terms Criollo or Trinitario before taking them at face value.

Moving on--so far we have taken a brief look at what role genetics can play in terms of determining cacao chemistry and flavor, but though genetics play a large role regarding cacao flavor, due to flavonoid, theobromine, and, potentially, free amino acid levels, the environment and climate in which the cacao trees grow also substantially impact the chemistry of the cacao seeds and therefore their flavor. As with all fruit trees, the health of the tree itself is important, and so weather patterns that impact temperature, rainfall, humidity and solar radiation levels all play a role in the flavor of the seeds within the cacao fruit. In addition to these various climactic conditions, soil-type, other plant species growing in close proximity--for example shade trees or leguminous atmospheric nitrogen-fixing plants--and even mycorrhizal fungi in the soil that have a symbiotic relationship with cacao, all make substantial impacts on the health, and therefore the cellular chemistry, of the tree and its fruit. In fact, all of these conditions could arguably be combined underneath a single umbrella-term that the French call “terroir”, a word that one normally hears used in relation to grape vineyards and wine. However, it is equally applicable to other crops, and cacao among them. Terroir is responsible, to quite a degree, for the flavor of cacao that comes from different regions, origins, or even given plots of land within regions. Additionally, the various impacts that terroir can have on cacao stretch beyond the growing location and reach into post-harvest processing, as each location, or origin, has different microbial populations that impact the chemistry and flavor of the cacao in dramatic ways. The next part of the Chemistry of Chocolate series, therefore, will delve into this realm of post-harvest processing, as we cover harvest, fermentation, and drying.

New York City Patric Chocolate Events in March

2008-03-27T11:05:00.007-05:00

I will be in New York City on the 30th of March for two chocolate-related events. First, I will be speaking at 5 pm, at one of chocolate expert Clay Gordon's Meet-Ups. The talk will cover both fine chocolate in general and Patric Chocolate's processes in particular, and of course we will be tasting both the 67% and 70% bars. This event will be limited to 30 people due to room-size limitations, so please don't wait too long before registering for the event or it may be full. More information can be found HERE.

If two chocolate events in one day doesn't phase you, then plan on making it to The Chocolate Collection: An Evening of Tasting at 7:30 pm, led by culinary historian Alexandra Leaf, chocolate expert Clay Gordon, and wine expert Costas Mouzouras of Gotham Wines, wherein Patric Chocolate will be tasted, discussed, and paired with various fine wines. I will be on hand in order to field any questions related specifically to the manufacture of the chocolate.

I hope to see many of you at both events!

Best,

Alan McClure

Chocolate: If It Isn’t a Candy, Then What Is It?

2008-03-23T14:29:00.009-05:00

There are many things about chocolate that stand out for me over the span of my life as I have gone from a novice lover of most things chocolate to a bean-to-bar fine chocolate maker. I remember clearly the first time I saw a cacao fruit in Tabasco State, Mexico. I recall my first smell of roasting cacao as I stirred it in a cast-iron skillet, and I will never forget the joy of tasting my first batch of European-style chocolate, as I slowly placed a spoon of the molten goodness into my mouth. If there is a heaven, it must include the feelings I associate with these experiences. Yet, there is one chocolate-related memory that came before all of these, and whose power still grabs hold of me today when people ask me what types of “candy bars” I make: In my early twenties, I was sitting in a university French course as the instructor asked us to name types of candy, the idea being that she would tell us what they were called in French, if there existed something comparable. Almost immediately I said “chocolate!” The response came just as quickly: “Non, le chocolat n’est pas un bonbon, mais il y a des bonbons qui se font avec du chocolat.” Even for those of you who don’t speak French, the response is probably clear enough; chocolate was apparently not a candy at all.

Still, despite the bluntness with which we were told of chocolate’s status as non-candy, I found myself shocked nonetheless that anyone would claim such a thing. I couldn’t imagine hearing those same words coming out of another person’s mouth ever again, and certainly not out of mine; chocolate obviously was a candy after all, French instructor opinion notwithstanding. That said, this seemingly obvious truth was not about to remain so clear to me for long.

For about a year from 2003 to 2004, I found myself in Lyon, France. The reasons for which I was there had nothing to do with chocolate at all, but upon finding the time to do a bit of reading about French gastronomy, I soon found myself wondering if I was perhaps in the ultimate fine chocolate country in the world. Unlike the national preferences in many countries—Germany, the US, Switzerland and Belgium included--the French prefer dark chocolate, and there are quite a few respected bean-to-bar chocolate makers to be found in France. True, the average French citizen is not necessarily familiar with the names of the makers of these fine chocolate bars, but the chance of accidentally running into their bars while shopping is not infinitesimal either. Taking this into consideration, I began to seek out many of what I read were the “greats” (to learn more about French chocolate makers read the last part of this post). I tried many bars from a variety of different companies, and over the course of the year I began to realize that though I had been convinced that I preferred milk chocolate, dark chocolate was quickly beginning to spend much greater amounts of time filling my thoughts. By the time I headed back home in early 2004, I had developed a taste for French dark chocolate that the variety of bars I was bringing back with me would not be able to satisfy for long.

Back in the US, I set to work trying to figure out if there were some websites devoted to French chocolate. I came across one called SeventyPercent.com, and soon absorbed much of the information there, from forum discussions on various chocolate makers, to the reviews of single bars themselves. I discovered that there were also Italian chocolate makers doing amazing things with cacao, and after finding a site from which to order French and Italian dark chocolate online, I ordered a number of the most respected bars, and then some others made by the same manufacturers. If the average, more easily available, French dark chocolate that I had already tried was a true eye opening experience, then this selection of the “best of the best” was a revelation. Each bar was so different from the next, and I was finally beginning to be able to taste various flavor notes in the chocolate, as I came to better understand what the French term terroir meant: that cacao from different regions had unique flavor qualities, even across manufacturers, that could be tied to climate, soil-type, nearby foliage, and naturally occurring microbes in the air and soil, not to mention other factors such as cacao variety and post-harvest processing. One might start to think that I am talking about wine rather than chocolate, and the confusion would be justified as there are clearly similarities between grapes and cacao on many levels. In fact, it is this complexity in cacao, and therefore chocolate, that so intrigued me, that I soon began to wonder about making my own chocolate and shortly thereafter started to experiment with the preliminary processes that eventually led to my first attempts at making European-style fine chocolate.

You may be wondering at this point how a blog post on the difference between chocolate and candy has turned into a story of my progression from chocolate lover to chocolate maker. Well, as I wondered how best to write a piece about the issue, I realized that virtually every reason that I could put forth was almost entirely subjective, as are many food-related opinions. Where the classification for chocolate ends and candy begins is a judgment call that is made by every individual, and I certainly cannot force my beliefs upon others. However, I think that my subjective experience, from seeing chocolate as candy for so much of my life, to finally seeing fine chocolate as a complex and delectable food quite far removed from candy…well, I thought that it might carry more weight than simply trying to come up with a set of objective criteria by which one might come to the same opinion. I thought that my experience might be more persuasive. As I think about why this might be, I realize that the definitions of candy and chocolate are both inextricably linked to time and place, and right here and right now in the US candy is often seen as cheap, sugar-filled, and bad for your health. That is not to say that all things called candies do have these qualities, but fine chocolate, for example, has none of them. It certainly isn’t cheap to manufacture, in its 70% and higher incarnations it is hardly what anyone would call sweet, and we are finding out more and more reasons why it is good for us. Of course, there is also the fact that chocolate has one of the most complex, if not the most complex, flavor profiles of any food in existence, certainly rivaling wine, cheese, coffee and tea in the quantity of volatile flavor components that can be ascribed to it. What candy can claim the same? Of course, I am careful to continually say “fine chocolate” because much mass-market chocolate, whether made in the US or elsewhere, has more in common with candy than the chocolate of which I am speaking. A warning sign would be a chocolate bar with sugar as the number one ingredient, no mention of the origin from which the cacao comes, no specific mention of cacao content, milk flavor that drowns out the cacao, and excess vanilla or even worse, vanillin, or other flavorings.

As for candy, I certainly think that it is possible for a culture to exist where candy or confections are taken so seriously, that they rise to the status of gastronomic triumph, and many would argue that confectioners in the French tradition have created items--some including chocolate and some not—that approach or fully attain this level, with confections so complex and delicious that they certainly deserve their own place next to the other great foods of the world. However, I have to believe that even in this case, there is something about the complex beauty of a masterfully-crafted fine dark chocolate that is lost when it is combined with other products. A world-class chocolate, at its best, deserves to stand on its own, and like a great wine, is not improved when combined with other ingredients, where the full depth of its bouquet could never be completely experienced. As always, there will be people who will disagree, and I can certainly appreciate other points of view, but still, if ever I were to ask someone to name their favorite type of candy, and “chocolate” came back as a response, there is a good chance that I might think to myself “Non, le chocolat n’est pas un bonbon, mais il y a des bonbons qui se font avec du chocolat.”

Best,

Alan McClure

Nibs, Cacao Seeds and Cocoa Beans, Oh My!

2008-03-17T16:49:00.010-05:00

These words are thrown around indiscriminately at times, and I am probably also guilty of it, even as I try to clarify, rather than obfuscate, chocolate-related issues. So, here is my attempt to create some order out of this chaos. Luckily, this topic is one of the least complicated ones of which I have written as of late.

The journey of "cacao" starts with a tree, also called “cacao,” or more specifically, by its scientific name, Theobroma cacao. On the trunk and lower branches of the cacao tree’s canopy grow beautiful, if a bit odd-looking, fruit. These fruit are slightly smaller than a large papaya and roughly the same shape, though some of them have quite a few bumps, ridges, and curves that give them a bit more character (see photo above). As mentioned in a previous post, these fruit are actually large berries, and within these berries one finds tart pulp-covered seeds that are approximately the size of an almond, though a bit plumper. These seeds are, therefore, called "cacao seeds," or often simply "cacao." So far, so good.

The cacao seeds must be removed from the fruit, and fermented and then dried. This processes leads to a product that can then be roasted and refined to make chocolate. At this stage it can still be called "cacao," but in English speaking countries, is often referred to as “cocoa beans” or simply “cocoa.” It is easy to see that the word “cocoa” is quite similar to “cacao,” and that the terms are related, but this does not help solve the confusion related to the fact that “cocoa” can also be used in ways other than to refer to “cacao seeds” or “cocoa beans.” Often “cocoa” is used to refer to “cocoa powder,” which is roasted and ground “cocoa beans” that have had much of their natural fat removed. And speaking of “cocoa beans,” why is it that they are called “beans” anyway, when they are actually not beans at all? The reason is probably quite simple, despite the confusing common usage: the seeds are somewhat bean-shaped, and apparently the English were not the only ones to think so, as the French terminology--fève de cacao--references a fava bean in its description of the seed shape.

So, all confusion about “cacao seeds” and “cocoa beans” aside, what are “nibs?” The term “nibs” is one that is cropping up quite a bit lately, but many people, perhaps most, are still not familiar with it. To understand what “nibs” are, let us discuss just a bit about the structure of a cacao seed. The seed has a thin seed-coat that when dried is quite brittle. This dry seed-coat is usually called the “shell.” This shell is removed, generally after roasting, and what is left--the internal part of the bean, or botanically, the cotyledons--is 100% pure unground chocolate. This unground, shell-less seed can be broken into pieces quite readily, and these pieces are called “nibs.” When roasted, as they usually are, these nibs have a pleasant chocolate-like aroma and flavor, though since they are unsweetened, also have some additional bitterness. Their nut-like texture, however, does moderate the strength of the nibs, and so they tend to be far more munchable than refined 100% chocolate. Nibs can be found in bars of chocolate, where they take the place that nuts might normally fill, and also in small bags to be eaten out of hand, or mixed in with fruit, or even cooked with. They are a tasty and satisfying food, and one that Patric Chocolate will be offering in the near future.

I hope that this brief essay helps to clarify the differences between some very commonly used words, despite the large degree of overlap. For an article that touches on a few of these terms in relation to the percentage that we often see on the chocolate bar wrapper, please see my previous post called Chocolate and Percentages: What Does it All Mean?

Very Best,

Alan McClure

Chocolate and Percentages: What Does It All Mean?

2008-03-03T21:01:00.021-06:00

I often get asked what the percentage on the front of a chocolate bar means. As is the case with many things chocolate-related, the answer is not quite what I would call simple:

Percentages on chocolate bars get tricky because there is no clear and consistent legal standard for their usage. You may see one or more of the following terms on the front or back of the chocolate bar packaging:

cacao (or cocoa) content
cacao (or cocoa) mass
cacao (or cocoa) solids
chocolate
chocolate (or cocoa) liquor
cacao
cocoa

“Chocolate” is defined by the FDA as a product containing ground up cacao--cocoa beans--minus their shells. It can be 100% chocolate with nothing added, or there can be some other ingredients added such as sugar, vanilla and other natural flavorings, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and some additional dairy products as well as emulsifiers such as lecithin.

The funny thing is that sometimes on the back of a chocolate bar you’ll see that the ingredients list includes “chocolate” as the first ingredient. You may wonder how the first ingredient of "chocolate" can be "chocolate," but this oddity is simply because the roasted and refined cocoa beans can be called “chocolate” by themselves, even without sugar added. However, the FDA prefers the controlled term “chocolate liquor” which signifies the same thing (i.e. ground up cocoa beans). Sometimes if the cocoa beans have too low an amount of cocoa butter—as in the case of low quality cacao—cocoa butter must be added, but need not be listed in the ingredients because it is seen as a correction rather than an addition.

“Cocoa mass” is a controlled term used in the EU to signify the same thing as “chocolate liquor” here in the US (i.e. ground up cocoa beans). This term, like “chocolate liquor”, does not include "added" cocoa butter or cocoa powder. These items must be listed separately.

“Cocoa content” signifies a combination of cocoa beans, cocoa butter and cocoa powder altogether, but it has no legally defined meaning.

“Cocoa solids” is the really tricky term. It also has no legally defined meaning and some companies apparently use it to signify the same thing as cocoa content—again butter, beans, and powder—but other companies use it to signify only cocoa powder, or more accurately, the non-fat solid portion of the cocoa bean--and this is how I have seen the term used by most people. However, it is apparently not always used in this way.

Here is an interesting blog post by Emily Stone of Chocolate in Context, based on statements by several chocolate professionals with different ideas of what this term means.

Note that the first two comments are from Americans, and the last one is Australian. There could well be a difference in general usage of these various terms between the two countries. Note also that all three disagree to some extent; however, I believe that the first person, Ed Seguine from Guittard Chocolate, is the most accurate in terms of legally-defined terminology and general usage of terminology as regards chocolate in the United States. Still, as I mention, there is obviously inconsistency in usage in the industry, which is why there is really no completely correct way to use these terms in relation to each other without clarifying what one means by them, and such lengthy descriptions will certainly not find their way onto a chocolate bar package.

"Cocoa" is another tricky term because in common language, it often refers to "cocoa powder," which is ground up cacao that has had some of the fat pressed from it, but it is also sometimes used generically as a catch-all for anything derived from cacao, and therefore the cacao itself, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder.

"Cacao" seems clearer, as one would think that it surely refers to only the fermented and dried seeds of the cacao tree, or what often are called "cocoa beans," but do not expect that every time you see the word "cacao" that it will only include the ground up cacao seeds. "Cacao" is becoming quite a buzz-word now, and so it is just a matter of time before even more confusion sets in as it becomes the #1 catch-all term to describe a combination of all cacao-derived products. The shift in usage and meaning has already begun.

One small US chocolate maker has noted that he sees "cocoa beans" as the clearest way to differentiate the roasted seeds of the cacao tree from other cacao-derived products. This may be the case, but at the moment, the terminology is still rarely used.

Because of this, out of all of the above terms, the clearest commonly used phrase may be “cocoa content,” as it is openly and obviously inclusive of all cacao-based products, which is what the percentage on the bar will almost certainly signify anyway--as companies generally want to use as high a number as possible--and doesn’t risk confusing as does the term “cocoa solids” due to multiple possible meanings since molten cocoa butter can certainly be thought of as a liquid.

So, it is perfectly reasonable to say: “This bar is a 70% cocoa content dark chocolate”, which would mean that 70% of its weight comes from ground up cocoa beans with the possible addition of cocoa butter, and/or cocoa powder in some combination. The simplest 70% bar would be ground up cocoa beans and sugar, which is what the Patric Chocolate 70% Madagascar is.

But, now we have run into a further problem:

The fact that "70% cocoa content" can mean different things is exactly why, though its meaning may be clear, it is still quite imprecise. In fact, 10 different bars that all use the same terminology (i.e. 70% cocoa content), can all have very different proportions of cacao, cocoa butter and cocoa powder in them. Fine chocolate generally does not include cocoa powder, but even so, different brands have highly variable proportions of cacao to cocoa butter. In fact, it is possible, for example, to have a 74% bar that has less cacao--due to added cocoa butter--and is therefore less robust in flavor, than a 71% bar with no cocoa butter added. The problem is compounded by the fact that most chocolate makers/manufacturers do not include the varying percentages of the different components added. Though texture and flavor can give some indication, one would hope that the lack of transparency in the chocolate world as regards percentage will, at some point, be a thing of the past; on this note, please see our web store for in-depth descriptions of the actual contents of our bars.

One final thing to mention, which is something that is probably clearer to most people than what we have already discussed, is that a high percentage does not guarantee quality chocolate. Many mass market brands have caught on to putting percentages on their bars as a marketing technique, because up to a point, only the European fine chocolate companies were listing percentages. As you can imagine, there is a very large difference between a 70% made with what is called "bulk" cacao, from a mixture of many uninteresting origins, and filled with massive quantities of vanilla, and a bar that is made from what is called "fine flavor cacao" from one of many different interesting origins, and that really showcases the beauty of the flavor of the cacao due to the artisan's hand in the manufacturing of the chocolate. This being the case, the oft-quoted term "buyer beware" is certainly relevant here.

Best,

Alan McClure

Slow Food St. Louis: Chocolate and Beer; What More Could You Ask For?

2008-02-20T10:05:00.011-06:00

(Above: Speaking to STL Slow Food at the Schlafly Tap Room)

Due to Valentine's craziness I am a week behind on reporting about the event, but it was so much fun that I'm going to belatedly share anyway.

The chocolate talk and tasting seminar was held at the Schlafly Tap Room in conjunction with the St. Louis convivium of Slow Food, and upon arriving, we--my wife and I--got a warm welcome from the Tap Room's head brewer Stephen Hale. Stephen showed us around the brewery as we got to talking about the combination of beer and chocolate and the difficulties involved in creating a chocolate-flavored beer, including issues such as iron content of chocolate--it's high--which could dissolve into the beer, oxidize, and create a hazy appearance--an unwelcome occurrence in most beers. After talking beer, we got set up for talking chocolate.

Following a brief Slow Food meeting things really got moving as a long and interesting discussion commenced, with participants asking countless perceptive and intriguing questions from the role that terroir plays in cacao flavor, even including natural yeast strains that could impact fermentation, to the various processes employed in small-scale or "micro" chocolate manufacture. After the discussion, we continued with the education by tasting the two currently available Patric Chocolate offerings as we talked about what tastes and aromas set them apart despite their shared origin--Madagascar. As usual, it was a true joy to see the expressions on people's faces as they searched for and identified various flavor notes and, often, realized that they had never tasted them in chocolate before.

If you would like to read more about the night and the reactions of some of the attendees, it has also been written about on the St. Louis Slow Food site, and a blog called the Cupcake Project.

Also, since--due to a recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch--many of you who are reading this blog are located in and around St. Louis, let me urge you to seek out Slow Food St. Louis if you are a lover of fine food. If you would classify yourself as gourmet, gourmand, or foodie, and you want to meet and talk with like-minded people who are making a difference in St. Louis food--and beverage--culture, then please contact them! It really will be worth your time.

(above: Trying to pluck a cacao pod off a photo of a tree
through sheer force of will--it didn't work)

I'd like to thank all STL Slow Food members, Sara Hale for organizing things, Rebecca Marsh for her input, and the aforementioned Stephen and Sara Hale for their incredible hospitality!

George Washington "Patric Chocolate" Cherry Pie

2008-02-17T21:36:00.006-06:00

Renowned Kansas City chef Jasper Mirabile of Jasper's was on KC Fox 4 today to demonstrate his recipe for George Washington "Patric Chocolate" Cherry Pie with Amaretto. Click below and then hit play to watch his demonstration and hear his description of Patric Chocolate. He says: "This is micro-chocolate, this is unbelievable, it's like buying a bottle of wine, you'll taste the cherries, you'll taste the berries, you'll taste everything in there..."

We send Chef Mirabile our gratitude for continuing to help spread the word about Patric Chocolate!

Patric Chocolate's Saturday in KC:

2008-02-10T18:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I spent a beautiful, chocolate-filled day in Kansas City. I had the fortune to be invited by Jasper Mirabile for his Valentine's Day radio show Live! from Jasper's Kitchen on 710 AM. We talked a bit about micro-batch fine chocolate, the processes employed here at Patric Chocolate, and what makes them different from those of mass-market chocolate. It was really a great time, and after the show I was lucky enough to have a group of about 75 fine chocolate loving Kansas City residents give me their undivided attention back at Mirabile's KC restaurant--called Jasper's--for a fine chocolate talk and tasting seminar that expanded upon many of the themes from the radio show.

Though I was expected to talk for about 45 minutes, I, due to my notorious wordiness when it comes to chocolate, was unable to keep it to under about an hour and a half. To my delight, however, everyone was not only patient but filled with a multitude of incredibly perceptive questions that really helped to drive the point home about the differences between fine chocolate and what one may find in the supermarket aisles.

And the chocolate tasting that came at the end of the talk truly seemed to be an eye opening experience for many people, which made me happy to no end. We all sampled Patric Chocolate's micro-batch 70% and 67% Madagascar bars and two supermarket bars. It was a joy to watch everyone's faces as they tasted flavors in the Madagascar bars that they had never experienced before, but also as they realized how little flavor of the cacao is actually present in common chocolate. One attendee, upon tasting the difference between the four bars, proclaimed that one of the common market brands didn't even taste like chocolate! Imagine that: chocolate that doesn't even taste like chocolate; Quelle horreur, the French would say!

Anyway, I had such a great time and got to meet so many warm and enthusiastic chocolate lovers that I would gladly return to KC--and Jasper's whose Italian cuisine is good enough to make a grown man cry--anytime!
(above: One section of the KC chocolate talk crowd)

Comments from attendees of the Patric Chocolate, Jasper's-hosted chocolate seminar are welcome!

Two New Products!

2008-02-03T11:58:00.000-06:00

Well, actually that is one new bar and a Valentine's Day Collection that includes both of the bars currently in production.

As of February 1st, we released a 67% Madagascar bar that is made with the same cacao from which the 70% bar is crafted. The new bar is brighter in tone, with various fruit notes playing more of a role in the bouquet, such as lively plum preserves, fruits rouges--think cherries and raspberries--and butter-hazelnut toffee, as well as notes of licorice and subtle spice.

As for the Valentine's Day Collection, there are two bars of each percentage--67% and 70%--and the idea is to be able to taste the bars side by side in order to better appreciate how percentage can impact chocolate made from the same origin. This is a great way to educate your loved ones about the joys of fine chocolate. Complimentary gift wrap is included.

One interesting point about the 67% Madagascar bar is that, in addition to the cacao and pure cane sugar, there is a bit of cocoa butter added. However, whereas most companies buy cocoa butter from another company, our cocoa butter is pressed right here in the Patric Chocolate workshop from the same origin of cacao that is used in the chocolate. This ensures that the flavor profile of the bar is clear and consistent. As usual, no vanilla or other flavorings are added.

Here are links to the new products mentioned above:
The Valentine's Day Fine Dark Chocolate Collection
The 67% Madagascar bar

Just remember to order by 8 am EST this coming Friday, February 8th, in order to ensure that your, or your loved one's, chocolate is delivered by Valentine's Day!

Very Best,

Alan McClure
Bean-to-Bar, Fine Chocolate Maker

Global Threat to Fine Chocolate Revealed:

2008-01-25T09:56:00.001-06:00

Scientists have discovered a molecule that some believe may lead to the destruction of fine chocolate. The molecule (left), known as 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, and with the empirical formula C₈H₈O₃ is white and needle-like in appearance, and has been found, often in large quantities, in cheap chocolate, though it is also to be found in fine chocolate in varying quantities. When this molecule is present in small numbers it poses little risk to the destruction of fine chocolate, but in much larger quantities can lead to the constriction of muscles in the throat and nausea in some individuals.

Alright, enough kidding around, the molecule above is simply vanillin, the major constituent of vanilla, which, as most people know, is quite common in chocolate. What spurred this satire was a combination of a few conversations that I have recently had that have gotten me thinking about vanilla in relation to chocolate even more than I had in the past. So, I decided to explicitly state my position on vanilla, which is as follows:

I don't put vanilla in Patric Chocolate. My philosophy is to choose cacao that is of such quality that it tastes delicious with only small amounts of pure cane sugar. Sugar, while certainly adding a component of sweetness to chocolate that is not present in the source cacao, is not aromatic, and therefore does not interfere with the aroma of the cacao as do aromatic substances. Aroma, as we know from the post about chocolate appreciation a few weeks ago, is the largest component of the perception of flavor of any food, and so makes quite an impact on the overall flavor of chocolate. With this in mind, small quantities of sugar, by helping to balance bitter and acid tastes in the cacao, actually allow the full bouquet of the cacao to shine in all of its delicious glory. Vanilla, on the other hand, which adds its own set of aromatic notes to the mix, based mostly on vanillin, but also upon a number of other compounds--some of which can seem minty or citrusy-- muddies the waters of the chocolate as the aroma of the cacao itself becomes confused and hard to decipher.

Of course, this is the opinion of only one chocolate maker in a field of many who do use vanilla. So it is fair to wonder if I have wandered too far off the beaten track in my rejection of vanilla. All that I can say is to trust your own mouth and your own nose. Next time you taste a fine chocolate bar without vanilla (they are rare, but do exist), pay attention to the clarity of the tastes and aromas. Note the beauty of the experience. Then, taste some chocolate with vanilla in it and ask yourself if the experience of the chocolate has been helped or hampered by the addition of the vanilla. You might just surprise yourself with your own answer.

Fine chocolate lovers of the world unite; In cacao we trust!

Alan McClure
Patric Chocolate

Note: I realize that there will always be chocolate makers and chocolate lovers who prefer vanilla in their chocolate, that this is a subjective preference, and that quantity of vanilla certainly does matter; I respect all of this. My goal in this post is really to make the case that though historically we have added vanilla to our chocolate in the West, making it normal and accepted, it is not necessarily the case that it actually enhances the flavor of fine chocolate made with excellent quality cacao, and that its addition to such products may, to some extent, be a cultural holdover.

A Patric Chocolate Review: Chocolate Bytes

2008-01-16T12:40:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't been sharing all the reviews of the micro-batch 70% Madagascar bar with you as they come in, as I am trying to keep the blog content-rich in order to avoid turning it into a big online billboard for Patric Chocolate. However, it's nice to share a review every now and then. Here is the latest review at Chocolate Bytes:
http://www.chocolatebytes.com/

Very Best,

Alan McClure
Patric Chocolate

The Chemistry of Chocolate: An Introduction

2008-01-13T19:52:00.001-06:00

Photo: A cacao fruit containing white, pulp-covered cacao seeds. Though the pulp is sweet and tart, the inner seed itself-- there is a blown up inset of one of them cut in half-- which is what is eventually ground into chocolate, is quite bitter and un-chocolate-like. (click the photo to enlarge)

Chocolate has perhaps the most complex flavor of any food in the world. This is due to the chemical makeup of the cacao (or cocoa beans) with which the chocolate is made, but also to the very complicated processes to which the cacao is subjected, including harvest, fermentation, drying, roasting, refining, conching, aging and tempering. These processes ultimately lead to a food with a flavor that is so chemically complex—with the running count now numbering over 600 possible volatile compounds--that scientists cannot even tell us exactly which compounds give chocolate its magnificent, delectable and unmistakable “chocolateness.” Researchers think that this quintessential chocolate note is probably due to a multiplicity of chemicals, or maybe that it is due only to a handful of chemicals that are present in very small quantities--but since they have very low odor thresholds, are nevertheless quite important--or maybe that it is due to both; how’s that for clarity? And so it is, that at the start of the 21^st century, as we find ourselves capable of regularly flying into space, cloning plants and animals, and building supercomputers the size of wristwatches, we still don’t yet understand the essence of chocolate.

However, even though there is so much we don’t yet know about chocolate, we do know one thing: Chocolate is delicious, and many people, if asked to choose between their favorite chocolate and any other beloved food, would not hesitate to choose the item made from the fruit of a plant that Carolus Linnaeus deemed Theobroma, or “Food of the gods”—yes, chocolate (Theobroma cacao in full). Yet despite the fact that cacao has such a delicious sounding name, in reality, cacao just off the tree tastes quite bitter, astringent, otherwise harsh and not chocolaty in the least. How can this little seed that initially tastes quite awful be chocolate’s number one ingredient?

The answer is to be found above in the title of this series. Indeed, every step of the chocolate-making process involves quite complex chemical changes within the cacao, and it is our control over the processes that cause these changes that eventually reveals to us a flavor of beauty: that of finished chocolate of course!

Over the next several months we will be looking in some detail at the various steps of chocolate making, starting with the cacao tree itself, as we discuss the chemistry involved in each step, and where applicable, the history of developments in cacao processing that have led to changes in the chemistry of the finished product. We will answer many chocolate-related chemistry questions along the way, and our answers will raise new questions, but in any case, by the end of this series readers will have a very good idea of the types of changes undergone by our friend cacao during its metamorphosis into chocolate. Let the fun begin...

Calling All Commenters:

2008-01-06T03:50:00.000-06:00

Since the Patric Chocolate blog began last year, the "commenting" feature has been inactivated. However, it just doesn't seem like nearly as much fun to write post after post without people being able to put in their two cents. So, commenting is now activated, both for future posts, and retroactively. If there are any posts that you found to be particularly interesting or perhaps you wanted to add a side note to something, then please do so. Hopefully this blog will become more of a living dialogue on chocolate in the process.

Best,

Alan McClure

What Is Fine Chocolate? An Essay

2008-01-01T10:55:00.001-06:00

Recently Pam Williams, of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), asked me if I would repurpose some of the information from an interview on Cacaolab into an essay dealing with fine chocolate, or more specifically, responding to the question of just what fine chocolate is. After a few drafts and revisions I have come up with a brief essay that deals with the subject. You will notice that I am not talking about bonbons or truffles here, but of chocolate per se, as a food in and of itself, or as an ingredient to be used by chocolatiers or confectioners. However, this does not mean that I deny that chocolate bonbons can fit into the category of "fine chocolate," but simply that I don't deal with the issue in any way, as I believe that it will be better served by a skilled, talented and knowledgeable chocolatier. A final point is that I don't specify that what I am talking about as pure fine chocolate includes only couverture or molded chocolate bars, squares, etc., as I feel that the term fine chocolate should be more expansive than that. Of course chocolate has commonly come in bar or other molded form, but I see hints that the concept of fine chocolate within the minds of various chocolate makers is undergoing an evolution that may lead to different expressions of this delicious item. What these various forms may be is anybody's guess, but I think that we would do well to keep an open mind, and a willing palate.

Very Best,

Alan McClure
Chocolate Maker
Patric Chocolate

What is Fine Chocolate? An Essay

The term “fine chocolate” gets thrown around quite a bit, both online and in print, but what does it really mean? If we take the word “fine” to literally refer to the fineness of the cacao and sugar particles within the chocolate, which is a reasonable thought given the importance usually placed upon texture in fine chocolate products, then we must expect that any manufacturer of fine chocolate should have the necessary machine(s) available to refine and conche said chocolate until it has a very smooth texture—something that we can objectively refer to as “fine.” However, there are many mass producers that also manufacture chocolate with fine particle sizes, so there must be more to fine chocolate than that. Additionally, there are companies with products on the market that have taken a different approach to fine chocolate, feeling that cacao has, up to this point, been too processed, and have, therefore, created products with varying amounts of refining and conching, using processes that seem to fly in the face of traditional ideas--based primarily on French practices--concerning fine chocolate. This being the case, though texture is usually still quite important to fine chocolate makers, it seems that the definition of fine chocolate must move beyond the issue of texture. I suggest the following three-part definition:

Fine chocolate is produced by a chocolate maker, relatively small in size, who:

Makes every effort to source the best quality cacao

Has a vision for how to get the best out of such cacao, and carefully and consistently applies that vision using specialized machinery, chosen specifically for the task, in order to create an intriguing and delicious product

Effectively conveys to the chocolate-loving public, both through delicious flavor of the product and the philosophy underlying it, the relevance of said product

It will be useful to briefly look at each of these three points.

Quality Cacao:

Various fine chocolate makers will certainly have differing views on many aspects of fine chocolate manufacture, but quality cacao is one issue that many makers can generally agree upon. For example, when looking at the difference between a mass-producer of chocolate and a small or micro-producer of fine chocolate, the fine chocolate maker’s relative focus on quality cacao, as opposed to bulk cacao, is apparent. However, not all companies handle this issue in the same way. Some source directly from farmers, estates, or co-operatives, some work even more closely with the farmers, either directly, or through a hired agent or agronomist, some buy cacao from brokers who specialize in “flavor” cacao, and some use a mixture of all of these practices. Though there is not full agreement between chocolate makers on just how far one must go in sourcing cacao to get the best quality chocolate, it is generally believed that the more direction the chocolate maker can give to the farmers or co-ops that are growing, harvesting, fermenting, and drying her cacao, the better and more consistent the end product will be. Additionally, since happy farmers will undoubtedly care more about the product with which they are working, it also is fair to posit that paying more for each pound of cacao than market rate, or even Fair Trade rate, and rewarding farmers for excellent cacao with investment in tools, such as better fermentation boxes and drying floors or solar dryers, to help them create still better quality cacao, might be a path that fine chocolate makers should consider. In fact, many fine chocolate makers claim that this is the only path towards consistently increasing product quality, and so are attempting to work toward this often difficult goal. Whatever the cacao-sourcing decision, however, what we do with such cacao, as directed by our personal visions for quality products, is equally important.

Vision and Follow-Through:

Each manufacturer of fine chocolate takes this aforementioned cacao, and uses processing methods, which stem from the unique vision or philosophy of what fine chocolate should be, to create interesting, flavorful, and sometimes surprising products. These differences add to the beauty of the fine chocolate market, and in fact are necessary to keep fine chocolate consumers from growing bored with copy-cat products. Though many people may enjoy Valrhona, for example, would such people really want to find that every new bar released by another company was created in the same style of this French chocolate maker? Where would the art and the vision be in such chocolate? Rather, it is better when new companies each focus on what is personally important to them in terms of flavor and texture, adding a distinct and fresh vision to the field. This variation in vision is what creates excitement in the fine chocolate market when each new bar is released. It allows us to look forward to seeing what happens over the next 5-10 years, as we hope to taste, and of course enjoy, interesting products from new and relevant companies. We can call such growth in the fine chocolate market “creative growth,” and so long as such growth is occurring, then we need not worry about the palates of fine chocolate lovers becoming tired and bored, and we need not worry about saturating the market with fine products, as people will continue to clamor for more!

This is why, following the pattern of the Napa Valley revolution in terms of fine American wine, it is not necessary for micro-producers of fine chocolate to worry that serious new companies will put those of us already in existence out of business. The more excellent-quality chocolate that is made worldwide and the more people who have access to such chocolate, the better off all of the small chocolate makers will be. This is because the increase in exposure of people to fine chocolate will result in an inevitable education regarding appreciation of fine chocolate, and a larger percentage of chocolate lovers will be able to distinguish between the quality products of such small and micro-producers and those of the mass-producers that simply pretend. Speaking of education, this leads us to our next point.

Conveying the Fine Chocolate Vision: Education

Since our products, which are hopefully interesting and exciting, do not conform, in terms of flavor and texture, to those currently being manufactured by chocolate mass producers, or to those of each other, which due to different visions is bound to be the case, then it is up to us to educate the consumer about the merits of such products. This education extends far beyond simple marketing, and must include substantial detail about how our processes result in exciting and delicious products. This education will allow the realm of fine chocolate to expand into new and interesting frontiers as long as we are open and honest with the public about our actions. A great deal of transparency in this education is equally important, as this is what will differentiate the true chocolate artisans from those companies that are simply looking to make a quick buck off of a growing trend in fine chocolate. As much as we would like to believe that consumers will immediately know the difference between a lower quality, single-origin bar in pretty packaging, manufactured by a large, publicly-traded company, and a bar of the same origin manufactured by a creative and conscientious chocolate maker, that does not necessarily make it so. Thus, we must work both single-handedly and as a group, for example through organizations such as the FCIA and other related organizations yet to be formed, in order to bring such important information to the public. Cordoning ourselves off in our own separate corners will not only negatively impact our own companies, but will also negatively impact the fine chocolate market in general. Through cooperation in education, we can make a difference that will impact us all: farmers, chocolate makers, chocolatiers, and fine chocolate consumers.

If you would like to learn more about the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), the organization that was a catalyst for the above essay, please visit them here.

10 Steps to Chocolate Bliss:

2007-12-26T12:52:00.001-06:00

Recently we published a "brief guide," which was a rather in-depth post here on the Patric Chocolate blog about chocolate appreciation in relation to how our sensory organs function. Though we feel strongly that it is important to learn as much about this topic as possible in order to get the most out of each square of chocolate, some people have noted that when first exposing others to the idea of fine chocolate and chocolate tasting as an activity that is on par with wine tasting, it is useful to have a much slimmer collection of "how to" instructions. This being the case, we have created a greatly abridged list of only 10 steps. If you have the time, please take a look at the longer post to which we link above, but if not, or if you are interested in exposing others to chocolate tasting for the first time, then the list below might suit your needs!

1) Chocolate is best tasted with a clean palate, so refrain from consuming other foods or beverages for at least a few hours prior to the tasting.

2) Be sure to cleanse the palate in between types of chocolate with room temperature water and a mild food such as salt-free “saltines.”

3) Open the bar and look at the finish. It should be glossy, and without streaks, blotches, or grainy areas.

4) Smell the chocolate. It should smell fresh and full of a variety of aromas; Some that you might notice are: cocoa, roasted nuts, fruits, coffee, vegetal-like aromas, or even earth, leather, or tobacco.

5) Break off a square and pay attention to the sound. It should “snap” cleanly rather than being mushy, or shattering into many different pieces. This means that the chocolate is fresh, properly crystallized (tempered), and doesn’t contain non-cocoa butter fats, which are undesirable.

6) Place the square in your mouth, break it apart a bit, and then let it dissolve. Be sure to move the chocolate around to all parts of your tongue, and continue to breathe in, especially bringing air in through your mouth in order to continue to sense aromas that are being released from the melting chocolate.

7) As you continue to taste and smell the chocolate, pay attention to the previously-noticed aromas, any new aromas, and to the balance of taste in relation to the sweetness, bitterness, and acidity of the chocolate. Additionally, pay attention to astringency, which is a dry/puckery feeling due to tannins reacting with protein on the tongue and in the saliva. Chocolate will always have a bit of astringency, but it should never be unpleasant.

8) Regarding texture, the chocolate should be smooth and should readily melt in a pleasurable way. It should not be grainy, gummy, waxy, or otherwise unpleasant.

9) Finally, pay attention to the fact that each chocolate has different flavors at the beginning, middle, and end, and that some chocolates leave a very nice aftertaste, while others leave virtually no aftertaste, or perhaps a bitter or otherwise unpleasant one.

10) Bring all of the previous steps together and use them to figure out what you think about a given chocolate. It might even be love at first bite.

Patric Chocolate's Chocolate-Making Flowchart:

2007-12-21T12:33:00.003-06:00

If one searches online, there are actually quite a few flowcharts that visually describe chocolate making from bean to bar. Many of these flowcharts attempt to show every permutation possible within the realm of chocolate making. This adds confusion because certainly not every possible process is relevant to every type of chocolate. So, we decided to create our own flowchart that narrows down the processes to only the steps utilized at Patric Chocolate to create fine dark chocolate from bean to bar.

For those of you who have read our post about Patric Chocolate's production processes from late September, the content that has been translated into graphic format will already be familiar. However, explaining information graphically can certainly add clarity to a complicated process such as chocolate making, so hopefully many of you will find the flowchart to be helpful. There will be a bit of commentary after the chart.

The process starts in the upper left-hand corner and moves downward.

*Cacao "pods" are not true pods at all. You can read more about what they really are in a another Patric Chocolate post.

In the flowchart above, you will notice that sometimes we create cocoa liquor for the purpose of removing cocoa butter, which is then added to some chocolate. Not all chocolate needs extra cocoa butter, and in fact, adding extra cocoa butter can sometimes negatively impact the texture and the intensity of flavor chocolate. However, in cases where the chocolate percentage drops below 70%, extra cocoa butter must be added to the chocolate to maintain a luscious and smooth texture. In this case, it is important to note that we are adding cocoa butter that comes directly from the same cocoa beans from which the chocolate is made. Most of the time companies add inexpensive bulk cocoa butter that either does not share the same flavor profile, or has been deodorized, a process which weakens the overall flavor profile of the chocolate. Patric Chocolate will never use bulk cocoa butter, deodorized or otherwise.

One final note: Patric Chocolate begins the chocolate-making process at step five with cleaning the cacao by hand. Cacao must be harvested, fermented and dried in the country of its origin. This means that we can't be entirely involved in every part of the first few steps. That being the case, we are, and have been, actively working to grow and strengthen relationships with small farmers so that we can better control these very important parts of of the chocolate making process.

Chocolate Tasting and Appreciation: A Brief Guide

2007-12-11T13:49:00.000-06:00

The point of tasting chocolate as an organized practice is to learn more about a specific chocolate, but also chocolate in general, and how our senses interact with it so that we are better prepared to appreciate the next bar to an even higher degree. Each time we taste chocolate is, therefore, a learning experience. Of interest here is the fact that though each person will perceive the flavor of a particular chocolate somewhat differently, preferences aside, we are still all members of the same species, and that being the case, we sense the flavor and texture of chocolate in similar ways. So, in our quest to better appreciate chocolate, it is also useful to better understand our own body’s sensory reactions to this fine food. The chocolate tasting guide below will, by talking about the qualities of chocolate, delve into the parts of the human sensory realm which are relevant in terms of better understanding chocolate. If this sounds too complicated, just remember that in the end, it is all about flavor and enjoyment of the chocolate in question.

We will be ignoring anything that has no reasonable impact on the flavor of the chocolate, and therefore the artwork of the package, bar design and the like will not be discussed.

Preliminary Definitions:

Flavor: Since “flavor,” as understood by flavor technologists, is quite complex, we will use a simplified working definition. “Flavor” is a combination of taste (sensed by the tongue/gustatory sensation) and aroma (sensed by the nose/olfactory sensation). These two components impact the overall flavor sensation of a particular food. Contrary to common usage, then, in the following guide, the terms “flavor” and “taste” will not be used interchangeably.

Cacao: Also known as “cocoa beans” and sometimes simply “cocoa,” cacao is the fruit of a tropical tree. Though the tree’s fruit is often referred to as a “pod” or a “drupe,” in reality it is a very large berry. The berry is harvested, and the pulp-covered seeds are removed, fermented, and dried, all of which are complicated processes that clearly impact the flavor of the cacao. The cacao is then ready to be used in chocolate manufacture where, among other things, it will be roasted, have its thin shell removed, and be ground into a flavorful and viscous liquid.

Conching: A process in chocolate manufacture, which takes place during/after refining, and where textural and flavor refinement continues to occur, though the size of the cacao and sugar particles within the chocolate are not substantially reduced.

Tempering: A process where chocolate is melted, and then the cocoa butter within it is recrystallized in a controlled way using heat and agitation. Tempering chocolate prior to molding it into bars results in a substantial impact on the flavor of the product as the temperature at which it melts, and therefore gives off various tastes and aromas, is brought to within a very specific range.

Tasting Chocolate:

Chocolate is best tasted with a clean palate. This means that other foods or beverages, especially strongly-flavored ones, have not been eaten immediately beforehand. As with all senses, the nose and tongue can be impacted by sensory adaptation such that over time--even a relatively short period of time--as food or beverage is consumed, taste and smell will become less specific and refined. This is especially the case when one particular food is continually tasted or smelled, but even with different foods and beverages being consumed in succession, the palate will not be as accurate as sensory adaptation will have taken place in relation to the previously consumed food, and will therefore impact the perception of the chocolate flavor. This being the case, some people believe that the best time to taste chocolate is first thing in the morning before breakfast. Another option might be to wait several hours after a previous meal. At any rate, it is important to give the mouth and nose some rest from sensations prior to tasting chocolate, and especially to give them rest from strong sensations such as those of spices, coffee, cheese, and from long-lasting sensations, such as aromas from a cooked stew, or perhaps a vase of flowers or a scented-candle.

One other important issue is that between types of chocolate it is good to "cleanse" the palate. This is best done with room temperature water, and very mild food such as salt-free "saltines." Cleansing the palate in this way will actually help to minimize inevitable sensory adaptation as one moves from one chocolate to the next.

We will now begin our discussion of chocolate tasting by looking at a bar in the way that one would logically experience it in real life. The order will be: packaging, appearance, aroma, snap, and then flavor (including aroma and taste) and texture. Remember that we will disregard anything which does not impact flavor, such as package design.

1) Packaging: Unwrapping the bar

Though the packaging of the bar has little bearing on the flavor of the chocolate, certain elements of the packaging can impact the chocolate flavor. First of all, the expiration date on the package should be checked. Though chocolate can be stored in perfect conditions for quite some time with little degradation in quality, most retail stores do not store or display chocolate in such conditions. Therefore, it is advisable to purchase chocolate from most retail stores well before the expiration or “enjoy by” date. Also be sure that the conditions in the retail store are cool, that the chocolate is not in direct sunlight, and that it is not stored next to any heat-emitting machinery or strongly scented items. Any of these conditions could destroy the aroma, taste and texture of the chocolate.

As for packaging types, common chocolate bar packaging includes an outer wrap and an inner wrap. While the outer wrap generally contains the product information, it is the inner wrap that can more readily impact the flavor of the bar. As for inner wrap, there are a number of options that are commonly found: foil, paper-backed foil, clear plastic flow wrap, and aluminized plastic flow wrap. Foil and especially paper-backed foil are not entirely air tight, potentially allowing flavor degradation over time, but are both more easily re-sealed after opening the bar, thereby preserving freshness. Plastic flow wraps can be virtually air tight, but do not reseal as easily.

As for other ways than inner wrap can impact flavor, some people claim that any plastic flow wrap tends to give a slight plastic aroma to the chocolate, a flavor exchange process called scalping. Some people also claim that paper-backed foil gives off a “papery” aroma that is absorbed into the chocolate bar. Confectioner’s foil without any backing is a neutral option that does not impact flavor or aroma negatively, but again, it is generally not fully air tight, so the freshness of the bar depends upon how it is wrapped in the foil, and the aroma of the outer wrap within which it is packed. These packaging-related issues are all things to keep in mind when tasting a new type of chocolate, or perhaps a familiar chocolate that seems to taste different than usual. Each type of packaging certainly has benefits and drawbacks, and combined with the age and storage of the product can potentially impact the flavor and aroma in a variety of ways.

2) Bar Appearance: Inspecting the bar

Though the appearance of the chocolate bar does not always impact its aroma, taste or texture , there are defects that impact both. Generally, fine chocolate has a glossy finish or sheen, though it may be matte or textured instead due to mold design. However, from time to time a chocolate bar may have a condition called “fat bloom,” which can manifest in a variety of ways, from a pronounced yellow blotchy/spotty finish caused by poor temper, or poor handling techniques (i.e., it was allowed to melt and re-harden), or a more subdued dulling of the surface sheen with a hazy white film. Pronounced bloom does negatively impact the flavor of the bar as it results in a crumbly and unpalatable texture, and chocolate with such bloom does not readily melt as a tempered bar would, and therefore the flow of tastes and aromas are impacted in a negative way with harsh notes often being accentuated and subtle notes obliterated. Subtle fat bloom may be primarily a surface defect, and therefore may not impact the texture or flavor of the bar in a noticeable way. However, such bloom does show improper storage or handling conditions.

Another defect called sugar bloom is also possible when chocolate is exposed to conditions where humidity is relatively high, and results in a dull whitish and somewhat grainy coating covering the parts of the bar that have been exposed to the high-humidity. It may be the whole bar, or just the parts near the folds of the inner packing. Though sugar bloom does negatively impact texture it does not destroy the bar’s flavor. Yet, sugar bloom is still a flaw that will effect your overall enjoyment of the chocolate. As for other marks on the bar’s surface due to transport or handling prior to packaging, they should not impact the flavor. The rule, then, is that bloomed chocolate bars—sugar or fat--should not be purchased as the mishandling that they have endured will quite possibly impact the overall flavor and texture of the product in a negative way.

3) Initial Aroma

Let us back up and take another look at the definition of “flavor.” There are two components to flavor, “taste” and “aroma.” Taste consists of the aspects of flavor that are sensed by the tongue. These notes are generally broken down into the five basic tastes of acid, salt, sweet, bitter, and umami. However, flavor technologists now know that the human tongue can distinguish not only different levels of each type of taste, such as more or less bitter, but also different qualities of each taste such as the bitterness that results from roasting (caused by diketopiperazines for example) as opposed to the bitterness caused by raw cacao (primarily caused by low molecular weight flavonoids). However, even with the complexity of tastes that the tongue can sense, it is almost useless without the sensory data from the nose called aroma.

Aroma is arguably the most important part of any perceived flavor, and therefore the most important part of the chocolate-tasting experience. Not only does the initial aroma of the chocolate, once it has been unwrapped, foretell of the flavor to come, but the flavor of the chocolate itself, while it is in the mouth, is composed primarily of aromas that move from the melting chocolate up the retronasal passage way and into the olfactory organ—the nose. When we add aroma to taste, the tartness of malic acid may become noticeable as the tartness of an apple. The bitterness of a particular chemical called a pyrazine may become noticeable as the bitterness associated with roasted coffee. Aroma allows the flavor to be fully elaborated by the brain, and therefore it is quite important never to hold one’s breath while tasting chocolate, or any food for that matter. Inhaling the chocolate's aroma both before and after it is placed in the mouth allows one to distinguish between extremely complex, subtle and profound flavor notes. One may even wish to pull extra air in through the mouth, and across the molten chocolate, to accentuate the flow of air to the nose, as is done in wine tasting. Sometimes particularly subtle notes may become apparent in this way.

With this in mind, before putting any of the chocolate in your mouth, open up the bar and breath in the aroma multiple times. Make notes, either on paper, or mentally, about what you smell. Is the aroma filled with fruit, earthiness, roasted qualities, even the smell of brownies? Perhaps there are even notes that you wouldn’t associate with chocolate such as those with a vegetal quality, tea, or even leather or tobacco. Also, note whether the aroma is strong or weak. A weak aroma may be the result of certain chocolate making techniques, sub-par cacao, or perhaps chocolate storage issues. A strong aroma may be pleasing or off-putting. It is up to you to take all the pieces of the aroma puzzle and decide what to make of it. Just remember that once you put a piece of chocolate in your mouth, these same aromas will come into play yet again, and so keep them in mind.

4) Snap: Breaking off a small square

Break off part of a square of chocolate and notice whether you hear a distinct "snap" as it breaks. Problems with the chocolate’s temper or later storage and handling can result in bars that are very hard and crumbly. Another problem is adding fats to the chocolate that aren’t cocoa butter. Chocolates with non-cocoa butter fats, such as milk fat, may have a soft or mushy snap. Chocolates with a good snap show that they have a higher percentage of cacao, have been tempered properly, and usually are without non-cocoa butter fats of any type. Remember that temper greatly impacts overall flavor even if the snap of the chocolate may seem to be of little importance. A chocolate without a good snap should make one suspicious.

5) Flavor and Texture:

With all of the above information in mind, when we do put a piece of room-temperature chocolate in the mouth (preferably 70 F-78 F or so), and gently break it apart to let it slowly melt across our tongue, we are looking for the two aforementioned components of flavor: taste and aroma, as well as texture.

a) Taste and Aroma:

Place a square of chocolate in your mouth and break it up a bit. Move the melting chocolate around so that all of your tongue comes in contact with it. Is it tart (acidic), bitter, sweet, is there any trace of salt (some chocolates have some)? Are all of these components relatively balanced? Common imbalances are chocolates that are too sweet, or too bitter. Also note that "balanced" does not mean "boring." A chocolate should certainly have character in addition to being balanced, which means that each chocolate should be balanced according to its particular own merits. As you notice the chocolate's balance, or lack thereof, continue to breathe through your nose, and look for some of the same aromas that you noticed previously. Do these aromas seem the same; are they more or less powerful; are other aromas coming into play? Do the aromas add to or detract from the balance of tastes that you have noted? Continue to taste the chocolate paying attention to the following things (of course taking another square or two if need be):

Look for new qualities to the chocolate and note that at the beginning, when the chocolate first melts on your tongue, there are flavors that you may taste and smell that may change during the middle of the melting, or at the finish, when the chocolate is gone. Additionally, the chocolate may seem to have a greater depth or complexity of flavor at some points than at others, and this can certainly impact the overall impression that you have of it. Does the chocolate leave a pleasurable aftertaste of cacao, or is it primarily bitter, or cloyingly sweet, or perhaps the flavor doesn't linger at all. All of these qualities of a chocolate help distinguish it from another, and as you become familiar with the different qualities, you can compare and contrast them with other chocolate bars.

b) Texture

When first breaking up the piece of chocolate, pay attention to the initial texture. Do you notice any textural oddities? Is it waxy or mushy? As you continue to move the molten chocolate around your mouth, pay attention to whether it is it sticky, smooth, or grainy? Chocolates that are too refined can seem sticky and too creamy, and on the opposite side of the spectrum you might notice a rough, grainy texture, or perhaps simply a textural inconsistency with hard bits standing out every now and then. You will quickly realize what you find most pleasurable. Another textural sensation that you might experience is astringency. This is a puckering dryness that is due to tannins (high molecular weight polymeric flavonoids) interacting with proteins in your mouth, both in your saliva and on the tongue. This type of textural sensation, called a “trigeminal sensation,” is technically also considered to come under the umbrella of flavor, though it is not a taste or aroma. Too little astringency can result in a chocolate with little body, length, or character, whereas too much can make the chocolate seem dry and unpleasant. Astringency and other textural sensations greatly contribute to the experience of the chocolate, adding further information to the flavor, so take notes.

6) Overall:

It is up to you to pull together all of the information that you have gathered, from packaging type, appearance, snap, and tasting of the chocolate, to final textural sensations, and to figure out what you think of the bar. Over time, you will probably find that you have a preference for the products of certain manufacturers, or perhaps for certain origins, such as Venezuela, Madagascar, or the Dominican Republic. You may also find that you prefer certain strengths of chocolate, with more cacao content, more than others, and that you find the texture of bars with or without added cocoa butter to be preferable. You may also decide that you prefer a fruitier chocolate, or perhaps an earthier one. All of these decisions are ones that you will gradually make by paying close attention to your reaction to each of the bars that you carefully taste. The more that you learn, the more you will be able to appreciate and enjoy the fine chocolates that you purchase.

Kansas City, MO Chocolate Tasting Workshop:

2007-11-25T12:40:00.000-06:00

This coming Saturday, December 1st, at Magazines and Coffee on 1722 Main Street in Kansas City, MO, our very own Alan McClure, chocolate maker of Patric Chocolate, will be conducting a chocolate tasting of the first bar in Patric Chocolate's line of fine dark chocolate bars, the 70% Single Origin Madagascar bar, starting at 2 pm.

As one of only 5 or 6 micro-producers of chocolate in the US, Alan will be give a brief talk on quality in fine chocolate and the aspects of fine chocolate production that are most conducive to such quality. Alan will also field questions from attendees about any chocolate-related issues.

This event is standing room only, free to the public, and no reservations are being accepted. Once again, the event information is:

What: Chocolate Tasting Workshop led by chocolate maker Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate
Where: Magazines and Coffee on 1722 Main Street, in Kansas City, MO
When: Saturday, December 1st, at 2 pm

See you there!

10th Annual New York Chocolate Show: One Chocolate Maker's Perspective

2007-11-13T21:31:00.001-06:00

Alan McClure, chocolate maker of Patric Chocolate, walked the 10^th Annual New York Chocolate Show for part of each day from the 9^th-11^th. Here are his thoughts on the show:

The Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building was crowded full of chocolate lovers searching for chocolate revelations, and whether they found them or not, they had quite a lot to choose from. In fact, it seemed that every type of chocolate product from artisan-made limited edition truffles to micro-produced fine dark chocolate bars were available. However, there were also a good number of factory-produced chocolate products from much larger companies, and for the first time, gigantic chocolate manufacturers such as Mars were to be found giving out sample upon sample of some of their new dark chocolate products. Yet, despite all of this chocolate, there was a noticeable lack of products from many foreign chocolatiers and bean to bar chocolate manufacturers. Even Valrhona, one of the most well-known, quality, French chocolate manufacturers, was nowhere to be seen, and smaller manufacturers from both Italy and France were also absent. Even more interestingly, a number of talented American-based chocolatiers who had been present at the show in years past had decided to skip the event this year. One wonders if perhaps the show is starting to cater more and more to the consumer of mass-market chocolate rather than to those who have a particular love for fine chocolate. Only time, and next year’s show, will tell.

Regardless, there were still a decent number of what Chocolate in Context's Emily Stone has called “chocolate wonks” at the show, and I did my best, over the course of the three-day show, to track them down for chocolate-related conversations covering such topics as bean to bar chocolate manufacture and the future of fine chocolate. Clay Gordon, author of the book Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting and Enjoying Fine Chocolate, noted that chocolate folks are some of the happiest and nicest people that one can meet, and this happily turned out to be true almost without exception.

(Above photo: Alan (left) talking to Clay Gordon about the new American micro-chocolate movement)

In addition to talking chocolate, however, I was also interested in seeing whether there would be any new, up-and-coming, bean to bar makers at the event; those of which I had not yet heard. Though I keep pretty good tabs on what is going on in the United States, I was expecting a surprise here or there. However, it seems that no such new companies were in the crowd. That said, I continue to stand behind my belief that we are seeing the beginning of a new fine chocolate making movement in the United States, and I expect that over the next several years we will continue to see serious US-based individuals trying to make a difference in the world of fine chocolate manufacture.

One might wonder, though, why it seems that I am forecasting or even wishing for competition, but I don’t see it quite like that. Rather, I think that the more excellent-quality chocolate that is made in the US, and the more people who have access to such chocolate, the better off all of the small chocolate makers will be. This increase in exposure of people to fine chocolate will result in an inevitable education regarding appreciation of fine chocolate, and a larger percentage of Americans will be able to distinguish between the quality products of such micro-producers and those of the mass-producers that simply pretend.

As Alexander Morozoff, editor of CocoAroma, noted when I talked to him some months ago, there are scores of small but serious wineries in the US that do wonderful business, and there is room for all of them. Why shouldn't the same apply to the world of chocolate?

It's not that I expect there to be hundreds of micro-producers of fine chocolate anytime soon, but there is plenty of room for a few more of us, and hopefully next year at the NY Chocolate Show I will be seeing at least one or two new faces who are just as excited about fine chocolate making as those of us who were there this year. After all, can there ever be too much excellent chocolate?

(Above photo: Alan holding two samples of his just-released 70% Madagascar bar. Luckily the upside down bar tasted just fine!-Photo by Kerry Beal)

Upcoming Events Featuring Patric Chocolate

2007-11-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it's November already, and there are a few chocolate events over the next month that Patric Chocolate has either organized, or at which we will be present:

First there is the New York Chocolate Show from the 9th-11th of November. Though we won't have a table this year, chocolate maker Alan McClure will be there wandering the floor with samples of the Patric Chocolate 70% Madagascar dark chocolate bar, hoping to meet some blog readers, friends, colleagues, and other chocolate lovers. With so much chocolate under one roof it should be a very good time, and we hope to see you there.

Next, almost right after the NY show, Patric Chocolate will be holding another chocolate tasting workshop at World Harvest in Columbia, MO. For those of you who were there last time, the content of the talk will be slightly different, so it will be worth attending again, and for those who missed the last tasting in September, we had a great time, so we hope that you can make it. The chocolate tasting workshop will be held on Saturday, the 17th of November, at 1 pm at World Harvest Foods off of Nifong behind Gerbes.

Finally, we are taking a day trip to Kansas City for another chocolate tasting workshop. This one will be special in that we are working hard to debut one of our new bars during this tasting. You might just be able to have a taste if you can make it. It will be held at Magazines and Coffee at 1722 Main St. in KCMO on Saturday, December 1st, at 2 pm.

To be kept abreast of Patric Chocolate events in Missouri, if you haven't already signed up for the Missouri Residents mailing list, then please do so now to be contacted when events are held in Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, and elsewhere in Missouri. Just be sure to select "Chocolate Updates" AND "Missouri Resident" when you sign up on the list.

If you have already signed up on the Patric Chocolate mailing list, then just re-enter your e-mail below, and follow the simple instructions to change your subscription options to include "Missouri Resident."

What could be better than an e-mail list that tells you when complimentary samples of Patric Chocolate will be available near you?

For those of you who couldn't make the last Patric Chocolate "Talk and Tasting," at World Harvest Foods on Sept. 1st, you can learn more about the content by viewing two previous blog posts, here, and here. (Links open in new windows)

Patric Chocolate: Sure, We Have a Chocolate-Making Bias (or) What IS a Chocolate Maker Anyway?

2007-10-25T09:19:00.000-05:00

It has been mentioned in this blog before that only a handful of American companies actually make chocolate .This fact isn’t peculiar to the United States however, it may just as easily be applied to many other chocolate-making countries.

“What?” you may find yourself saying “But can it be true that the company behind the manufacture of my favorite organic, fair-trade, 70% dark chocolate may really not be the company whose name graces its label?” The reality is that you may have a better chance of striking gold in your own backyard than stumbling across a bar of chocolate made by the company who has branded it. Alright, maybe there is a little bit of exaggeration going on here, but the truth isn’t too far off, and if one looks to the labels of the chocolate bars in question for hints regarding whether this is truly the case, all that is likely to be found is further confusion.

Here are some examples of a few titles used by chocolate companies:

“Chocolate maker,” “chocolate manufacturer,” and “chocolatier.” And of course, if you add the word “artisan” to any of these, then you will find many additional combinations just by doing a simple Google search.

What does it mean, however, to use each of these labels? Does it mean that a company actually makes chocolate starting with cocoa beans and carries out every part of the complicated and lengthy chocolate-making process in their own facility, resulting, in the end, in a marketable chocolate product? Though certainly possible, it is not likely.

First, let us deal with the term “chocolatier.” Chocolatiers produce chocolate-based confections either manually or on an industrial scale. However, very rarely do they make the raw product—chocolate—that they use for these confections. There are quite a few chocolatiers, though, who blend different finished chocolates to create bars with intriguing and original profiles. And certainly, as long as these companies do not claim to be making their chocolate, then there is no room for complaint. Yet, there are dishonest individuals in every group.

An extreme example of this dishonesty occurred in recent memory, when one chocolatier, selling perhaps the most expensive chocolate per pound anywhere in the world (up to $2000/lb), had worded things in such a way that it seemed, by most accounts, that they did make their own chocolate. However, it was eventually discovered and brought to light, due to some careful sleuthing, that in fact they didn’t make their chocolate at all. The truth is, that the chocolate that they did use was being sold by its actual manufacturer for up to seventy-five or eighty times less per pound in bar form. Many people felt that this was more than misleading; they felt that it was unethical.

Dishonesty can be found anywhere, however, and there are also practices with which one could take issue regarding non-chocolatier companies who package chocolate bars without actually making their chocolate. This category actually includes the vast majority of chocolate companies, and there is a French term that can be applied to them: “fondeurs.” This word translates as chocolate “melters,” and it speaks to the actual process carried out by these companies: they melt and mold chocolate into bar form. Of course, just as with chocolatiers, there is nothing wrong with chocolate melters per se, and there are certainly some good-quality products produced by such companies, but the problem is that many of these companies choose marketing language that suggests that they do, in fact, make their own chocolate.

One might ask oneself, though, why it even matters who does and doesn’t make chocolate. After all, the most important aspect of chocolate is its flavor, the quality of chocolate defined as a combination of aroma, taste, and mouthfeel. And can’t chocolate bars blended by chocolatiers or packaged by melters taste amazing? Certainly, but part of taking chocolate more seriously, in an effort to better appreciate its complex flavor qualities, involves an attempt to understand the full process that led to its creation. This is the goal of a chocolate connoisseur or chocophile.

This learning process includes finding out what the origin of the cacao used in the chocolate is, what the chocolate-making philosophy of the company is, and how this impacts processes, (i.e., what is the roasting profile, how long was it conched, what type of refining setup is used, is it aged, etc.) among many other variables. To learn answers to these questions allows one to readily and accurately compare and contrast chocolates from various chocolate makers, the same chocolate maker, various countries, different styles, etc. All of this understanding, of course, leads to an even greater appreciation of an already delicious product. So, the bar that is at first just simply delicious, once it is understood how it was made and how it compares to other chocolates on many different levels, becomes either more or less impressive and flavorful as the case may be. The intellect certainly does come to bear on sense impressions, and what we do or don’t understand can alter the flavor of a product for better or worse.

In fact, the more that one learns about chocolate, the more that one’s previous preferences gradually come to be altered as new and more fulfilling chocolates are discovered.

Consequently, knowing if a company actually makes its chocolate is important, and, as we have seen, this knowledge may be able to impact flavor perception after all. But now comes the question: how do we know when a company makes its own chocolate? If it isn’t being advertised one way or the other, how can we tell? Furthermore, when a company says that it is a chocolate maker, can we actually know that this term has some pre-defined meaning? Unfortunately the answer seems to be no. This term and others are thrown about with such ease that it isn’t possible to tell much about companies that use them. Even companies that do make some of their own chocolate may outsource an even larger quantity of it. Another possibility is that one company roasts and refines the cacao, and then this product (cacao liquor) is then refined with added sugar in another location, molded and packaged. Similar confusion can exist with the word “artisan.” Though artisan chocolate makers certainly do exist, we can hardly take the word of them all when they use this term. Short of the English-speaking world bringing into common usage the French term “cacaofèvier,” which translates roughly as a “cocoa-beaner,” or a person who makes chocolate from cacao itself (bean to bar), finding the truth will take a bit of work, a bit of intellectual elbow grease, so to speak.

Luckily, this intellectual work also involves a great deal of chocolate tasting! One can be as organized or as laid-back as one would like in tasting various chocolates, and taking notes on them, but it is a good idea, when a new chocolate is discovered, not only to read up on it on the company’s web site or packaging, but also to visit chocolate review sites. One such site is Seventy Percent.com, another that I hear will soon be accessible to English speakers is www.theobroma-cacao.de and there are many other online resources that discuss chocolate companies, their methods, and their products. Even doing a Google search for the product and trying to find out what other people and web sites have to say about it can help. Finally, writing to the company in question can definitely have an impact. The more that companies see that consumers are concerned about all of the details behind their chocolate, the more the culture of secrecy in the chocolate world will have to melt away. Demand that chocolate companies, whether they make chocolate or not, be clear about their processes. They might not want to divulge every last detail, but their goal should be to educate chocolate consumers, not to keep them in the dark. Over time, one can hope that such openness in chocolate business will grow, and will lead to a more educated chocolate-loving public. After all, as an educated chocolate consumer, one receives far more pleasure from each bar than the average person, and who could complain about that?!

Do You Have a "Chocolate Gut"?

2007-10-16T09:30:00.002-05:00

Recently, quite a few people have been writing about the supposed addictive properties of chocolate. In fact, in mid-September Dr. Peter Rogers addressed members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual Festival of Science in York, England, regarding the findings of two such studies in particular.

Dr. Rogers noted that though chocolate can increase pleasure and lead to a reduction in stress and tension, that it does not appear to be addictive.

Enter Sunil Kochhar of the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has co-authored a study that seems to tell a different story. Kochar believes that chocolate may, in fact, be addictive to humans...well, not really humans, but rather addictive to the bacteria that thrive inside the gut of humans.

Kochhar compared the blood and urine of 11 chocolate-eating men with 11 men who never ate chocolate (interestingly it took him a year to find 11 men who never ate chocolate).

What Kochhar found is that there were many different chemical differences between the two groups, and that some of them could be attributed to bacteria in the gut. Though more research needs to be done, it seems that some bacteria may crave chocolate and somehow impact the desire of their human host for that food.

As for Patric Chocolate's view on chocolate addiction, we believe that it can be simply explained:

Chocolate is incredibly delicious!

A bit more detail:

Chocolate is perhaps one of the most complex foods in terms of flavor. It is so complex that scientists, even moving into the 21st century, aren’t entirely sure what makes chocolate taste like chocolate. It is the intricacy of the texture, tastes, and aromas that lead to such great value from chocolate consumption, especially as higher quality chocolate is gradually coming to be available more often to more people. Ask almost anyone to choose between their favorite chocolate and any other item, and they will almost always choose chocolate. The experience is that powerful; Chocolate truly can be a sensory revelation.

To read more about Sunil Kochhar and his findings, view AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein's piece here.

History of Fine (Bean to Bar) Dark Chocolate: A 3000-Year Voyage and Then Some...

2007-10-08T15:26:00.000-05:00

For those of us who have come to truly appreciate fine dark chocolate, though we know that the market for such a product has not always been as large as it has become, still, it seems hard to imagine a time when there was not yet one single bar of this exquisite food in existence. The truth is, however, that until innovation in the 19th century, fine chocolate simply could not have existed, and even after these changes, fine chocolate really didn’t come into its own until the latter quarter of the 20th century. That said, though the mechanical capability to produce fine chocolate may have been born in an instant, it has taken 3000 or more years of human involvement with the plant called Theobroma cacao (the cocoa tree) to get us to where we are today in terms of fine chocolate.

As for all of the important steps that have gotten us from point A to point C (that's 'C' for chocolate!), there are many chocolate-related timelines that can be found online, but often they focus more on fine chocolate-coated confections or perhaps on mass-produced chocolate items, than they do on fine chocolate per se. These other timelines, therefore, stray from our goal, which is to detail the events that, bit by bit, allowed the final creation of the delectable fine dark chocolate bars by bean to bar chocolate makers. So, on toward chocolate!!

(Note: This timeline is a combination of comments from Patric Chocolate and source material from various references. Sentences including source material will be marked by numbers that correspond to the appropriate reference at the end of this post.)

Pre-Spanish Conquest: Discovery

Circa 1000 BCE – circa 1500 CE: It is thought that the Olmecs, and then later the Maya, were the first to make use of the toasted and ground cacao seed in a hot, spiced beverage, rather than just as a vehicle for the pulpy fruit surrounding it (1). This recognition that dried, toasted, and perhaps fermented cacao seed could be transformed into a delicious product, with a flavor and aroma almost wholly unlike those of their raw form, is indeed a moment of genius. Though we may never be able to say thanks to the Olmecs who figured this out, we certainly are indebted to them. Later, between 900 CE and 1500 CE, the Toltecs and then the Aztecs also began to consume the toasted and spiced cacao beverage, but contrary to popular belief, they were not the first peoples to do so (1).

Spanish Conquest Period: Transmission

Circa 1528-1544: Starting in this period, transport of cacao to Spain with a quick spread to Italy (circa 1606), France (circa 1615) and England (circa 1650), and recognition of cacao as a flavorful beverage, began the chocolate cogs turning outside of Meso-America (1,3). Putting cacao in the hands of such a widely diverse group of people, who were culturally so far-removed from the Maya, surely led to a great deal of the innovation that we would see in the years to come.

1525: Spaniards transported the excellent quality Mexican criollo cacao to Trinidad, a country that would later become home to the hybrid trinitario cacao after 1727 when a "blast" (either disease or hurricane-related) led to a cross-breeding of the remaining criollo with forastero-type cacao from eastern Venezuela (5). Trinitario-type cacao is now generally considered to be of excellent quality in terms of flavor and aroma.

1634: The Dutch seized a small island off the coast of north-western Venezuela from the Spanish. This act allowed them to open trade routes from western Venezuela and eastern Columbia with many European nations, resulting in excellent-quality Venezuelan criollo cacao first being known outside of Spain (5). Today, cacao from the western half of Venezuela is still considered to be of high quality despite various breeding regimes that have changed the genetics, flavor and aroma of this cacao. In fact, it is from the south of Lake Maracaibo in western Venezuela that Porcelana cacao, a criollo with a smooth porcelain-colored pod, is thought to have originated.

Post-Conquest Period: Innovation

1815: Van Hooten’s discovery of a way to extract cocoa butter from roasted and refined cacao in order to create cocoa powder led to an unintended, but very important, side-effect in the creation of the by-product cocoa butter, an ingredient that is quite important for dark chocolate bars with less than a 70% cacao content and for many other chocolate products, including milk chocolate (3,4).

Post-1834: Mexican criollo that had been transported to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) by the British, was soon taken to Madagascar for planting. In Madagascar, levels of production have remained small, and perhaps this fact has contributed to the high quality of cacao that is still grown there (5).

1847: Fry, in the UK, was the first to create a factory based upon an innovative combination of cacao, sugar and cocoa butter, resulting in the very first chocolate bars (3,4). Added cocoa butter decreased the feeling of graininess in the solid chocolate products, though, by no means was this yet fine chocolate. Keep this in mind when watching period-pieces that take place prior to this time; they sometimes include nobility eating modern hand-dipped-chocolates, something which would not have been possible.

1879: Rudolphe Lindt discovered the impact of conching on chocolate, which resulted in a much smoother product (1,3,4). This discovery led to a chocolate that embodied the modern perception of fine chocolate, both due to further particle refinement and rounding, and to better homogenization of the sugar and cacao particles within the cocoa butter, coating them with a luscious layer of molten cocoa butter. Lindt's conching also led to flavor refinement, due to the mechanical action of the large granite roller on the chocolate, as just described, but also due to the subtle frictional-heating, and later additional external-heating, of the conche pot, which allowed for volatilization of unwanted flavor and aroma components, as well as very subtle chemical changes within the chocolate itself. And so 1879 was an important year for fine chocolate indeed!

Twentieth Century: The Beginning of a Golden-Age

1920's-Present: Research on cacao-growing, harvesting, fermentation, drying, roasting, and conching began to grow at universities in France, Germany and the United States. With new forms of research equipment, more accurate findings have led to a much better understanding of the development of chocolate flavor. There have been claims that there are between 300 and 600 chemical components in chocolate, making it one of the most complex foods in the world. Yet, with all of this growing understanding, scientists still have not determined what chemicals lead to the quintessential "chocolate" flavor. Some chemicals that are known to have some impact on chocolate flavor are volatile fatty acids, pyrazines, aldehydes, alcohols, esters, and sulfurs among others. However, it seems that a full understanding of chocolate flavor and aroma is still a long way off.

1930: The Cocoa Research Scheme was instituted in Trinidad at the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture; it has since moved to the University of the West Indies and is now known as the Cocoa Research Unit (CRU) (6). The CRU continues its work on the research of cacao in relation to the International Cocoa Genebank in Trinidad (more below).

1953: Beginning with Maurice Bernachon, and continuing with his son Jean-Jacques Bernachon, this small French chocolate company has consistently focused on manufacturing fine chocolate for sale as bars and also for use in their other fine chocolate-based products (2). All these years they have resisted drastic national and international expansion and continue to maintain their headquarters in Lyon, France. Bernachon Online

1982: The International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad (ICG,T) was founded by the Cocoa Research Unit in Trinidad on a 33 hectare site. This genebank includes "one of the most diverse collections of germplasm in the world," and it serves the CRU in their efforts to "conserve, characterise, evaluate, utilise and distribute cacao." (6,7) Such research and conservation is important due to potential extinction of certain cacao genotypes through problematic breeding programs over the last century that have resulted in greatly decreased cacao quality world-wide. In fact, by many accounts, pure criollo cacao is virtually extinct, composing much less than 1% of the world-production of cacao. Whether this number is accurate or not, it is certain that criollo would be in danger of total annihilation without programs like the ICG,T.

1984: Bonnat, a French chocolate maker, offered the first single-origin dark chocolate bars 100 years after the company first opened its doors (2). Bonnat Chocolatier

1985: Valrhona, a French company founded in 1924, began their single-origin Gran Cru line of chocolate as a supply for chocolate professionals. Then, starting in 1986 and continuing to the present, Valrhona began releasing blend and single-origin bars for the public too (2,3). Valrhona

1988: François Pralus took over the French-based business that his father had started and began focusing his energy on an extensive line of single-origin dark chocolate bars (2). Chocolats Pralus

1989: Swiss chocolate-giant Lindt released their 70% Noir dark chocolate bar, the first bar sold in supermarkets to promote the actual cacao percentage (3). Products like this exposed the mainstream to chocolate that they never knew existed, and educated them enough that they finally knew how to ask an important question: "Where can I get more?"

1995: Italian company Domori began production of dark chocolate bars with a focus on single-origin and even single-tree-variety chocolate bars processed in their unique style (3). Domori

1997: Italian company Amedei began production of fine dark chocolate in the form of single-origin and blend bars with a primary focus on cacao from different areas of Venezuela (3). Amedei

1998: Michel Cluizel, chocolate maker at a French chocolate manufacturer of the same name, introduced a line of “nuanciers,” or chocolate disks that showcased the same beans with a variety of percentages, or on the other hand, beans from different origins with the same percentage. Michel Cluizel then went on to create a line of single-origin bars of his own (3). Michel Cluizel

Twenty-First Century and Beyond: Into the Future

1997-Present: The American Fine Chocolate Movement

Although not an organized movement, since the late 1990’s, a growing number of relatively small chocolate makers have been opening their doors here in the United States. Though not all of the companies share the same goal regarding fine chocolate, there are those who work hard to offer excellent-quality dark chocolate bars born from their own passion and love for the chocolate medium. Patric Chocolate counts itself proud to be one company within this growing group, and we hope to, through a careful focus on the quality of our products, inspire future generations of fine chocolate makers, here and abroad, just as we have been inspired by our predecessors and peers. We like to think that, despite the more than 3000 years it has taken to get here, the history of fine chocolate has only just begun!

(Disclaimer 1: Though only four cacao-growing countries have been mentioned above, in truth, there are excellent-quality fine chocolate bars made from almost countless different origins. It was not possible to focus on every country, so only a handful of well-known countries tied to quality production were mentioned.)

(Disclaimer 2: Patric Chocolate, in the timeline above, does not imply a personal or business association with any of the above-mentioned chocolate companies, nor does Patric Chocolate indicate any endorsement by the above companies. The statements made about these companies are factual as far as can be determined based on the resources cited below. Additionally, by providing links to the sites of said companies, Patric Chocolate does not necessarily guarantee or endorse the information or products available at those sites.)

References:

1: The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe.

2: 100% Chocolate by Katherine Khodorowsky and Doctor Hervé Robert.

3: The Chocolate Connoisseur by Chloé Doutre-Roussel.

4: Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use edited by Samuel Beckett.

5: Chocolate Production and Use by L. Russell Cook

6: Cocoa Research Unit

7: International Cocoa Genebank, Trinidad(ICG,T)

The More-Than-Chocolate-Making Process of Patric Chocolate:

2007-09-27T14:18:00.001-05:00

There are only about 19 chocolate makers in the United States who actually start with cacao (cocoa beans) and follow the process through to finished chocolate, and only about 13 that are "bean to bar" chocolate makers.
However, there are even fewer chocolate makers who attempt to produce small batches of excellent quality chocolate based on a love for the craft and a deep philosophical conviction about how to take cacao and sugar and create a product that is the pinnacle of chocolate.

Such vision and skill is not a simple endeavor, and Patric Chocolate holds deep respect for such chocolate makers as colleagues and friends in the field. Yet, though such chocolate makers may all start with similar goals of making the best fine chocolate possible, still every serious chocolate maker creates quite different products as he/she necessarily follows his/her own unique taste regarding what flavors and textures ultimately result in the best product.

This situation leads to a wide range of high-quality, but yet quite distinctive, products from a variety of chocolate makers, and this diversity of end results is one of the beauties of a complex product such as fine dark chocolate, as it invites all of the countless chocolate connoisseurs and chocolate lovers to an exciting discovery of the multiplicity of these excellent products.

Some people may like all of these chocolates to varying degrees, but some people may have strong preferences for or against certain items. This is only natural, of course, and certainly one chocolate that may be considered the best in the world by one chocolate aficionado may be considered quite inadequate by another. This being the case, it would be a mistake to attempt to create a chocolate that everyone would like. In fact, there are companies who try to do just such a thing, creating chocolate based only on the tastes of the average consumer, and these are the mass-producers of the chocolate world. It isn’t difficult to think of one or two of these companies whose names can be seen in every grocery store or vending machine.

Companies like this create chocolate products that are analogous to the manufactured pop music of the corporate music world. Like such pop music, these chocolates are generally overly sweet, “easy,” and lacking almost any character whatsoever. Such chocolates are not interesting or worthy of more than just passing attention, and when one has finished eating one of them, it is hard to remember anything more about it than its sugar-laden nature. This type of chocolate is really the antithesis of the products created by serious chocolate makers here in the US and abroad.

Instead, serious chocolate makers look for character and beauty, and above all, an intriguing, persistent and delicious flavor that forces one to wake up and pay attention to the inspiring aromas and luscious mouthfeel. These chocolates are not soon forgotten, and creating fine dark chocolate bars such as these is the raison d’être of Patric Chocolate. However, as important as this preliminary philosophy is in the creation of fine dark chocolate, it is the process that this view spawns that holds even more importance. After all, a faulty process does not make excellent chocolate no matter how brilliant the philosophy behind it may be. So, it is of interest to Patric Chocolate to share our process of chocolate-making in an effort to better explain how our philosophy comes to assert itself regarding the fine cacao and pure cane sugar of which we make use, day in, and day out. Of course not every detail is revealed, but the broad outline of the process is all here and as a fellow chocolate lover, we think that you will find it to be of interest.

The Process:

Patric Chocolate begins with different types of fine cacao from superior terroirs that have been carefully fermented and sun-dried to make the various bars of the Patric Chocolate line. In some cases, chocolate maker Alan McClure has even met with the grower(s) of the cacao itself in order to discuss the post-harvest processing of the cacao in great detail. This process of connecting with small growers and forming alliances in order to improve cacao quality is ongoing.

Once the cacao is chosen for a particular bar, it is first hand-sifted and sorted to remove:

• Dust and silt
• Bean fragments
• Beans with cracked shells
• Cut beans as a result of removal from the pod
• Double or even triple beans, which have ended up stuck together during the previous drying process, and, therefore, may have negative flavor qualities
• Germinated beans that had not started fermenting soon enough after harvest
• Flat beans
• Too-small beans
• Non-cacao items such as leaves and/or twigs

After this painstaking cleaning process, the cacao is roasted in small batches with close attention to time and temperature curves, air-flow, aroma, flavor, and even the appearance and sound of the cacao, leading to the best roast possible for a given type of cacao.

The cacao is then cracked, classified by particle size, and finally winnowed (a process using controlled airflow) to remove the outer shell or "testa" of the cacao. During this process, the vast majority of the germ, or radicle, is removed. The germ is a tough and hard needle-shaped object, which is quite bitter, and has very little of the cocoa butter which gives fine chocolate its smooth and beautifully-melting qualities.

What is left after this process is a container of pure, shell-free nibs, the “nut” of the cocoa bean. This is 100% pure unground chocolate, which is delicious by itself, but it is only with the addition of small amounts of pure cane sugar and a long and complex refining process that these nibs begin to resemble fine chocolate.

First, Alan grinds the nibs in a customized granite-based refiner in order to reduce them to a paste, and then, with the addition of heat due to friction and external factors, into a thick and flowing liquid. At this point pure cane sugar is added, and the refiner mixes and grinds the liquid further until the particles of cacao and sugar become quite small.

Next, the heating and speed setting of the machine are carefully altered to allow a slow and constant conching of the liquid chocolate that continues for between four and five days. The reason for this protracted process is two-fold: Firstly, the texture of the chocolate continues to change as particles of sugar and cacao are reduced ever-so-slightly in size. These particles also come to be coated in a velvety layer of their own cocoa butter, thereby also improving the texture and modifying the innate harshness and bitterness of the chocolate’s flavor. The flavor of the chocolate is also impacted during the conching, in part, due to a slight, but constant, evaporation of volatile flavor components such as acetic acid, resulting in a less acidic and harsh flavor. As the chocolate aroma loses this acetic acid-harshness it also begins to smell like the luscious dark chocolate that we have all come love.

Finally, the chocolate seems ready, but it is only after Alan has aged it in large blocks and the flavors have further mellowed and developed, that it is melted, tempered (a controlled crystallization of the chocolate so that it has the proper mouth-feel and glossy sheen), and molded into bars. The glossy dark bars are then hand-wrapped in thick golden-foil and carefully slid into the unique Patric Chocolate package, highlighting, in word and image, the beauty of the product contained within.

Since the bars are molded regularly, and in small numbers, they never sit on shelves long before finally being enjoyed by one of our discriminating customers, and during storage, they are kept at a constant cool temperature in order to maintain their exquisite texture and sheen.

As can be seen, this process is not simply making chocolate as any large factory would, it is making chocolate with a love and respect, a passion, for the medium, with a goal to produce only the finest dark chocolate bars in the United States and Europe, and the result of this more-than-chocolate-making process is all in the aroma, taste, and feel of Patric Chocolate. We invite you to experience it for yourself.

Missouri-Based Chocolate Events: Hosted by Patric Chocolate

2007-09-17T09:26:00.001-05:00

For all of you who live in Missouri, or in a bordering state such as Illinois or Kansas, and are interested in future chocolate discussion and tasting events sponsored by Patric Chocolate, such as the one held here in Columbia, MO on the 1st of September (more below), then please sign up on the mailing list to be contacted when various events are held in Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, and elsewhere in Missouri. Just be sure to select "Chocolate Updates" AND "Missouri Resident" when you sign up on the list.

If you have already signed up on the Patric Chocolate mailing list, then just re-enter your e-mail below, and follow the simple instructions to change your subscription options to include "Missouri Resident."

What could be better than an e-mail list that tells you when complimentary samples of Patric Chocolate will be available near you?

Patric Chocolate in the News: Photo of the First Patric Chocolate Bar

2007-09-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

Chocolate maker Alan McClure (of Patric Chocolate) is the "Success Stories Featured Entrepreneur" in this month's newsletter and on-line presence of the Missouri Small Business Development Centers. The article spends quite some time discussing fine chocolate and the goals of Patric Chocolate, and there are a number of related photos as well. Find it here

Here is a taste of one photo from the article that may interest many of you who don't live in Columbia, MO...the first Patric Chocolate bar. Learn more about the national release date of Patric Chocolate from the article above!
(Click the Photo for a Larger Version)

Interesting Chocolate Facts (and Photos)

2007-09-06T11:18:00.002-05:00

At the recent chocolate talk and tasting here in Columbia, MO, we discussed a number of items about chocolate that are not commonly known. Some people found these points to be quite interesting, and so we decided that we should share them with all of the Patric Chocolate blog readers as well.

#1: Smooth and refined European-style chocolate bars have only existed since the invention of a machine called the "conche" in 1879 by Rudolphe Lindt, the man whose name still graces bars of Lindt chocolate. For the 3000 years, or more, that chocolate had been consumed prior to Lindt's invention, it was consumed almost wholly as a drink, either hot or cold, and mixed with water and various spices.

#2: The scientific name of the tree that bears cocoa "beans," is Theobroma cacao, and was named by Carolus Linnaeus in 1753. Theobroma means "food of the gods," and the word "cacao" is based upon the Mayan pronunciation of the tree--kakaw--which itself was borrowed from the Olmec civilization before them.

#3: (Get ready, this one is a bit long and a little technical) The fruit of a cacao tree is usually called a "pod" though it is botanically not a pod at all. Those who have wanted to be more specific have called the cacao fruit an indehiscent drupe, which means that it is a "stone" fruit, or fruit surrounding a hard, shell-covered seed (a drupe), that doesn't fall from the tree or release its seeds on its own accord (indehiscent). However, despite this common wisdom, a colleague, Steve DeVries of DeVries Chocolate in Denver, CO, recently pointed out that he had discovered that cacao, though indehiscent, is not a drupe at all. Upon reflection, this discovery seems obvious as the cacao fruit is filled with many pulpy, fruit-covered seeds, and not covered with a hard shell of any sort as is the seed of a peach, or plum, fruits which are true drupes. A photo of an open pod:

(July 2006--Click the Photo for a Larger View)

So, Patric Chocolate began to wonder what the accurate botanical classification of a cacao fruit should be, if not a drupe. With this in mind we stumbled across a paper by Douglas Lehrian and Gordon Patterson of the Hershey Foods Corporation, in a book published in 1983, that mentions quite clearly that the cacao fruit is a berry! We were a bit hesitant to rely on this information alone, with the large amount of seeming uncertainty and confusion surrounding the question of the cacao fruit, but after checking back with DeVries, who himself verified with some experts in the field, it seems that we can be relatively sure that the cacao fruit is indeed a berry. Who knew?

#4: So, now that we are pondering what it means for the cacao fruit to be a berry, it actually makes quite a bit of sense that this would be the case, as many of the chemicals found in other berries, such as the blueberry, are also found in cacao fruit. Some of the most well-known of these chemicals come from a class called polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants. In fact, the same polyphenol that gives blueberries their blue-purple color is responsible for the purple color in raw forastero cacao seeds, though most people will never have the opportunity to see a purple cacao seed, as the colorant is converted into a colorless compound during a post-harvest fermentation process long before the seeds are ever made into chocolate.

#5: Finally, another item of interest that is not well known, is that unlike the average fruit tree, which grows fruit in many parts of its canopy, the cacao fruit actually grows primarily on the trunk of the cacao tree, and to some extent on the primary branches, a behavior termed "cauliflory." Here are a few photos to give you a better idea of this peculiarity:

A photo of a particularly old and very large cacao tree during a trip to Tabasco State, Mexico:

(July 2006--Click the Photo for a Larger View)

A photo of a much younger tree, also in Tabasco State:

(July 2006--Click the Photo for a Larger View)

A close-up of a Porcelana pod during a trip to Zulia State in Venezuela.

(December 2006--Click the Photo for a Larger View)

Thank You for the Excellent Turnout...

2007-09-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Maker Alan McClure Speaking to Participants of the Recent Chocolate Discussion and Tasting in Columbia, MO.

Patric Chocolate would like to thank everyone who turned up at the chocolate talk and tasting this past Saturday at World Harvest Foods. Honestly, we didn't really know how many people to expect, but for a "small" college town, there was quite a turnout with 30-40 chocolate lovers stopping by to listen, talk and taste between noon and 2 pm.

It is clear that there are many Columbians who are genuinely excited at the opportunity to learn about chocolate, and to taste some of the different bars that are available locally. We talked a bit about how chocolate is made, the history of chocolate, and then discussed how to taste chocolate to best appreciate it. Then came the really fun part: Everyone had the opportunity to taste a number of bars that World Harvest carries including Guittard Ambaja 65%, Scharffen Berger 70%, Valrhona Noir Amer 71%, ChocoVic Maragda 70%, Lindt Excellence 70%, and of course, the first bar from the Patric Chocolate line of fine dark chocolate that is made right here in Columbia, MO.

All in all, it was a wonderful time, and it certainly was a pleasure to speak with so many of the chocoholics of Columbia about all things chocolate.

For those of you who weren't able to make it, note that we will be doing another presentation and tasting at the same location in late November after the craziness of Thanksgiving has come and gone. So, keep checking back with the Patric Chocolate blog, or even subscribe to our blog feed to have new posts as soon as they are available.

Finally, for those of you who were able to make it to the tasting we'd really love to hear from you about your experience with Patric Chocolate. A lot of you had some very nice things to say in person, but it was busy and we didn't get to talk to everyone, so if you could put your comments into an e-mail and send them off to News@Patric-Chocolate.com, we would very much like to read them!

Reminder of the Saturday, September 1st Chocolate Tasting

2007-08-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Don't forget, this Saturday, the 1st of September at 12 noon is the chocolate talk and tasting led by chocolate maker of Patric Chocolate Alan McClure. If you haven't had the chance yet to try the new Patric Chocolate bar yet, or if you are interested in learning more about it and other locally available chocolate brands, then this is the event for you. For more information about what exactly will be discussed and tasted, and where the event will be held, please read the previous post on the event here.
It's only two days away, so don't forget to pencil it in on your schedule.

See you there!

Chocolate Tasting with Chocolate Maker Alan McClure, Saturday, September 1st

2007-08-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

For all of our local Columbia, MO readers and those willing to drive the two hours from either St. Louis or Kansas City, chocolate maker Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate will be giving a brief talk on fine chocolate, Saturday, September 1st at 12 noon at World Harvest Foods (directions below). The talk will cover aspects of chocolate manufacture, including sourcing of cacao, as well as the many other factors that contribute to quality in chocolate. Afterward, Alan will lead an organized chocolate tasting of various dark chocolate bars including Patric Chocolate's 70% Madagascar bar, as well as bars from Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Guittard, Lindt, and other American and international chocolate brands.

Following the brief talk and tasting, Alan will be on hand for at least one hour to discuss anything about fine chocolate that may interest you.

Finally, for those of you who may consider yourselves novices in terms of familiarity with fine chocolate appreciation, but are interested in learning more about chocolate, a limited number of copies of "The Chocolate Connoisseur" by international chocolate expert Chloé Doutre-Roussel will be available for sale. This book was written with the beginning chocolate connoisseur in mind and is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the world of fine chocolate.

This event is open to the chocolate-loving public, and is free of charge. It will occur at 12 noon, Saturday, September 1st at:

World Harvest Foods (Behind Gerbes off of Nifong)
3700 Monterey Dr.
Columbia, MO. 65203
+1-573-442-3833

You can also e-mail us directly at News@Patric-Chocolate.com for further information.

We hope to see you there!

Chocolate Process Media

2007-08-20T10:03:00.001-05:00

Fine dark chocolate, in addition to being an exquisitely flavorful food, is also coming to be seen by more and more chocolate-lovers as an interesting product in its own right as regards the lengthy and difficult process used to make it. Due to this growing interest, there is more information on chocolate making on-line than ever before, some of it accurate, and some of it less so. In an effort to add something else of interest to what is already out there, Alan McClure, chocolate maker for Patric Chocolate, did a fairly recent in-depth interview with Terence Spies for his Cacaolab website. If you haven't yet had the chance to read the two-part interview, it can be found here.

Those of you who have had a chance to read the interview, however, may have noted that it can be fairly technical in places. For some chocolate aficionados, this is exactly the type of information about chocolate making that they are very keen to read. However, many people less familiar with the chocolate-making process may have found themselves wishing that they had photos of different steps in order to help clarify a point here or there.

The importance of images in helping to explain a process, whether the images are live-action or captured as photos, cannot be underestimated, and Patric Chocolate, in a forthcoming redesign of its website, has taken this into consideration when making important layout decisions. However, we wanted to go even further than incorporating essential visual elements into our new site, so some time ago we decided that with the technology currently available that we should push things a few steps further.

Starting today, we will be working on capturing what is an incredibly interesting part of the chocolate-making process in a way that will allow everyone to see chocolate as it has perhaps never been seen before. In an effort not to spoil the surprise, we will say no more, but be sure to keep your eyes open for a very special addition to the current Patric Chocolate site even before the redesign is finished!

Patric Chocolate Available Locally

2007-08-17T20:46:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

As some of you may already know, the first Patric Chocolate bar has been available locally since the end of July. Though distribution is limited due to supply, sales have been far greater than anticipated. We are quite happy to see that though the United States has historically been a milk chocolate nation, as opposed to France for example, where dark chocolate has been the preference, Americans really are willing to try types of dark chocolate that may be quite unlike anything they have ever had before. In fact, not only are Americans willing to try dark chocolate, but they seem to be falling in love with it.

Because of this major shift in chocolate preference in the US, Patric Chocolate has every expectation that as we continue to focus all of our attention on each of our micro-batches of fine dark chocolate, that the number of Americans who are interested in experiencing its unique aroma, taste and feel will continue to grow, especially as they increasingly learn to appreciate what really sets fine dark chocolate apart from the mass-produced bars that we so often find in most retail stores. We could not be happier, of course, as this growing interest lets us sit back and do what we love most of all: focus on making more Patric Chocolate.

The Patric Chocolate Blog

2007-08-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

We have now created a Patric Chocolate blog to help keep you updated regarding our latest news. Up to this point, Patric Chocolate has been hard at work getting everything in order for a limited on-line release of our single-origin dark chocolate bars and other fine chocolate products. Though the wait is not quite over, the debut is closer than you might think. Be sure to check back with our blog often, between now and the upcoming holiday season, to see what chocolate surprises we have in store for you!

-Patric Chocolate