The great chocolate tour continued: Wally's Fine Wines

Today I went to Wally's Fine Wines in search of bars. I'd been there before, but they change out their selection of chocolates every so often. I came, got three bars that caught my eye, and tasted and analyzed them.

The first of three bars was one from Ritual Chocolate, based in Utah, who, as one seasoned in my blog may remember, was responsible for the Honeycomb bar I got from Farmshop. This time, they had created a two-ingredient bar with 75% cacao content whose beans came from Belize. With that in mind, I was expecting earthy tones, intermingled with something bright or sour. This was absolutely the case, and I tasted cherries, woodiness, and lemon. However, I did notice that there was a noticeable gritty texture, indicating under-refinement. This is probably because they use a roll mill, and roll mills have larger particle outputs but more consistent particle-size distribution.

Particle size and particle-size distribution are two key players in interpreting how chocolate feels in one's mouth. Particle-size distribution is the range of particle sizes, and particle size, is, well, the size of the particles. If the particles are all small, but there are a few big particles, then it'll feel gritty in the mouth because our senses are so sharply attuned to outliers.

They also use a longitudinal conche, which again creates an excellent particle-size distribution, but it takes a while, doesn't hold much, and are very expensive: as of late, the only company still selling new longitudinal conches sell a one-pot model that holds 80 kilos (176 pounds) and costs around $100,000.

The next bar was from Fruition Chocolate, based in New York, and they had used some beans from Madagascar to make a 74% cacao bar. I was expecting very bright notes, with maybe a hint of sweetness and spiciness. Now. when I tasted it, the brightness was staggering, and it almost drowned out the softer notes of spice. This bar was wrapped quite unlike any other bar I had seen before; it was wrapped in cellophane, which I think almost directly denies the "purity" of this bar. Also, the cellophane had the process they used printed on it, but it wasn't all on one side of the bar: rather, it was haphazardly spread out, creating a very chaotic effect. And as a final insult, I had to struggle to open the cellophane, which kind of robs me of the experience in some way that I really cannot express. At least there was no grittiness, and the flavors were all right.

The third and final bar was from Castronovo Chocolate, based in Florida, and it used beans from Peru, a first for me. I had no idea what to expect, beyond speculation based on its geographical location. This indicated spiciness and a little bit of brightness, as well as some rich, chocolatey tones. I noted the power of the acidity, which was unexpected, but the spiciness was there, as well as some deeper tones of fudge. Again, the chocolate was under-refined, but only just. It was barely there, but I could definitely feel the slight grittiness. A pity, considering this was my favorite bar of the three.

Of interesting note, I could tell they added quite a bit of cocoa butter, exemplified by the rich, fatty taste that served as the canvas on which the flavors were painted, and from this I can assume that the beans they used for that batch were lower in fat, and thus they probably ran into some issues when tempering their chocolate, due to there being less fat to crystallize and thickening up the chocolate. So, they went back and added cocoa butter to their conche, most likely, and that's how they ended up with that specific flavor. This is all conjecture to explain what I tasted, but someone else who tried this bar may not sense what I did.

Everyone tastes differently, and that is why one of the things I always keep in mind when I taste is that the flavor notes that many chocolatiers put on the wrapping (for better or for worse) may be completely wrong for me, but right for the people who put it on there. Those who say they don't taste what it says they should taste and then get confused over the issue because they think they can't taste properly are completely wrong in that they can taste fine, it's simply that each one of us has higher tolerances for different tastes; for example, people who drink coffee in the mornings (or any part of the day, really) have a higher tolerance for bitter tastes, and therefore taste less of it. In short, we all may not taste the same things, but at the end of the day, it's still the same bar.

This is the new selection of chocolates. They're a very colorful display, spanning almost everywhere that beans are grown.

This is me outside Wally's. The bag I'm holding is usually used for wine, which is why it's so long and thin, rather than a usual bag that's about equal in length and height.

The three bars I got. In order from left to right: Castronovo Chocolate, Salitral, Piura, Peru, 70%; Fruition Chocolate, Sambirano, Madagascar, 74%; Ritual Chocolate, Maya Mountain, Belize, 75%.