Liqueuring ?

In the coffee industry, there is a term known as cupping. This amounts to taking your green unroasted coffee bean, roasting it, grinding it and mixing it with a measured amount of hot water in a evaluation, or tasting "cup", hence the name. The "coffee" is then sipped and slurped to evaluate it. They often talk of a bean "cupping" well or not. Now this doesn't necessary taste like the coffee you and I might have when you brew the coffee because ours have been rested and there are not ground in the cup. Where am I going with this? Well, there is no comparable term with cocoa beans. So far I have been evaluating beans by roasting them up, peeling them and just eating them whole. It doesn't tell me what the chocolate will taste like, but whether, what are some of the complexities of the bean and its general taste profile. In the chocolate industry they take it a step further and grind it and make a liqueur out of it.

This is where I need your help. I keep wanting to say this bean cupped well, but it is the wrong term. It "liquered" well, the "liquering" was interesting? Just doesn't feel right and doesn't flow.

What new term do I/we invent for this evaluation process of cocoa beans? If you would, leave a note here with your suggestions and rational if you want. It is your chance to help invent a needed word.

Happy Valentine's Day - Chocolate Cherry Dessert

In honor of Valentine's Day, I was requested to make a chocolate dessert. Having just roasted up four pounds of beans the night before (starting work on a husk vs no husk experiment), I decided to pull out my Champion Juicer and make a quick chocolate sauce for some cherries we picked and preserved this year.

I measured out a small amount of roasted beans, about 10 oz. I sent them through the Juicer, collecting what flowed through the lower juice screen, and returning the husk and other cocoa from the spout back to be ground again. After two more quick passes, I had about ½ cup of cocoa liqueur, and a tablespoon or so of husk that I threw away.

I added an equal portion of "raw" sugar to the cocoa, mixed well and sent it through the Juicer. First lesson. Use powdered sugar, or pre powder it in a blender before you use it to make chocolate. It just did not work well. The particles stayed to large. For tonight it worked out just fine as I was already planning to add a liquid (milk of some type) so I knew this would dissolve the sugar. Indeed it did. After collecting the sweetened cocoa, I mixed this with about an equal portion of milk. Now, remember, I was making a dessert, not eating chocolate. Anyway, as I fully expected, the addition of a liquid to the warm chocolate made it want to seize up. I passed this through the Juicer, and wow, I almost stalled it. I took it very slow and added a little more liquid and passed it through one more time. This time, with the liquid out massing the chocolate, a smooth rich milk chocolate sauce poured forth.

I heated this gently on the stove top, and then poured it over the warmed spiced cherries. Even though the cocoa only made up 20% or so of the mixture, it was a strong deep, smooth chocolate flavor.

So those of you not quite ready for chocolate making, might I suggest just making your own baking and cooking chocolate. The whole endeavor took maybe 20 minutes and I could see it taking even less the next time. If you are one to cook from scratch, as I am, this extra step of grinding the cocoa you need on the spot is not difficult at all and well worth the effort.

Forastero - Is it really bad?

Rant mode on. Cocoa beans come in three primary varieties, Criollo, Trinatario, and Forastero. Presently the bulk workhorse chocolate that is grown and made into chocolate is Forastero. It is hearty and disease resistant. It is what is sold on the commodities market and what everyone has eaten and learned to love as chocolate. That goes from Hershey (thanks, no) to some rather good micro chocolate makers. One that comes to mind is Green and Black. I have commented elsewhere already that Forastero is akin in some ways to Robusta coffee beans, which has a rather bad (and disserved) reputation. Does that mean Forastero is that bad? No, definitely not. It can make some damn fine chocolate. You (or in this case, I) just have to search out a good source of Forastero. The one I presently have I choose from a number of options. It was the best of those options. It has a good hearty chocolate flavor, a very low mold and breakage count, was well fermented and was well stored.

Now, Criollo has a reputation of being the best. People seem to almost search it out like the Holy Grail of Chocolate, for no other reason than that others say it is the "best". I have read all about it, tasted chocolate made from it a number of times and, well I have to say I was less than overwhelmed. Mind you, it was good chocolate. Quite delicate, flowery and with a nice chocolate flavor. From my taste, that was the problem. I like my chocolate strong, hearty and heady. The chocolate I mentioned about (Green and Black) is a mixture of all three types of chocolate and is a very nice balanced bar. Criollo (and often Trinatario) is usually referred to as a flavor bean. I am starting to think that this means it can add flavor and depth to your chocolate creation. Not that it is the only bean with flavor. There's a difference there. A big difference.

Don't get hung up on a name or idea. Try them all, mix them together, experiment, and make your own choices and decisions.

On a final note about cocoa bean prices. In general, you will find Criollo will be the most expensive. It is not terribly hearty. It is grown in relatively small quantities and demand is high (it is a nice flavor bean after all). Trinatario is a hybrid between Criollo and Forastero, and therefore has heartiness characteristic of both and prices according. Forastero is the easiest to grow and has the largest market, so naturally has the lowest price. Just try to remember this when you note the prices of various cocoa beans you may find around. The price heavily reflects how much is grown and how much is sold. When I get Criollo and Trinatario, they will be more expensive than my Forastero. How much? I don't know yet and will not until I find a solid source. I expect to pay more and will have to sell for more to reflect that.

Am I Forastero fan? Yes. Is some of it bad? Yes, terrible. Is some of it good? Yes, quite good. It just takes looking harder for good Forastero than for good Criollo. Currently there are two other businesses selling cocoa beans on the internet. Stone & Giacomotto list both Criollo and Trinatario beans in stock. You can read about their experiences working with those beans. The other is out of stock at the moment. I'll report on my own as I get some in stock and experiment.

Try them all, mix them, enjoy them!

Rant mode off.