Enhancing the Chocolate Experience with Sound

Cadbury

There has been transitory discussion on the pairing of taste and sound. When it comes to taste and flavour perception, sound is the sense that most often gets overlooked. Though its affect on taste is not unheard of, the other senses just tend to win more of our attention

Cadbury Dairy Milk took the thesis of amplitude, frequency, volume and pitch making or breaking our perception of taste. And so, behold the pairing of chocolate and classical music; a pairing I particularly enjoy

London Contemporary Orchestra (TimeOut)

Vivani 50% Dark Milk with Coconut Blossom Nectar

Vivani is a German chocolate company, of whose chocolate can be found in Planet Organic, Wholefoods, most health-stores in the UK. All the ingredients in this chocolate are organic: coconut blossom sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cream powder, bourbon vanilla. The use of coconut blossom sugar is particularly interesting, I know that it isn't as sweet as cane sugar and contains more health benefits than cane sugar. Vivani pride themselves in not using soy lecithin

An aroma of flowers, vanilla, coffee. In taste there was bitterness, flowers, vanilla, dairy (ricotta), smoke. There's a distinct bitterness (far from unpleasant!) because, even though sugar is the first ingredient, coconut blossom isn't as sweet as cane. I don't suppose much of the Panama comes through, but none the less it was a good chocolate. A chocolate that would appeal to those who solely like dark and solely like milk chocolate

Naive Honey

Naive tell a wonderful story upon this bar, here. Lots of pretty words, a story behind chocolate invites me, always. This chocolate is Tanzanian cocoa beans, sugar, 5% wild forest honey, pure cocoa butter - pressed by Naive - and sunflower lecithin; all organic

A beautiful aroma. Earthiness, honey, Venezuelan chocolate, tobacco, pure cocoa butter (Willies Cacao El Blanco), caramel

The taste was cocoa, honey, bitterness, flowers, coconut blossom sugar, so floral, Willies Cacao Milk of the Gods. In essence, it was a smooth flavoured chocolate

The mouth texture was smooth-ish. The finish was long lasting cocoa. Overall a great chocolate. Admittedly at times it reminded me of advent calendar chocolate, but then I was reminded of the quality of ingredients, and my perception went beyond what I could taste. I think that happens a lot with craft chocolate 

Blanxart 71% Filipinas

Blanxart have been making chocolate in Barcelona since 1954. The back packaging flatters the San Isirdro cooperative, giving mention to their contribution in the quality of cacao in the Philippines. Blanxart's ingredients list is all organic: cacao, sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla

The 125g bar had the familiar unattractive mould, first seen with Blanxart's Peru 77%. The aroma was minty, peppermint, almond, vanilla. The taste was lightly hazelnut, fatty (thoughts of Nutella®, coconut and palm oils), ganache-filled chocolate, the texture was like ganache too. There was no bitterness at all

Overall, this chocolate is not complex. It is boring, but yet so easy to eat, which then in this sense makes it enjoyable. A paradoxical chocolate, and I felt it to be very "traditional European"

Tadzio Chocolate and Yuzu Truffles

Tadzio is a London craft chocolate maker, making chocolate in micro nano pico femto atto zepto yocto batches. He's new and there is no finalised packaging or branding YET, but the chocolate quality is sensational. I couldn't not write about it

Ajala Peru 73%

Ajala make chocolate in small batches in the Czech Republic, and have supposedly received high rating by Georg Bernardini in his 'Chocolate: The Reference Standard' book. This chocolate is made with 73% Peruvian cocoa beans and the rest Ecuadorian sugarcane juice 

The aroma was earthy and lime. Here is then the part where I incorrectly say "the taste was...", when really I mean "the flavour". It started bitter and cocoa, then roasted coffee, jaggery seeps in, raising notes of sweet rum. A rich and intense dark chocolate flavour lingers

The texture was smooth, so smooth. This chocolate was bought from chocolatiers.co.uk

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Peru Pichanaki 100%

http://www.10dollarcoffee.com/

This is the first 100% I've featured on Chocolat Indulgence. This chocolate is 100% Peruvian Pichanaki cacao, grown at high altitude, from an "advanced farmer's cooperative"

A chocolate oh so coconut. The aroma was creamy coconut and vanilla. The flavour was coconut still, with a heavy roast, comings of fruit, and chocolate; all amongst a subtle bitterness. The texture was buttery and melted smoothly. The finish was excellent

I thought I would make a hot chocolate with it, adding muscovado, honey or maple syrup to sweeten. However, surprisingly I found it very easy to eat on its own. Although I once added it to my peanut butter & molasses porridge for breakfast, and what a great idea that was! It was heavenly

Damson Brazil 50% buffalo milk chocolate

Damson crafts this chocolate with organic cocoa beans sourced from Fazenda Camboa, a farm in Brazil in the Mata Atlantica jungle ("the most fertile cacao growing region in Brazil"), and buffalo milk from Laverstoke Farm in the UK

Currently, all Damson's milk chocolate is with milk from the buffalo

The aroma very Damson milk chocolate. That buffalo milk. It has an intriguing characteristic of gherkin. There was saline and acidity mixed with ultra-creaminess and subtle cocoa tones

The taste gifted an array of many flavours, but what stood out was strawberry milkshake blended with chocolate caramel 'shake. This was a rich chocolate, with the texture beautifully smooth and rich too

A new bar from Damson, you can buy it here or visit Damson in London!

Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 Saint Lucia 70%

Hotel Chocolat have made this chocolate with cocoa they grow themselves in Saint Lucia, having restored the 250 year old Rabot Estate just over 10 years ago

"Gentleman thief. Opens stealthily with a lock-pick of roasted cocoa before spinning the tumblers with woody roasted notes and nuts. Leaves you a calling card of tannins and tobacco." says Hotel Chocolat in fancy prose, and I'm sold

The aroma was medicinal, roasted and cocoa. The taste was TCP, which was quite nice actually, with foliage and 'chocolate'. Unlike previous Rabot chocolate I've had, the flavour did NOT suggest notes of water, like in the Colombian and Vietnamese  

The texture was grainy with a slow melt. Overall, a likeable chocolate