Want to hear something wild? Chocolate actually has hundreds of flavor notes, and several categories of flavors. Some of the categorizes are floral, savory, spice, fruit, earthy, nuts, and more. To go farther down this flavor rabbit hole some specific flavor notes include, citrus, red fruit, stone fruit, figs, cinnamon, oak, butter, raisin, hazelnut, mint, black tea, bread, lavender, honey, cream, marshmallow, and the list goes on, and on.
Are these flavors added? Nope! They are part of the different types of cacao beans that exist, and are brought out through proper handling of the various beans. Flavor starts with the cacao bean varieties, and then develops further through correctly fermenting, drying, roasting, storing, and processing the beans into chocolate. Each step can enhance, or hurt the flavor development. Sometimes flavor is also associated with what country the cacao trees are grown in. Chocolate bars made from cacao beans from Madagascar often have fruity notes. The cocoa bean variety called Nacional frequently has various nutty flavor notes.
What if I'm having trouble letting go of chocolate tasting like "chocolate"? Don't sweat it. Try breaking down the flavor barriers little by little. Don't just say "this taste like chocolate". Instead think about does it taste like cocoa powder? Is there flavor notes present like a dessert you've had before such as a dark chocolate mousse? Think about if you notice anything acidic, or bitter. What's the level of sweetness present? How does it compare to un-sweetened chocolate you've baked with? Keep it simple.
Next, get 2 - 4 bars made with the same type of beans, or bars listed as being made from beans from the same country. Do a tasting session and see if there are similarities between the bars, or if they taste complete different despite being from the same type of beans.
Start writing down your thoughts on each bar, so you may refer back to it to look for similarities as you con't to taste more chocolate. When reviewing chocolate bars for my fine chocolate review blog http://darkmattersfinechocolatereviews.blogspot.com/ I list my thoughts on the color, nose, texture, taste, and finish.
The more fine chocolate bars you try, the more flavors you'll start noticing. As far as homework goes, chocolate tasting just may be the best!
Let me know if you start practicing, what flavor notes you start picking up, and what your favorite chocolate bars are!
Victoria Cooksey
Follow me at: https://www.instagram.com/victoria.cooksey/?hl=en
My chocolate bar reviews on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm-lp-lF_wB2oX_592jK9UQ
Note: In this post I'm talking about regular fine chocolate bars that don't add in flavors. Inclusion bars are a whole other topic because flavors/ingredients are added to those.
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