Expensive chocolate bars: A load of crock?

[paulraphael]

Most of the organic and hippy rainforest chocolate brands are exactly the same as each other. There's a very small number of organic chocolate factories in the US, and they make the same chocolate and just repackage it for different brands. Which explains why most of those brands are all about the inclusions, not about the chocolate.

It would be nice if there was enough market pressure to get the best growers to go organic (and the best chocolate makers to promise fair trade practices ...)

Currently, none of the organic chocolate that I've had is any good, which seems to support what you're saying.

I should add that I know nothing about chocolate plantations, or if there's anything particularly difficult about growing good chocolate organically.

[Dianabanana]

Regarding staleness, my husband has part of a bar of dark chocolate every morning with his breakfast, and the unused portion of the bar gets stored in a ziploc baggie. Woe betide the person who fails to zip the loc on his baggie!

[s_sevilla]

If you really want to know how striking a difference the source of a cocoa bean lends towards the taste of a bar, I highly recommend tasting the Guittard Chucuri and Ambanja bars side by side. Don't look at the tasting notes, just try. Since they come from the same company, the process is much the same for both bars, and the quality of the chocolate is top notch. What you taste in these is a huge dose of origin, and the mastery of their roasting process.

I've also found that its much easier for newbies to start out with the slightly lower cocoa mass bars (60-65%) before heading over to the heavy hitting bars. I am personally not a huge fan of anything over 80% (although the theo 92% venezuela was pretty good) because I feel they tend to lack balance.

[Nathan Kurz]

There's a very small number of organic chocolate factories in the US, and they make the same chocolate and just repackage it for different brands.

Currently, none of the organic chocolate that I've had is any good, which seems to support what you're saying.

My friends and I have spent some time trying to find a good organic dark chocolate for making organic ice cream and sorbet, and generally agree: there isn't much overlap between good and organic when it comes to chocolate. But we did find one organic Spanish import that we all liked:

Blanxart - Chocolate Ecologico Negro

http://www.seventypercent.com/chocop/bar_detail.asp?ID=236

It's a very solid, very smooth, non-fruity dark chocolate. No surprises, but a rich deep slightly sour chocolate taste. They are about $20/lb retail, $12/lb food service bulk. In the Bay Area, they are available by the bar at Berkeley Bowl, but I presume they are available online as well. Avoid being confused by their non-organic line, though.

They are probably what we'll use if we decide to buy pre-made, but right now we are planning to roast our own from the bean: http://chocolatealchemy.com/

[grayelf]

Well here goes.  My first ever post.  I've been reading this thread with interest: as someone who used to buy chocolate for a living, I can only impart my view based on my own experience.

Relying on percentage cocoa is a complete misnomer.  Just because a chocolate bar has a high percentage of cocoa, doesn't necessarily make it a good bar.  It really depends on the type, quantity and quality of ingredients used.  Michel Cluizel, does fantastic chocolates, as they actually are involved in the complete chocolate making process, from bean selection to the end product.  Contrary to a previous posting, there is a difference based on where the cocoa comes from.

Like all things grown in the earth, the produce takes on the characteristics based on the environment it is grown in (which is why a glasshouse tomato never tastes as good as one you've grown yourself outdoors)

In terms of interesting chocolatiers I would recommend, I would suggest:

Valrhona

Michel Cluizel

Scharffen Berger

Maison du Chocolat

Bonnat

I think most of these are available in the US.

←

Welcome to eGullet! Good choice to start by posting on something you are knowledgeable about. I recently read an article on a food blog that highlighted "snap" as a way to differentiate chocolate quality (someone mentioned this tangentially upthread), noting that a nice, bright snapping sound when you break off a piece is a good thing. Do you know more about why this is?

[John DePaula]

Well here goes.  My first ever post.  I've been reading this thread with interest: as someone who used to buy chocolate for a living, I can only impart my view based on my own experience.

Relying on percentage cocoa is a complete misnomer.  Just because a chocolate bar has a high percentage of cocoa, doesn't necessarily make it a good bar.  It really depends on the type, quantity and quality of ingredients used.  Michel Cluizel, does fantastic chocolates, as they actually are involved in the complete chocolate making process, from bean selection to the end product.  Contrary to a previous posting, there is a difference based on where the cocoa comes from.

Like all things grown in the earth, the produce takes on the characteristics based on the environment it is grown in (which is why a glasshouse tomato never tastes as good as one you've grown yourself outdoors)

In terms of interesting chocolatiers I would recommend, I would suggest:

Valrhona

Michel Cluizel

Scharffen Berger

Maison du Chocolat

Bonnat

I think most of these are available in the US.

←

Welcome to eGullet! Good choice to start by posting on something you are knowledgeable about. I recently read an article on a food blog that highlighted "snap" as a way to differentiate chocolate quality (someone mentioned this tangentially upthread), noting that a nice, bright snapping sound when you break off a piece is a good thing. Do you know more about why this is?

←

This is why correct tempering is so important. Chocolate forms several types of crystals when it solidifies after being melted. If it's tempered, most of these will be Beta crystals which have the most shine and very importantly, they melt at the right temperature e.g. on your tongue. And it also has a nice SNAP!

Correct tempering ensures that the chocolate will contract just a bit when it sets. That's good because then you're able to get it out of the mold.

Edited January 9, 2008 by John DePaula (log)

[grayelf]

Well here goes.  My first ever post.  I've been reading this thread with interest: as someone who used to buy chocolate for a living, I can only impart my view based on my own experience.

Relying on percentage cocoa is a complete misnomer.  Just because a chocolate bar has a high percentage of cocoa, doesn't necessarily make it a good bar.  It really depends on the type, quantity and quality of ingredients used.  Michel Cluizel, does fantastic chocolates, as they actually are involved in the complete chocolate making process, from bean selection to the end product.  Contrary to a previous posting, there is a difference based on where the cocoa comes from.

Like all things grown in the earth, the produce takes on the characteristics based on the environment it is grown in (which is why a glasshouse tomato never tastes as good as one you've grown yourself outdoors)

In terms of interesting chocolatiers I would recommend, I would suggest:

Valrhona

Michel Cluizel

Scharffen Berger

Maison du Chocolat

Bonnat

I think most of these are available in the US.

←

Welcome to eGullet! Good choice to start by posting on something you are knowledgeable about. I recently read an article on a food blog that highlighted "snap" as a way to differentiate chocolate quality (someone mentioned this tangentially upthread), noting that a nice, bright snapping sound when you break off a piece is a good thing. Do you know more about why this is?

←

This is why correct tempering is so important. Chocolate forms several types of crystals when it solidifies after being melted. If it's tempered, most of these will be Beta crystals which have the most shine and very importantly, they melt at the right temperature e.g. on your tongue. And it also has a nice SNAP!

Correct tempering ensures that the chocolate will contract just a bit when it sets. That's good because then you're able to get it out of the mold.

←

Thanks for the insight. I will now pursue the perfect snap when purchasing chocolate!