Northwest Chocolate Festival Seattle, WA 2015 Part 1:  Fresh Cacao Tasting 

Last weekend I attended the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, WA.  Around 90 artisan chocolate makers were present, and all of them had several samples.  Let us just say there was no way I couldn't sample them all, but I tried!  

I have a certificate in chocolate achievement from Ecole Chocolat, so I do know some things about chocolate, however, I found this event to be very informative.  Trying several makers of chocolate side by side is a fantastic way to learn about the product, and which styles you personally prefer.

Over the next few blogs I will be covering this event starting with the fresh cacao tasting I attended. The tasting and chocolate lecture was lead by Bill Fredericks who is owner of Chocolate Man. Find out more about Bill at:  https://www.chocolateman.com/

Here is a picture of one of the fresh cacao pods being passed around during the talk.  To me, the outside of the pod smelled a bit like a squash.  The pods at this tasting were from Trinidad.

Here I am holding a cacao pod, which I refer to as "My Precious", of course.

Each person attending the lecture was able to sample a fresh bean from the cacao pod.  (You could actually take the seed home and plant it, but if the temperature goes down past 50 degrees the plant dies per the info in the talk).

Keep in mind that a fresh cacao bean actually doesn't taste like chocolate at all.  The bean has to be fermented, and then roasted to bring out the true chocolate flavor.  While chewing this bean it started off perfumy, and floral, and then switched to the taste of citrus pith.  The finish was very astringent, which actually helped cleanse my palate for more chocolate tastings.  (I had visited 20 of the around 90 booths prior to the talk).

Here is a picture of the machete used to open the fresh cacao pods, along with a good view of how they look inside.

There were several talks/demos going on both days of the event.  Definitely something for everyone.

Next time I will dive into info and pics of the event,  more pictures and my votes for the best chocolate there, along with what trends in chocolate making I noticed.  Until then bust out your stash of emergency chocolate.  (I know you have one).

For more information on the Northwest Chocolate Festival check out:

http://nwchocolate.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nwchocolate?fref=ts

Ecole Chocolat:

http://www.ecolechocolat.com/

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