Taste Chocolate Like An Expert To Uncover Its Hidden Flavor Notes

Whether your preference is milk, dark, or white; solid or filled; bean to bar; or made from liquor or discs; put a piece of chocolate in front of most people and they will gobble it down quickly. But just as there is an art to tasting wine or cheese, there is also an art to tasting chocolate. And it, too, involves looking, smelling, and lingering over the sensations once the chocolate is in your mouth. In fact, whether you're consuming the world's most expensive chocolate or a Hershey bar, you should use all five of your senses — including hearing -– when you taste chocolate.

The first sense you want to use in tasting chocolate is sight. The surface of the chocolate should be smooth and glossy. At cut and broken edges, it should be even-colored and have a tight, fine grain, which means the chocolate was well-tempered and properly cooled and stored. With single-origin chocolates, there may be subtle differences in color. In addition to looking at the chocolate, you should also gather as much information as you can about the chocolate itself. Note what percentage of cocoa butter and cocoa liquor is in the chocolate bar. Although you should be skeptical of terms for chocolate like Grand Cru, which indicates the chocolate is from a specific region, you do want to know the cocoa variety, soil type, topography, and climate. You may also learn about the fermentation and drying process and the roasting temperature, all of which will help you know what to expect when you ultimately taste the chocolate.

The next step is to listen to the chocolate. Yes, listen. Break a piece off and listen for the snap. Although it is easier to hear the snap from a thin bar of chocolate than a thick piece, the snap still gives you a sense of the amount and quality of the cocoa butter in the chocolate, how finely ground the chocolate is, and how well the chocolate was tempered. Keep in mind that the milk and butter fat in white and milk chocolate makes both softer than dark chocolate, which means they'll have a gentler snap. 

Not surprisingly, your sense of smell is also important for tasting chocolate. You can smell the chocolate directly or rub a piece between your fingers to release the aromas, similar to swirling a glass of wine. Good quality chocolate should have aromas ranging from floral to fruity, nutty to grassy, and spicy to sweet. A rubbery aroma or smell of ripe fruit can indicate the cocoa beans have been under- or over-fermented, while saltiness may indicate mold on the beans.

Now you're ready to put the chocolate in your mouth. But, instead of going straight to flavor, you want to assess the mouthfeel or texture of the chocolate. First, hold the chocolate against the roof of your mouth and pass your tongue over the bottom of it. Note how readily it melts and whether it feels smooth and creamy or hard and waxy. Once the chocolate is melted, put another piece in your mouth to now assess the chewiness. Is it gummy or sticky, hard or soft, or fudgy or cakey?

Finally, it's time to taste. In addition to the flavor, pay attention to how quickly the flavor came through and whether or not the flavor was consistent or changed character over time. Take note of the finish, how long the flavor of the chocolate lasted in your mouth once it was gone. The longer it lasts, the better the quality of the chocolate.

Of course, all of these parameters are subjective, and you may prefer certain textures, smells, and tastes over others. It's good to know what you like or don't like. Or, perhaps, you just go ahead and gobble it up right out of the wrapper. No one will blame you.