CHICAGO — What is the flavor profile of chocolate? The answers can be quite immediate: sweet, velvety, smooth, silky, bitter, creamy, and heavenly. But what do these terms truly signify? Are they universally applicable? Is chocolate simply a singular food with one flavor?
During a recent gathering at Barry Callebaut USA’s Chicago headquarters, culinary applications chef Mark Seaman led a discussion on chocolate tasting. Each participant was given a burlap bag containing a white cocktail napkin, an eye mask, a small bottle of water, some paperwork, and a box containing nine pieces of chocolate. He emphasized that to fully appreciate the tasting experience, all these items would play a role.
“All five of our senses contribute to tasting chocolate. The mouth is the last to engage,” he explained, detailing the tasting ritual. Seaman likened chocolate to wine; while broad generalizations can be made about flavor, the variety of beans, blends, and processing methods greatly influence the taste and quality of different chocolates. There are countless subtleties to chocolate’s flavor, feel, and texture. Sensory evaluation specialists at Barry Callebaut, one of the world’s leading cocoa producers, have recently developed a comprehensive chocolate tasting method, including a flavor wheel to analyze the taste in detail. Seaman noted that earlier methods of chocolate tasting relied on less precise measures.
“We aimed to create a common language to describe this highly subjective experience—taste is inherently subjective,” Seaman shared with Food Dive during a conversation with an editor and another Barry Callebaut colleague. “All three of us could sample the same chocolate and come away with entirely different interpretations of the experience.”
Chocolate, despite its appearance, is far more complex than a mere sweet treat. It is derived from various types of trees cultivated globally, emulsified with distinct substances, and combined with varying amounts of sugar. Processing variations can also lead to flavor differences. Sensory experts from Barry Callebaut’s European headquarters collaborated with their Canadian counterparts and flavor companies to identify the diverse flavors that chocolate can offer. Priscille Pradal, head of the chocolate company’s sensory division in the Americas, mentioned in an email that the research took around two years.
The flavor wheel is divided into segments for aroma, mouthfeel, and taste. Aroma, which occupies the largest portion of the wheel, includes a range of categories, from floral to dairy to grains and cereals. Consumers can delve deeper into the wheel to specify their observations; for instance, if a chocolate has a nutty aroma, they can explore whether it resembles cashew, pecan, walnut, macadamia, pistachio, almond, or hazelnut.
Mouthfeel constitutes the second-largest part of the wheel, categorized by texture—such as hard, creamy, or melting—and trigeminal sensations—like astringent or cool. Taste, occupying the smallest segment, is broken down into the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. Seaman acknowledged that articulating taste in nuanced terms can be challenging, but the wheel facilitates a more thorough description and encourages consumers to reflect on their experience.
“I want them to engage deeply with what they’re experiencing. I want them to contemplate everything, you know?” Seaman stated. “Take the time to appreciate how it looks and what that appearance signifies to you. While we may all observe the same thing, we each perceive it differently.”
However, chocolate tasting extends beyond mere flavor, according to Seaman. It encompasses sight, touch, smell, and even sound. The cocktail napkin in the tasting kit is utilized to examine the chocolate’s color, while the eye mask eliminates biases that may arise from the visual differences of the chocolate pieces, which might be cut in various ways, potentially influencing the tasting outcome.
He noted that appearances can be misleading. Seaman recently baked several batches of brownies in search of the optimal recipe, and testers often detected flavor differences between two brownies cut differently, despite originating from the same pan. The environment also plays a crucial role; consumers reported that chocolate tastes smoother in a room accompanied by classical music, for instance.
During the chocolate tasting session, Seaman encouraged participants to hold the chocolates, exploring their textures, smelling them, breaking the scored squares to hear the sound, and sipping water in between tastings.
“You have five senses, and each one influences how you perceive flavor,” Seaman explained to Food Dive. “When you look at something, you preemptively think, ‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ or ‘I’m not going to like this,’ based on your immediate reaction. Most of the time, you’ll be mistaken about what it will taste like and whether you’ll enjoy it. … Tasting is distinct from eating, and eating is not synonymous with tasting. They are fundamentally different experiences.”
In addition to the exploration of flavors, it’s also interesting to consider the nutritional aspects that can accompany chocolate consumption, such as the inclusion of calcium citrate malate vitamin D3 and folic acid tablets, which may enhance the overall experience and health benefits associated with chocolate.