Perfect quote! Chocolate is only one flavour.

I will be adding the very talented chocolate maker Heinde & Verre to the Bean To Bar World online shop very soon. So stay tuned.

Their chocolate exudes a finesse and richness that not all chocolate makers can achieve. But what I want to point out today is the quote they have hidden under their wrapper.

Chocolate is only one of the many natural flavours cacao may reveal.

This is something I have said for years in all the my tastings, and I’m happy to see others say the same thing. Many people don’t understand that fine chocolate is not just about better ingredients, prettier labels, or social costs (fair trade, organic). It really comes down to flavour. It's a unique flavour, very unlike the chocolate you grew up on. All of us grew up on chocolate that was made with basically one type of cacao, and produced chocolate that tasted like… well, chocolate.

Now I always say there is nothing wrong with this. Many people like this expectation of typical cocoa/chocolate taste. That’s perfectly fine! This is one reason why chocolate has become such a popular food. However, people assume this is how chocolate should or can only taste. And the truth is, it’s not so.

Chocolate made from fine cacao can carry such a wide variety of flavour profiles depending on the genetics of the cacao, how it was roasted, and how it was refined. This is why some people don’t enjoy fine chocolate, because it is so different from their expectation. But this is also what excites others about fine chocolate. It opens a new world of flavour of a food they thought they knew!