How to taste chocolate
Sight
Chocolate should have a great shine which shows that it has been properly tempered. Fine chocolate is made with a high proportion of the superior criollo or good quality trinitario beans. The colour is created by the type of beans and roasting times. There should be no ‘bloom’ or discolouration.
Sound
Good quality chocolate should have a good ‘snap’ – which means that when you break a piece of it makes a distinct ‘clicking’ noise. This shows that it contains a high cocoa content. Dark chocolate snaps more easily than milk chocolate which contains milk powder. Chocolate that bends is poor quality and contains a lot of vegetable fat.
Touch
It should feel silky and smooth to touch and should just start to melt in your fingers.
Smell
Like fine wine, inhale the aroma of your chocolate before you eat it. Fresh scents of cherry and forest fruits or woody, spicy notes indicate good beans. If it has a musty or chemical smell then the chocolate will be poor. Cheap chocolate smells of nothing but vanilla and sugar. Smell provides 90% of the taste experience.
Taste
One of the most revealing aspects of chocolate is the ‘length’ – which refers to the taste left in your mouth after eating which should linger for several minutes in very high-quality chocolate. Chocolate made with poor quality beans can leave a waxy aftertaste. Good chocolate contains the type of flavours that you’d normally associate with wine-tasting – berries, leather, liquorice, etc. Again, like wine, you should be able to distinguish a clear beginning, middle and end to the flavour.