Chocolate: White or milk, bitter or better...

[Verjuice]

Where's you favorite place to indulge in the color spectrum?

I'm guessing that there are more bitter chocolate devotees in here than there are out there, but let's see.

I like it best when it's so bitter as to make my black coffee taste like vanilla pudding in comparison.

Edited March 21, 2004 by Verjuice (log)

[Jake]

I am the opposite! Not a big chocolate lover to begin with, but to satisfy those cravings......Belgian milk chocolate. MMMMMMM

[CompassRose]

Is it chocolate? I'll take it. I like it at 99% cocoa solids, black enough to curl the tastebuds -- "just one square will do", the single malt of chocolate. I like it somewhat less black, a cultivated bittersweet. I like a smooth Belgian milk. I like crisp, subtle white chocolate (with of course real cocoa butter) -- never mind that I'm told it isn't chocolate at all.

Just don't give me cheap brown waxy stuff masquerading as chocolate, that's all.

[nessa]

The darker the better, for me. I like bitter, but not to the point where there is no sweet at all. There is a fine line where the chocolate and the sweet are at a perfect balance to enhance the divine chocolate goodness.

Granted, its rare that I'll turn down any chocolate of any color gradient. I'm an equal oppurtunity chocolate lover, but a girl does have her preferences

Edited March 21, 2004 by nessa (log)

[docsconz]

Chocolate of quality. 70% is about ideal for plain eating. Michel Cluizel.

[bloviatrix]

Right now I'm on an El Rey 70% kick. It has a nice lingering fruitiness on the finish.

I HATE milk chocolate. It tastes flabby.

[kitwilliams]

Right now I'm on an El Rey 70% kick.  It has a nice lingering fruitiness on the finish.

I HATE milk chocolate.  It tastes flabby.

Well, if you hate milk chocolate, you hate milk chocolate. But have you tried the Green & Black's darker shade of milk chocolate? As they say, the emphasis is on the chocolate, not on the milk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I prefer a dark chocolate with a touch of crispness to the bite, a touch of bitter to the palate, but oh so smooth on the tongue.

But with Easter coming, I couldn't resist and had to have my Robin's Eggs -- you know, the malted milk eggs with the candy coating? Better now, when they're fresh, instead of waiting until Easter, no?

[foodobsessed]

Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa for me. Mmmm!

[Larry]

Anything under 85% is not worth my time...or money. Anything above is on my favourite foods list. I hate milk and white chocolate, they are high up on my most hated foods list.

[cjs]

bitter is better

[balmagowry]

Côte d'Or Noir de Noir... Mmmmmmmm....

[sml311]

Dark, definitely dark. I spent the first 2/3 of my life being allergic, but I traded the chocolate allergy in for a milk one. I NEVER liked milk chocolate anyway. The only tempting thing...which I have been known to occassionally get sick on...is Whoppers. I don't know why.

Other than that...65 and to about 85 is good for me. In fact I might just go for one of the 70% Le Petit Ecoliers I have in the fridge....

Man, you guys are always making me hungry!!

SML

[lala]

Vahlrona 71% nirvana

I'm currently trying to perfect a brownie recipe, using lots of unsweetened chocolate. Original recipe had walnuts. I've replaced them with Valhrona 60% chunks...a little too sweet. Next try will have Val 71, and toasted hazelnuts. mmm...

[ellencho]

I don't particularly care for the super bitter dark chocolate, but sometimes milk chocolate is too sweet. El Rey has a Dark Milk Chocolate. They used to sell it at Whole Foods near me, but they stopped selling it for some reason.

[cakewalk]

Dark chocolate. Mmmmmm.

[slbunge]

Vahlrona 71% nirvana

I'm currently trying to perfect a brownie recipe, using lots of unsweetened chocolate. Original recipe had walnuts. I've replaced them with Valhrona 60% chunks...a little too sweet. Next try will have Val 71, and toasted hazelnuts. mmm...

We were turned on to Valrhona chocolate by a deli in Madison, WI whose only dessert available was Valrhona brownies. Holy cow were those good.

When eating plain chocolate my favorite is Valrhona Le Noir (61%). For filled things (truffles, etc) I prefer the chocolate to be Valrhona Guanaja (70%).

Anyone tried the Vahlrona easter egg collection? Mmmm.

[CompassRose]

I'm such a freak. I don't actually like Valrhona. It has an "acrid" aftertaste to me, and I've even tried the fancy single-bean ones. I prefer Callebaut, and Michel Cluizel, and Scharffenberger.

[Moopheus]

Right now I'm on an El Rey 70% kick. It has a nice lingering fruitiness on the finish.

I HATE milk chocolate. It tastes flabby.

I like El Rey too. I tried some Cluizel but it did not move me. If you want to try some definitely non-flabby milk chocolate, try Slitti Lattenero, which is very rich. I think it is my new favorite. But it is very expensive, so I can't have it too often.

I'm pretty much a chocolate vacuum. I will gladly eat mass-market chocolate (downed a bag of Sno-Caps the other night) along with the good stuff. I can taste the difference, but I find it impossible to actually dislike any chocolate. I do draw the line at the yucky stuff sold in holiday packaging.

[bloviatrix]

Vahlrona 71% nirvana

I'm currently trying to perfect a brownie recipe, using lots of unsweetened chocolate. Original recipe had walnuts. I've replaced them with Valhrona 60% chunks...a little too sweet. Next try will have Val 71, and toasted hazelnuts. mmm...

You should look at Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet. Her recipes include variations for the different types of chocolate out there. I tried her recipe for brownies using the variation for 70% (I added pecans, but any nut will do) and it disappeared very quickly.

[tammylc]

My current favorite is the Michel Cluizel single origin "Mangaro" from Madagascar, which is 65%. I generally like chocolates around 70%, although the Cluizel 85% is a superdark that I really like.

And while I really like the good stuff, I'll happily eat most chocolate if someone else is giving it to me. Except basic Hershey's bars or kisses, because they're utterly vile.

[Ling]

I like bittersweet chocolate that's still relatively sweet. Milk chocolate would be my second choice. I don't like white or dark as much but as long as it's chocolate, I'm not too picky.

[Cusina]

The darker the better, for me. I like bitter, but not to the point where there is no sweet at all. There is a fine line where the chocolate and the sweet are at a perfect balance to enhance the divine chocolate goodness.

Granted, its rare that I'll turn down any chocolate of any color gradient. I'm an equal oppurtunity chocolate lover, but a girl does have her preferences

Exactly.

[CompassRose]

There's something --weird-- about Hershey's, I agree. I mean, despite my slight choccy snobbery, I do eat Cadbury (mmm, Mini Eggs!) and other -- ahem -- chocolate of the common people occasionally (or more, when the $7 bar of Cluizel is not an option!) -- but Hershey's is odd. That bizarre grainy texture... that peculiar almost-burnt flavour, the sweetness simultaneously lacking in chocolatiness. Yeck. I'm conjuring it in my mouth now, and my tongue is not thanking me.

I've heard a lot about Slitti. I wish I could find a bar to try.

[slbunge]

... I do eat Cadbury (mmm, Mini Eggs!) and other -- ahem -- chocolate of the common people ...

Dude. You are a freak.

Just kidding of course. I do find it interesting that the 'milk chocolate for the people' in candy bars in England (Cadbury, mostly) has a much smoother texture and a bit more flat taste than US chocolate in Hershey's or Mars products.

As an aside, what sorts of cocoa powder do people normally use? We have a box of Valrhona on the shelf but I'm thinking about branching out.

[Moopheus]

There's something --weird-- about Hershey's, I agree.-- but Hershey's is odd. That bizarre grainy texture... that peculiar almost-burnt flavour, the sweetness simultaneously lacking in chocolatiness.

Milton Hershey's original formulation for his milk chocolate involved sweetened condensed milk, and is basically unique, hence the flavor/texture difference. It is really different from everything else, even other milk chocolates, almost a category in itself.