Handful of Choc-tails from 2020 - Part 1
Welcome to my world of chocolate loving and alcohol pairings. Kicking off the first ever CCW blog with a big handful of chocolates and cocktail pairings that I made with them in the past year.
In no particular order, presenting some hit choc-tails of 2020.
MUÑA MAGIC & Peruvian maker T’INKY 75% chocolate bar with muña
Do you like mint ? What about peppermint? Or spearmint or watermint? Did you know there are more than 600 varieties of mint that grow all over the world???
And what about muña? .
One of the many plants that germinate in the Andean cold is the muña (móon-yah) It stands out because even in the sharp cold of the dry season it maintains its green color. It has a mint like aroma that enchants passersby who often grab a few leaves to sniff because of how the scent invigorates them and helps them continue their path.
Muña, known in Latin as minthostachys mollis, grows throughout the highlands near Cuzco, Ayacocho and Puno. It can grow up to a meter high and has a bright green color and a delicious scent that is reminiscent of mint, which is its distant relative.
The cocktail and chocolate pairing both uses the plant as its component and highlights a beautiful south american flavor. Using a dash of liquor in a cocktail that takes a cue from the gimlet and as a component in the chocolate bar, it was an easy pairing to put together.
Thai with Brazil & Brazillian maker Baiani Lemongrass white chocolate bar
The lemongrass in the savory white chocolate was the inspiration in coming up with this pairing. It's kind of a riff on the “For Goodness Sake” cocktail by taking out lemon juice and simple syrup. Basically it's a mix of simple ingredients that leads to a complex cocktail. An idea that came to our mind as we tasted this chocolate bar which was purchased at the NorthWest Chocolate festival in Seattle in 2019.
Eeyore's Requiem & Map Chocolate Citrus bar
Having lived in Austin, TX for a very long time where they celebrate Eeyore’s birthday , it was perfect to make a riff on Eeyore's Requiem, invented by Toby Maloney of Chicago's Violet Hour. The inspiration for this pairing came from the lady who creates and perfectly knows how to bring back memories of flavors in the form of chocolate bars.Mackenzie of Map Chocolate took a cara cara, a blood orange, a ruby grapefruit, a sweet lime and a tangelo in her “captivity” and turned it into a candied slaw and threw it into 68% ghana cacao. She had made a few batches of these very limited edition bars, only 20 every month. The complex amari forward cocktail is literally heaven in your mouth for those negroni lovers out there . Such a wonderfully balanced cocktail with all those bitter herbalicious amari and then pairing with that addictive chocolate bar .An absolute favorite that is specifically wanted and appreciated after super long work days.
BETA CAROTENE & IODINE & Peruvian maker Quma 70% chocolate bar with Maras salt
Bringing memories from travels to Maras, Peru is what happens when we try a 70% dark Quma chocolate bar made with peruvian cacao and with salt from Maras.
The town is well known for its salt evaporation ponds, which have been in use since Inca times. The salt-evaporation ponds are four kilometers north of the town, down a canyon that descends to the Rio Vilcanota and the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There are over 5,000 salt ponds. It was the salt from these ponds, mixed with Aji that was the inspiration for this cocktail. Salty and smoky and savory - that is simply what this cocktail is meant to be.
Gin gimlet & Indian maker Naviluna Candied Gondhoraj lime bar and Caramelized Mosambi Caraway bars
This was completely a recommendation from David Belo, the chocolate maker behind Naviluna artisan chocolate based out of Mysore, India. The bars are his brainchild and being a bartender in London in the past, the pairing came easy to him.After finding out that Rose’s lime cordial is on a shortage, he said to use their lime marmalade and make a shaken gimlet with indian Stranger and Sons gin. The tart citrusy drink with the chocolate with candied citrus seems to be a match made in heaven. Little did he know of the love for gimlets and back in the day , they used to be made for everyone who came to visit. To add to that, the chocolates have big candied citrus pieces that can be savored after the chocolate has melted away in the mouth.
White Negroni & Madhu 70% chocolate bar with colombian cacao and lemon coriander
This pairing was created just for #negroniweek. Despite their similar builds, the original and white Negronis are very different, primarily because the bitterness of gentian liqueurs like Suze is quite distinct from that of Campari.
It's incredible how the gentian bitterness works with the coriander and the sweetness from Lillet along with the double lemon (one from the chocolate, the other from the gin) and brings a big complicated burst of flavors that call out all fans of big bold flavors.
The pairing is like holding on to bright summer days while welcoming a crisp and fuzzy fall weather. It is a favorite season when we transition from summer to fall because of the “hold back the past while welcoming the future” kind of feeling.
CHUTNEY-TINI SOUR & Soma white chocolate with lemon and poppyseed
Till when it's safe enough to do some international travel, we dream about having a picnic in your living room or in an enchanted forest.Following the journey with Cynthia of Soma Chocolate based out of Canada , the mastermind behind this tangy, custardy lemon chocolate spiked with crunchy blue poppyseeds it's time to slowly savor this white chocolate and sip a cocktail that will be a complete journeyman with this.The cocktail is made with liquor from a country that I can't wait to go back for the umpteenth time and a liquor from another country that if I could go at this very moment , I totally would and with being inspired by Ivy Mix‘ s “Spirits of Latin America'' book to which some indian-ness was thrown in very generously.It's a complete no brainer pairing , because lemon is such an important ingredient in the making of the chutney. For me this is what ties an indian meal together, the complex flavors and how to balance them together.
Pink gin & Sweet Minou dark chocolate with Kimmel orchard cherries
Rebecca , the gorgeous chocolate maker from Sweet Minou is all about creating a chocolate experience that is playful, unexpected, and silky smooth — with a lot of heart. Also based out of Lincoln, they are Nebraska’s first bean to bar maker.
This bar is covered with local Kimmel orchard tart cherries and also freeze dried cherries, Loup River Distilling bourbon and sea salt , for which a simple to make but layered in flavor cocktail was paired. It was a version of pink gin which consisted of barrel aged gin from chicago and a couple of bitters. Absolutely mouth watering nom nom nom in the fact that the oak barrel aging of the gin merges and dances with the tartness from the bar which in turn creates a complex and sophisticated layering of flavors.
Giving Tree & La Folie 70% chocolate with Indian cacao and mulled wine
Raise your hands if you think mulled wine is synonymous with winter weather! So out came Sanjana’s (of another Indian chocolate maker La Folie) Mulled Wine chocolate bar made with Kerala cacao that's aged in wine barrels with cinnamon and orange. It's light and bright and warm at the same time. It melts in the mouth with a creamy mouthfeel and citrus and red fruit along the cinnamon notes bring the perfect complement.Finding the pairing was not super hard because of the want to make red wine cocktails. The one made is a holiday-season cocktail called the Giving Tree that was intended as “a cold version of a type of mulled wine, from Nordic or Germanic tradition,” said its inventor, Mike Ryan, head bartender at Sable Kitchen & Bar in Chicago. The red wine lends a nice roundness; the rye gives strength; and the Drambuie provides sweetness and spice. It’s a natural before-dinner sipper.
SAFFRON SUNRISE & Cuna de Piedra 73% bar with mexican Cacao from Comalcalco, Tabasco and single estate smoked heirloom chiles
Perfect holiday pairing : This is the type of chocolate and cocktail you want to eat and drink when there is happiness of festivities in the air. Time to bring on the cheer and joy and enjoy the extreme savoriness from the chocolate & cocktail.
Coz most importantly “when all the excitement has faded, you've got to remember what matters”
