My Birthday at Chocolopolis: an inside look at the self-guided, in store tasting

 

A few months ago, I had a birthday. Adult birthday's are funny cause some years you totally forget about it and other years you want to have a huge party with all your friends, just to act like you are children again.

Since I started this blog I've dreamed about having all my chocolate-loving friends over for a big chocolate tasting extravaganza. I was considering doing one for my birthday. One day I was doing some "chocolate research" and discovered a really cool experience available at Chocolopolis in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. They call it a "self-guided, in store tasting." The best part about it is it is super affordable and repeatable, so I'm sure I'll be back time and time again. 

The experience is pretty well explained on their website:

Let us help you set up a self-guided tasting experience during store hours. Give us a call a few days in advance of the day you'd like to have your tasting. Let us know the time of day you'll be coming, the number in your party (up to 6 people) and any preferences you have in terms of chocolate. One of our chocophiles will pick out a selection of single-origin chocolate bars that demonstrate the differences in terroir among cacao beans and growing regions. We'll reserve a table for your party at the appointed hour, and we'll provide you with tasting sheets that provide chocolate tasting instructions and a place to record your notes.

Minimum chocolate purchase of $60 before sales tax

1-6 people

I emailed a few weeks in advance since I wanted to do it on a Friday night. Everyone I've ever had contact with at Chocolopolis was super friendly and helpful. I suppose it'd be hard to be grumpy working around chocolate all the time...but all the same...great service is a plus in my book!

When my girlfriends and I arrived at the store, they had a table set up in the middle of the store with chairs, water and chocolate tasting notes set out. We felt a little VIPish. :) 

We sat through a brief spiel about how to taste chocolate properly and were given the bars that were selected for us for our tasting (you can request specific bars/bonbons/drinking chocolate etc). I had opted for single origin bars and specifically requested an Amedei Porcelana bar so that my friends could all taste it (so far it is my all-time favorite bar)!

I'm in my happy place.

Then, we got down to business. We took turns reading out loud the instructions on our chocolate tasting notes. One of the workers suggested that we taste the darkest bar first and work towards the lightest bar. 

In order of tasting: 

Everyone with their fave:

The tasting was a lot of fun and my friends really got into it with me, pointing out different notes and identifying textures and flavors. Chocolate is seriously complex. At least the good stuff is. We spent a fair bit of time shopping after we tasted and chatted. My BFF got me a chocolate peanut butter drinking chocolate...and it was divine. Like drinking a candy bar. So good. Really wish I had one right now.

Selfie!

Ladies, we must go back soon! Writing this blogpost is seriously giving me a hankering. 

We spent too much (if that's possible to do).

I'll post power rankings for this experience later when I find my misplaced chocolate tasting notes. But spoiler alert...Amedei Porcelana is the best chocolate bar of all time (so far for me, anyway).

Cheers!

Power Rankings #11: Waialua Estate

A few months ago my parents took an amazing trip to Hawaii...and all I got were some lousy chocolate bars.... 

haha...no, they were actually quite amazing, AWARD-WINNING even. Here's the story (text conversation) of how they got their hands on this delicious and unique chocolate. 

Mom 3:44pm: This is the day we are tracking LOST sights, and getting lost!
Me 4:30pm: Where's the cocoa tree?
Mom 4:34pm: Tell me where to look and what they look like. I may have seen some...
Me 4:35pm: Haha. They are prob at a farm, where exactly are you? what island?
Mom 4:36pm: North shore right now. Oahu.
*I google "cacao farm North Shore Oahu"*
Me 4:42pm: http://www.waialuaestate.com
Mom 5:30pm: We are headed in...

And just like that, I got some amazing single-estate chocolate straight from the source! Well, sort of. The bars are actually MADE in California at Guittard, but the beans are from this estate. Check this out if you are interested in a little more background on the Waialua Estate. Without further adieu....

1. ***Extra Dark Chocolate - 70% cacao - This is by far the best bar of the three. The flavor is quite complex. It's easy to identify the notes of raisin, dark berry and plum. There's an overall milky sweet finish too, which I love.

2. **Hawaiian Milk Chocolate - 38% cacao - This milk is very rich in creamy texture. Not my FAVORITE type of milk chocolate. But for what it is, it is very very well done!

3. **Hawaiian Cocoa Nib Bar Semisweet Chocolate - 55% cacao - This bar is what Two-Face would eat. The nib part of the bar is fabulous. The chocolate it is in, is not my fave. I can't tell if it's trying to be milky or super dark. It's just a confusing flavor. And the nibs add another level of complexity that just doesn't jive in this bar. All the flavors are good standalone. They just don't seem to blend well. 

Thanks Mom and Dad for a delicious treat! The Waialua Estate is definitely on my to do list when I make my way to Hawaii (someday!!!)! You should DEFINITELY check it out if you find yourself there! And then tell me all about it!

 CHEERS!

 

Power Rankings #10: IKEA CHOKLAD

photo credit delish.com

...because we all need another reason to love IKEA...

This post may seem a bit of a tangent on my chocolate journey...really, we are adding chocolate to our IKEA shopping lists now?...I know...but trust me, this detour is good.

A few weeks ago I took a long overdue trip to IKEA with a friend. We shared a DELICIOUS chocolate cake at lunch (of which, the 7 month old shoved a whole fistful in her mouth before I could even react...definitely my kid...look at that determined face...).

 

 At $0.99 per bar, I didn't really expect much. But, I now have another IKEA must have item to add to my list every time I trek out there. And I think you should too! This chocolate was not the best quality at all, but I was expecting a lot worse for the price. This would be wonderful chocolate to use in baking or truffle making. There was no horrible aftertaste or waxy texture you find in poor quality chocolate. So it was pleasant to eat. Great snacking chocolate. Something you can devour and not think too much about the flavors. I wish HERSHEY'S still tasted like this. Like chocolate. Often with lesser quality chocolate, I like dark better, but surprisingly here I enjoyed the milk better. The addition of texture with the hazelnuts was my favorite of the three. There's not much else to say about these bars though.

 

1. CHOKLAD NÖT - Milk chocolate with hazelnuts - I can usually tell which bar I like best by which one is gone first. As was the case with this power ranking. I tasted each bar, noticed they tasted pretty good, next thing I know, this one was gone!

2. CHOKLAD LJUS - Milk chocolate - Often with lesser quality chocolate, I like dark better, but surprisingly here I enjoyed the milk better and finished it next.

3. CHOKLAD MÖRK - Dark chocolate - I think it came down to this dark chocolate having more of a bitter dark flavor rather than a fruity flavor. It was good, but couldn't beat out the milk. It was the last bar I finished.