The Bonnat Tasting Party

March 1, 2006

So, a couple weeks ago several friends of ours were gathered at Carl's house for a dinner party. They were just settling in after gobbling up some fantastic homemade pasta when I brought out the dessert suprise: a Bonnat chocolate tasting. A sampling and comparison of cacao flavor from around the world as expressed by this small, French maker from Voiron. There were oohhs and aaahs, and an apt comparison to shoe leather, hoity-toity comparisons to burgundy and dried fruit; it was all there. Following are some tasting notes that were scribbled down after several bottles had crossed the table:

Hacienda El Rosario: Nutty with lots of subtleties. Little fruit. Maybe a hint of citrus according to Jeff.

Madagascar: Fruity with nuts and a little coffee flavor in the beginning. Each fruit flavor passes across your palette individually, like a parade. Strawberry is last. Very deep flavors.

Puerto Cabello: Great cacao acid tang that grows fast and then subsides into the back of your mouth for a very long, lingering finish. Wonderful.

Trinite: Starts flat and liquid-y then expands after a few second. There is a flavor spike in the middle.

Equateur: Longer flavor than the Trinite with less tannin. Vanilla and dairy notes. Very floral.

Ceylan: A very balanced chocolate with a wide variety of flavors. The taste hits the front of your mouth like a burgundy.



Chuao: Even more balanced than the Ceylan, yet the flavors change a lot over time. Starts acidic and spicy and goes towards a floral taste with tannins coming in later. Excellent.

The milk bars we didn't taste that night, but I have a few notes of my own that I'll include with this posting. I have harbored a love for milk chocolate ever since I had my first Milka bar from Germany when I was a kid. The following three bars are 65% cocoa content, unheard of for a milk chocolate. It is difficult to know what a commercial, West African grown forestaro would taste like if made into a 65% milk chocolate bar, and I would be curious to know just for comparison with these incredible bars.

Java: Very milky at first until the big cocoa flavor sets in with a nutty deepness. Bright sparkles of fruit. Tastes like a hot beach.

Surabaya: This is definately the dark chocolate lover's milk chocolate. Very deep and buttery and round.

Asfarth: This is my personal favorite of the three. It has a warm intensity with great fruit flavors that poke through the milkiness. The milk actually seems to make the cocoa flavors shine brighter. Delicious.