CHOCOLATE TASTING With so many variables affecting the flavour of just one chocolate bar, it’s important to taste chocolate carefully so that you can extract the fullest flavour potential.  If you follow this chocolate tasting guide, you will quickly and easily be able to experience the wonders of fine quality chocolate in no [...]

CHOCOLATE TASTING PART 2/2 In this Part 2 of the Tasting Notes sequel, we will look at another set of Single Plantation chocolate bars by M. Cluizel. The climate, surroundings and harvest develop unique flavours and aromas in cacaos. The final product rests on the skills of the chocolatier, in the processing [...]

CHOCOLATE TASTING PART 1/2 In recent years the community of serious chocolate tasters has been growing rapidly and has gained widespread attention in the media. The art of chocolate tasting is equal to that of wine tasting, and the complexity of flavours in wine and chocolate are comparable. The climate, surroundings [...]

SINGLE PLANTATION CHOCOLATE Over the centuries, cocoa trees have spread all round the world, on each side of the equator, on warm, moist and fertile land. With time, the four main varieties of cocoa trees – Criollo, Trinitario, Forastero, and Ecuador National – have hybridized in localities that have given them [...]

A BRIEF HISTORY OFCHOCOLATE When most of us hear the word chocolate, we picture a bar, a box of bonbons, an Easter egg. But for about 90% of chocolate's long history, it was strictly a beverage, and sugar didn't have anything to do with it.The origin of “chocolate” can be traced back to [...]