Chocolate Connoisseurs - SuperCacao

[wchien]

I had some of the best chocolate truffles of my life in Switzerland..

you can only get Läderach chocolates imported in the US, don't know about the rest of the world though.

[readytoignite]

Not quite on the same super chocolate conoisseur level as some of the stuff previously mentioned, but there is a fantastic chocolate maker in brussels called Pierre Marcolini, highly recommended if your ever in that part of the world.

Kiya I swear you are part belgian.

chocolade snoeper? btw marcolini also has a store in nyc, if anyone ever mentions la maison du chocolat i tell them to go to marcolini instead.

re: chocolate/cheese are all immensely pairable with beer/wine. someone gave ms. ready and myself a voucher for a cheese tasting at artisanal and we picked an oregon wine/cheese one. much to our surprise the rogue ale people were also invited and added their beer (and spruce gin) into the mix and also brought out some chocolate from some friends down the river. the combinatorics were off the charts.

highly recommended esp for those of us sybarites who lack the appetite to source their own excesses!

[tmadd]

I have been enjoying Eclipse and Conacado from Dagoba but I am trying to find a place in Long Beach that has a more interesting selection than Whole Foods.

[tmadd]

Bump...anyone have suggestions on good places to read up on single crop chocolate and/or best harvest and production methods?

[redgrail]

oooh. excellent bump there.

anyone know a good place in Boston for some chocolate?

Actually, don't tell me. Gotta drop these pounds before the layers start coming off.

[bangbangbang]

anything less than 75% is a shame! 65-69 is really pushing it. i just find that western-fied chocolate is too sweet, even if the listed percentage is high (lots of sugar for the western palate?). 80s, 90-100, that's what i'm talking about, for the spendy type of chocolate.

[readytoignite]

anyone into amadei? the winestore around the corner just started stocking their stuff - a limited selection (i cru) but figured they may special order something if i'm nice enough. i've heard raves on their porcelana but not sure anything else was worth checking out.

also for you west coasters, is see's dark california brittle worth mail ordering? it came up in an alan richman article on madeleines but apparently is only seasonably available at retail stores (and in any case the only retail store within 500 miles is a cart run by a really pushy dude in newark airport)

[chubby]

This stuff is amazing. I know its not pure chocolate, but it is absolutely addictive. The texture and bite of the Hawaiian sea salt in contrast to the smooth smokey-sweet flavor of the caramel, surrounded by delicious 71% cacao chocolate.... OMG. anyway, $10 for about 4 ounces.

get it here

http://www.chocopologie.com/?ref=brides.com

dont bother with the other flavour chocolate bars, they suck. . . relatively speaking.

[theweiside]

^looks really interesting. i should try it when i get the chance

currently eating 67% madagascar. pretty damn good

[kiya]

Just got a really interesting bar today, will do a tasting and report back.

A 70% bar with NO sugar added?!!?

Yes, that's what it is, quite unheard of actually.

[kiya]

This is interesting...

Inhale Chocolate, Without The Calories

http://cbs5.com/food/inhaled.chocolate.le.2.1001641.html

and then the company..

http://www.lewhif.com/

[PQRS7]

recently bought 90% accidentally, not knowing what it was

almost broke my tongue

but now I want cacao just for the health reasons

I saw that it was a far superior anti-toxin than even blue, goji, or acai berries

what is recommended for this purpose (?)

[kiya]

This is interesting...

Inhale Chocolate, Without The Calories

http://cbs5.com/food/inhaled.chocolate.le.2.1001641.html

and then the company..

http://www.lewhif.com/

Screw it.. i just bought two sets of 6 of this stuff.

[mrip]

yo that lewhif shit is next level

screw smokin cigs

im smokin chocolate SON

[redgrail]

gotta let us know how that lewhiff works out. if it's decent, i'm jumping the bandwagon. go go kiya, trailblaze, early adopter status.

[kiya]

I'll let you know when i get em, we can all go in the yard behind the store and get chocolate high.

[RBales]

Since this is bumped again I'll throw out my favorite chocolate Casa Don Puglisi. It's from Sicily but made in the Aztec tradition and cold-pressed with sugar which gives it a texture that is...outrageous, for lack of better description. It's crumbly and crispy when you bite it, and the cocao sort of flakes off the bar in like dust form, but it melts almost instantly in your mouth. My favorite is the bergamot, but in all honesty they're all good, except for the vanilla. This kinda gives you an idea of the texture we're dealing with, but honestly you have to try it to see how it changes with heat and moisture. It's almost like a chemistry experiment in your mouth.

It's kinda tough to find. Chocolate Covered has every flavor (of course), and I had first found it a couple years ago at Zabar's in New York and they still had it when i went back in December. Igourmet has it, too. Definitely worth a try because it is unlike any chocolate I've ever had. Some people hate it, but I've had a lot of chocolate and I think it's spectacular.

Oh and shout out to Kiya for the Chocolate Covered rec. Been hitting them up weekly since i moved out here.

[Magsåvningsreserven]

that looks (and sounds) delicious

[tac0tron]

Ordered some of that Le Whif shit.

[mrip]

feeling like a noob cuz im eating this and i think its a little too dark for me

[kiya]

Ordered some of that Le Whif shit.

Ah fuck, it was a complete waste of money.

It's fine powdered chocolate in a weird tube.

Makes you cough when you hit it, i see no point to it existing.

I'm a huge chocolate nerd, so i had to try it.

[mrip]

break open the tube and use it to make hot chocolate?

[tmadd]

Any places dense with next-level chocolate knowledge on the web...the kind of place where one can surf for hours and learn a whole lot in one sitting? The things and manners in which I have learned about coffee since I have last visited this thread make me think I may have more of the language and conceptual understanding to really engage in chocolate knowledge nerd-outs.

[kiya]

Any places dense with next-level chocolate knowledge on the web...the kind of place where one can surf for hours and learn a whole lot in one sitting? The things and manners in which I have learned about coffee since I have last visited this thread make me think I may have more of the language and conceptual understanding to really engage in chocolate knowledge nerd-outs.

Read and look here:

http://www.chocosphere.com

Then place a phone order here:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/chocolate-covered-san-francisco

Also, go to local chocolate tastings in your area. If you can't find any, try setting up your own tastings along with a local shop that carries the harder to find brands.

[pacioli]

In addition to Chocosphere I also recommend Seventy Percent's forum. It's a bit like Superfuture for cacao heads. Even has a section for chocolate professionals. http://old.seventypercent.com/forum/

I also check out Chocolate Alchemy forum from time to time since they break down the forum by process (beans, roasting, cleaning, conching).

http://chocolatetalk.proboards.com/index.cgi

[tmadd]

I've been checking out chocosphere...any tips on which brands do the best bars in terms of purity (ie least additives, or at least best ingredients added to the cacao) and in terms of interesting examples of an origin or region. I suppose to simplify the question, who's bars stand to help me learn the most the quickest about the cacao itself (I want the processing and bar making to be as transparent as possible) if I am just picking up five or six bars at first?

[kiya]

Just got my hands two bars of Domori's new Cacao Teyuna.

70%, single origin, Colombia... Domori is my favorite bar company, they nail their flavors and have done amazing things with the invigoration of dead species of beans which were wiped out many years ago due to natural disasters in the Caribbean and Central America.

The Teyuna is an instant winner, amazing scents come off as the chocolate is rubbed a bit with hints of clove and nutmeg. As it melts in your mouth there's a strong overtone of cashews, almonds, and a very strong sweetness that lingers. Very nice for their newest effort, buy this shit now.

[__3xL]

and the vertical falling of single season strain cocoa essense cascading in harmony over and then BACK UNDER a high percentage of your taste buds ..

mind = blown just imaging it .. never EVER want > would never go back to normal chocolate again ..

[__3xL]

fuck it Kiya pass me a square of superCacao yo ... i wanna try some to have with my kopi loowak

[readytoignite]

is there any supercacao endorsed places in LA? i've been whiling away my time with e guittard from whole foods but probably should make more of an effort on my travels...