How can cacao can have flavour notes? Isn't it just chocolate?

Upfront, this is a hard one to explain without handing out bars of craft chocolate and taking you through a chocolate tasting.

But we like a challenge! So we’re going to give it a red hot go.

In our last post, we mentioned that the best comparison is wine. And to stretch this example a little bit further, imagine this scenario:

• You walk into a bottle-o or a liquor store and you’re after a bottle of red wine.
• And the decision is easy because in this scenario, every bottle of red wine tastes the same.
• Not just for that month, but for years and decades every bottle of red wine in that store has ALWAYS tasted the same. There might be some minor differences, but that base red wine flavour is almost identical in every bottle.

We know that’s not the case right?

Red wines can taste completely different from one bottle to the next, depending on where the grapes were grown and how the winemakers make their wine.

Now think about the blocks of chocolate you’ve eaten your entire life. We’ve all got that one chocolate block or bar that we depend on and it’s been the same for as long as you remember and you love it. We love it!

But it could be more than that?

And that’s not to deny that this chocolate bar doesn’t taste good – it definitely does, that’s why its existed for years! But what gets us is that we didn’t even know there was this whole other world of chocolate, where chocolate makers are working to highlight the flavours inbuilt into those little cocoa beans.

We stumbled upon craft chocolate by chance and we’ll admit it took us a while to realise that there even was a difference. But once we started digging and eating a variety of bars, we were a little sad that we weren’t giving one of our favourite foods more attention.

So the rant is chocolate is special, as special as wine, as cheese, and we had no clue until we found it by accident. How is that even possible?

It’s safe to say we’re obsessed to the point we started this website because it’s gone that far.

Let us know what you think! Did you know this about chocolate? Did you only find this out recently and how did you feel when you learnt this? Thanks heaps for talking beans with us!

Where to next?

If you enjoyed this Chocolate Coated Thought, we recommend:

Otherwise, have a look at our in-depth look at the Bean to Bar Process:

And if you’re still not so sure, check out what events or makers are in your area:

Talk Beans with us!

Got any questions? Feedback? Want to hi say? Reach out below – we’re always happy to chat!

• Instagram
• Mail