Welcome! New here? Start by reading: "But Wait, What is Good Chocolate?"
Chocolate Chasing Rule #1: Good chocolate is chocolate that makes you happy. It could be a handful of crunchy peanut M&M’s, a spoonful of Nutella or a dense fudge truffle. Any chocolate that satisfies you, makes you smile, or simply fills an emotional craving qualifies…
It was a hands-on trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest at our October 2019 DC chocolate society meeting. The trek took time & effort, but worth every peeled cacao husk to eat spoonfuls of the resulting rich chocolatey treat. Our Ecuadorian immersion tour…
Mushrooms in your dark chocolate?
We were feeling adventurous at our August 15, 2019, DC chocolate society meeting.
Our tour guide, CIA trained (Culinary Institute of America) Matt Dixon, head chocolatier & co-owner of Harper Macaw, led us through the taste bud terrain. He re-introduced us to our five taste receptors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umamai.
Next, we sampled chocolates that fit into each category: Salty, Sweet (that one was easy!), Sour, Bitter and Umami
As part of our exploration, we tasted three different mushroom bars made with dark chocolate. (Practicing using our unami taste buds!)
We learned a lot about how our taste buds are specific to us, and practiced using our skills to pick up on the more subtle tastes that can be found in craft chocolate.
If you’d like to explore the unami taste in chocolate, check out our local chocolate maker, River-Sea Chocolates Mushroom Hazelnut Bar made with Maitake/Hen of the Woods mushrooms from North Carolina. This memorable chocolate/mushroom combo has a sweet, earthy taste. (https://www.riverseachocolates.com)
The DC chocolate community knows how to celebrate chocolate. Within a two-hour drive of DC you’ll find over ten different bean-to-bar makers. (Reality may result in longer-than-expected drive time.) But even closer to home are a medley of local truffle, bon-bon & chocolate treat shops. …
(*What is good chocolate? Any chocolate that makes you happy!) A helpful guide to finding chocolate during your next visit to DC (Updated 4/2020) Whether your visit is online (for now!) or in person (the future), this list offers some great chocolate that can…