Belcolade Chocolates

[rlibkind]

At my local SuperFresh in Philadelphia I spied a new (to me) brand of bulk chocolate: Belcolade. Web research showed this to be Belgian produced by Belcolade, a division of a larger Belgian firm, Puratos, which also has US plants and serves the baking and patisserie industries as well.

Anyone have experience with the Belcolade Belgian chocolate? How is it? It was a relatively bargain at $7.99/pound in the supermarket, assuming the quality is decent.

[alanamoana]

i don't love it, but i've only had limited experience with it a long time ago...maybe they've improved?

also, from some other threads, you can get very decent prices on valrhona and other better chocolates from assouline & ting and other mail order places. better than $7.99/lb for belcolade, i mean.

[Desiderio]

Yes ,for 7.99 per lb you can get a good Valrhona one ,but I dont have experience with Belcolade so I can say its better ( but I assume yes ).

If they sell it at store near you just buy a little bit and tryed it out, sometimes is the best way to go , people can tell you what they like and dont like but at the end you will the one that decide on your taste.

Oh and online , you can find a Belcolade at 70% for 4$ per lb.

Edited July 12, 2006 by Desiderio (log)

[CanadianBakin']

I've tried a bag of their 66%. It wasn't my favourite. I found it a bit "smokey" tasting. I actually prefer dark Callebaut to the Belcolade. However, the pastry chef where I took a part-time course uses Belcolade all the time and loves it. He was raised in Germany I believe. I don't know if a European background makes a difference in preference.

Edited July 12, 2006 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[jturn00]

I really liked belcolade. I tried it at the chocolate show and really liked it.

I do think it has a "smokey" taste or more acidic than Callebaut. It seems similar to El Rey but for a lot less money. I think I orded mine from www.chefswarehouse.com (search for belcolade).

I did a tasting with my family and friends (blind tasting) using felchlin 64%, becolade 70%, and E Guittard "Lever du Soleil" 61%. My family liked the becolade the best but they (and me) really like dark bitter chocolate.

Jeff

{edited to fix grammar}

Edited July 12, 2006 by jturn00 (log)

[SweetSide]

We used Belcolade in school, along with Cacao Barry. For the milk, I liked it. For the others -- dark (not sure of %) and white -- I prefer other brands based on flavor. For texture, I liked it.

[Kerry Beal]

The Puratos rep brought me bags of their standard white, milk and semisweet late last year to try for a friend who's child is peanut and treenut allergic. She wants to start a chocolate business making nut free chocolates. Belcolade is the only one available here that I can find that is certified both peanut and tree nut free. The white was quite nice, the milk was fair, the semisweet had reasonable flavour but was way too sweet for my taste.

I have a bunch of little samples of their single origin and specialty blends at home, haven't gotten around to tasting them yet.

[Sethro]

Not a fan of their bittersweets, but their white is one of my favorites.

[patsikes]

I have never worked with it.

Durring my conversation with Jacque Torres in May durring our Alaska cruise, he said that they use both Belcolade and his own from the bean chocolate in thier production.