Over the past several years, single origin chocolate has gained in popularity and become better understood by the public. Now, bars from Madagascar are ubiquitous. During my recent trip to Paris, I tasted a great example of a single origin bar from that country. As you might imagine, it was not very sweet and carried flavors of red berries and citrus.
In talking with the product’s producer, I learned that all of the beans for this bar came from his own estates in Madagascar, and he sells the cacao beans to virtually every other single origin chocolate bar producer in the world. He had a display of bars from Madagascar on a stand, and we discussed each of the different taste characteristics. The fascinating part is that even though all of the beans come from the same source, each bar tastes remarkably different. Changes in roasting temperatures, times, grinding and conching all contribute to the distinguished tastes. We discussed the ones we like, and both...
