Name or Certification Doesn’t Mean It Tastes Good
July 1st, 2008
Everyday we hear about organic foods, fair trade coffee, and single-origin chocolates. Although all can be terrific products, unfortunately the descriptors of organic, fair trade, and single origin have nothing whatsoever to do with quality.
As we tested cocoa powders for our new Single Origin chocolate syrup line, we tasted a half dozen single-origin cocoa powders that we mixed into our chocolate syrup formula. For consistency we used the same recipe with the same amount of cocoa powder in each one. The tastes ranged from the extraordinary—notes of deep chocolate, to the ones we rejected.
Those not making the cut tasted dirty, musty, bitter, and rancid. It is important to remember that just because it says single origin, it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily made using either the highest quality beans from that origin or that the cocoa has been processed in the best way. The most disappointing thing in the world is to taste something for which you have great expectations because of the packaging or hype and not enjoy what you are eating.
Chocolatier Michael Szyliowicz is an innovator who crafts quality syrups in his Denver lab. Michael's adventurous spirit takes him around the globe in search of trends and best practices. He shares his musings, observations and experiences.
