14/11/2023
Weird flavors, off notes and unpleasant aromas are a clear sign that something went wrong in the journey from cacao tree to finished chocolate.
But do you know that specific notes can tell you exactly WHAT went wrong? 🔎🍫
There is a clear distinction between defects born during the bean to bar process and defects born at the farm level (or during transportation and storing). It’s important to recognize these defects to trace back what happened and fix it.
A chocolate maker might get erroneously blamed for defective cacao beans he/she tried to do the best with. Or the cacao producer might get erroneously blamed for excellent beans that the chocolate maker was incapable of processing properly.
Here are some major chocolate flavor defects and what they mean:
👊🏼 INTENSE BITTERNESS = roast too high
When bitterness is too strong and unpleasant, the culprit is a roasting temperature way too high for those specific cacao beans.
📦 PLASTIC or CARDBOARD FLAVOR = “flavorful” packaging
The wrapper material is interfering with the chocolate flavors by bringing about its own taste.
🍄 YEAST FLAVOR = fermentation too short
A yeast-like flavor in the chocolate (of the unpleasant kind, not a lovely note of b**r) is a sign of residues left from an incomplete or rushed fermentation process.
🍖 HAM FLAVOR = fermentation too long
If the cacao beans are over fermented, they will develop a flavor reminiscent of ham.
🔥 SMOKE or BURNT RUBBER FLAVOR = use of a mechanical dryer
When natural drying under the sun isn’t possible, mechanical dryers are used, but will confer unpleasant smoky and burnt rubber nuances to the cacao beans.
🥴 HIGH ASTRINGENCY = drying too quickly
Instead of slowly escaping, the tannins get locked inside the beans when drying happens too fast, therefore increasing the sensation of dryness in the mouth.
😷 MOLDY FLAVOR = improper drying
If the cacao beans don’t drop their internal humidity to 7-8%, that humidity will accompany them during months of transportation and storing, turning the beans moldy by the time they arrive in the hands of chocolate makers.
What other bad chocolate flavors do you know and what's their cause? 👇🏼
