I always look forward to Ann's amazing videos. I do always hope she'll have a new recipe but this was very interesting, too. And wouldn't you know: of course, Chocolate is incredibly difficult to make on your own. Rats.
I completely agree! BUT sorry for hijacking your comment: Scrolling through your comments quite a bit, seems like I'm the only concerned about the (recent) scientific paper that came out about most chocolates containing LEAD(pb) due to the roasting process, and CADMIUM(cd) because of the soil the beans were grown. Considering Lead is sweet, don't be surprised if the contaminated ones taste 'better'. Can you please look into this?! Lots of EU approved brands/chocolates were on the contaminated list...
I run a small chocolate business for nearly a decade and have been saying this to people for years. It's nice to see someone with such a good reputation for fact finding taking it on. Thanks Ann. Have a great week.
Would also like to know if you do online orders. I love trying new brands of chocolate, and being able to support a small business at the same time is a double win.
It's so funny that Dave and the boys are up to taste just about any cooking "hack" monstrosity, and then the one time there's just genuinely good chocolate, they're like, "Meh." 🤣
This was a surprisingly good description of the issues involved in making a good chocolate. As a former chocolatier from Trinidad, where the Trinitario type of cocoa originated, I was proud to make chocolate that was made in the same estate in which it was grown. For some of the finest chocolate in the world, it's worth searching out Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company's bars.
There is a culture of unsweetened coffee far more than unsweetened chocolate, and this alone makes all the difference. Sugar is highly addictive. You'll need rice most people who take sugar in their coffee don't especially care were it comes from either. It's mostly the people who take it black that care. And because almost all chocolate is full of sugar, almost all chocolate eaters don't care as long as they get their sugar fix
Part of it probably has to do with how people see coffee vs chocolate. Coffee is a morning ritual for many, many people, it's a STAPLE of some people's lives, so there being coffee snobs developing out of this incredibly prolific drink makes sense. Caffeine is practically seen as essential in the working world. It's almost a hobby for some people. Chocolate is a seen as a treat, so most people who eat it just want a sugary, sweet snack. You may be judged if you said that trying different types of chocolate is your hobby. We don't see plainclothes chocolate connoisseurs because most health-concious people don't see it as something that should be in our lives regularly, because it is unhealthy due to being so sugary- even though drinking too much coffee is also very unhealthy in a different way.
@@snakewithapen5489 Well that depends on the culture! In Mexico having a cup of hot chocolate (or cold chocolate, in the form of smoothies) is a very common daily ritual. In fact I recall reading about a study that showed that cravings for chocolate are actually culture bound and that cultures that encourage common consumption of chocolate have women that express less cravings for chocolate.
There's a chocolate company in my country called Chocolate Makers. They were fed up with how chocolate was done by the big companies and started their own company. They also factored in the environment in their business plan where possible. We use it in our bakery and we've had a tour through their factory and their tasting and the flavors were AMAZING!!! So happy to have been able to go with that chocolate :D.
Same here on the East Coast of America. It's definitely not the most high-end chocolate out there--it's relatively easy to get fancier chocolate if you go looking--but it IS the finest that you can reliably get anywhere, since it's sold at most chain grocery stores and pharmacies. For anything more niche, you'll likely have to go to a more expensive store (like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.)
I always find it so amazing to think about how things like chocolate came to be. How someone had to harvest these beans and figure out what to do with the stuff inside them, how you have to let them ferment and dry and everything, it's really cool to think about the long history of these products and all the people that helped in making them the way that they are today.
I once read an account of how aztecs made their "hot chocolate" drink by pouring it between two cups until frothy. I tried it recently with my own recipe and it came out incredible. They also added hot peppers to it rather than sugar (I add both lol)
Well, hundreds of years ago we didn't have Facebook, Twitter, RUclips, Tiktok, TV, and (depending on the region) not even newspapers. Besides the point being that less distraction might help in different ways, I don't suppose learning the process happened quickly; people more likely found out the process gradually, over years.
@@101Volts or that someone gathered a very bitter fruit so he threw it away only to later find it tasting better, so he gathered more and let them sit in a basket and then dried it so they would last longer. Im actually planning to make some % out of kivi fruits because i had some spoil and they did smell nicely sweet. i didnt taste them only because it was uncontrolled fermentation. point is, you can find out stuff like that by dumb luck.
As a mexican form the state of Tabasco, we are very proud of our chocolate! it was common in the past to grind and make chocolate at home, my grandma used to do it, so i was very familiar with the real flavor of cocoa beans and chocolate. Sometimes when tasting cheap or very procesed chocolate feel weird and some of my friends tend to call me a snob because i'm very exigent with the flavor of chocolate, but when they taste what is a real and good chocolate, they find out why i'm like that hahaha thanks a lot for sharing this knowledge!!!
My experience after 15 years of R&D in conching with one of the big chocolate companies is quite different. In my experience conching is long and energy intense. Being an expensive process step, none of the large companies conche for a minute more than is necessary. Indeed over-conching does make chocolate bland, but that’s not what’s happening as much as she says. It’s almost an exception
@@arkadiuszfilipczyk488 conching is not just a function of the bean, be it quality, origin or flavour profile. A large part of conching is achieving the right viscosity i.e. textural property for a smooth mouth feel. This is relatively easy to measure and the moment it is achieved conching comes to an end. So the case she makes for over-conching is dead in the water in my experience
if you put together a box of labelled samples from this video so we could taste them together while watching and compare, i'd pay crazy money for that, Ann! you've piqued my curiosity
This exists! Not very cheap but Gabriel’s chocolate in Yallingup (Western Australia) do tasting packs for single origin chocolates. They’re a really cool experience.
I know here in New Zealand we have a company that does tasting boxes like that - I never got it, because it is quite expensive. I imagine there is probably something like that wherever you happen to live.
I had a roommate in college that totally "ruined" me on cheaper chocolate after introducing me to these $5-6-7 bars from health food stores. Like everything, you get what you pay for. But instead of just inhaling those expensive bars like I was known to do with cheaper bars and still not feel satiated , the expensive ones satisfy me with just a few nibbles or a square. It's about quality over quantity!
I tried out some super expensive chocolate at a Summerbird store i think, they explained the whole thing about how its done just like Ann just did, and man it was goooooood! We even got to try a 90% chocolate, that was bitter! I am honestly going to buy from them again, and test out the different chocolates as it was so much more satisfying getting that tiny piece then something cheap from the store :)
@@Gwenxyou probably already know this but if the amount of chocolate is your mesure ir quality (mine is 😅) you can get 90...92... And I think 96% from Lindt. Last year I bought one close to 100% but I can't remember if it was 96 or 99%. Even some off brand chocolates go up to 90% and more.
@@Nemo_Anom Green & Blacks Organic Chocolate. If you are into dark chocolate, their 85% cacao bars are surprisingly creamy, smooth and not bitter. They're amazing. They have a whole line of excellent chocolate if you'd prefer less cacao.
I ones watched a documentary about chocolate and they said if People would Produce chocolate in a way which is fair to the workers and the environment it would have to cost 5€ a Bar. And I remember I was shocked because my parents always bought chocolate for under 1€
I live in a chocolate producing region of Indonesia. The local government then built a theme park called "Kampung Cokelat" (Chocolate village) filled with educational materials of chocolate production and they sell (locally made) chocolate bars as well! Thanks for the video!!
as someone from the Philippines, I was shocked at how many varieties of apple they knew, but then when i think about it, i can also name several varieties of bananas easily 😂😂
It’s crazy! Washington where I’m from is very huge in Apple production and the market is very huge! My area specifically grows a lot of Fuji Gala Red delicious Golden delicious
I wish we had more than the Cavendish where I'm from. Every other type I've had (gros michel, Cuban red, gold finger, blue java, pitogo, couple im forgetting) have been far and away better. We somehow settled for the absolute worst one.
@@KingdomOfDimensions I believe Cavendish is the least problematic to produce therefore most profitable, that's why it became so popular around the world.
There are over 400 varieties of English apple. It was a common hobby of priests to crossbreed new varieties. Some are unique to one specific hillside. Supermarket dominance means much of that knowledge is lost now, and many are extinct.
My great grandma's village in Ghana also farms cocoa .. You'll mostly go and meet some cocoa beans being fermented ..So beautiful to see .and I'm glad My country was mentioned 😊❤️Ghana 🇬🇭
I remember the first time I had an artisanal chocolate. It's been too long for me to recall specifics, but the feeling of standing there in front of the guy who made the final product while he explained the origins, the tasting notes, the process... indescribable. It was a creamy mouthfeel unlike anything I had experienced with chocolate before, and hearing him talk about it made me appreciate the product even more. That something like chocolate could have TASTING NOTES was unbelievable. It was a totally different experience. I still love my Hershey's Dark Chocolate stocking stuffers, but nothing can compete with the care that goes into the small batch producers!
This is the thing; I think perhaps many of us get so used to just shoving chocolate in our faces as kids that we forget to really make an effort to taste the complexities. It's a bit like music, I guess - sure, natural talent in things like playing an instrument or having a gourmet palate exists but it still has to be focused on and an effort made, and knowing the background adds a whole other layer to the experience. I will certainly think differently about the next chocolate I eat after watching this video.
I remember the first time I had an artisanal chocolate. It's been too long for me to recall specifics, but the feeling of standing their in front of the guy who made the final product while he explained the origins, the tasting notes, the process... indescribable. It was a creamy mouthfeel unlike anything I had experienced with chocolate before, and hearing him talk about it made me appreciate the product even more. That something like chocolate could have TASTING NOTES was unbelievable. It was a totally different experience. I still love my Hershey's Dark Chocolate stocking stuffers, but nothing can compete with the care that goes into the small batch producers!
She didn't even say anything about the people being exploited and how they have never tasted the same chocolate they are used like slaves to make... Typical west get anal about useless stuff but gloss over the atrocity
@@Kifflington Likewise. I think if people removed most of the sugar and then really _tasted_ their bog-standard chocolate, they'd realised it tastes of texture, not flavour at all. Sugar masks a lot of wrongs...
As someone from outside the US - Hershey’s is like a block of plastic, to me. So hard and almost crumbly in texture. It’s so funny how different a basic chocolate bar can be just because of a few variables like melting point and particle size…
This is a problem in the coffee world, too. There are so many parallels between chocolate and coffee. Comparison tasting is also massively helpful for both. Excellent work.
@@rtyzxc I totally agree that agricultural products often go this way, so tea is totally another valid example. Coffee feels even more relevant to me alongside chocolate because both are grown in similar regions, both are seeds that you have to prepare and then roast. There's the combination of regional differences and then roast differences with a disconnect between the grower and the roaster. There's specialty coffee/chocolate and commodity coffee/chocolate, there are fair trade concerns. Modern specialty roasters of both coffee and chocolate are trying to reconnect with the farmers and improve quality of life for the farmers, quality of the product, and enhancing the notes of the terroir. I could go on. I wish I knew more about tea to make similar comparisons, but coffee and chocolate have such a similar and interesting journey.
A few decades? ago in the US, Nestle and Hershey's lobbied to have cocoa butter taken out of the definition of chocolate. They lost, but while cocoa butter remains in a few of their flagship products, you'll find in many of them it's replaced with some alternative oil.
And they even let them call that white stuff 'white chocolate.' It all depends on how things get defined. Earlier this year I had a kidney stone and it was from calcium oxalate. On the food sheet for my new diet there were things I now should avoid and chocolate and nuts are 2 of them. And they have a VERY HIGH level of the stuff. Moderation is key, so if and when I decide to get some chocolate, I will do my best to find the really good stuff. As for the nuts, that one is gonna be a problem, as I really like them.
yep they did! they wanted to replace it with what they call CBE or cocoa butter alternatives, blah. Cocoa butter is the most valuable part now and they get more money if they sell it off (like in cosmetics). They don't care how it tastes.
@@openingchocolatei buy cocoa butter(food grade)for making my own lip balms and lotion bars. With local beeswax and coconut oil and cocoa butter. Its very healing. But when making candy I add a few disc of extra cocoa butter back in and people can tell for sure. Even if just using cheap chips for cookies. I'm not a huge chocolate person. But have always liked Mexican chocolate. Its not as sweet and its quite bitter afterwards but so rich.
As a fellow chocolate lover I can say that after watching this I have a STRONG desire to try some actually good chocolate (because for my uncultured tongue the Lindt seems great) 😅
Yes! Lindt is also my favourite as far as supermarket brands go, but I've had really amazing single origin chocolate from a small manufacturer a couple of times and it's worldchanging if you're a chocolate lover. So worth the splurge, you won't gobble it all in one go anyway because it's so much more intense!
A lot of people don't realize just how complex a lot of things are. Most Americans would probably think "Chocolate is chocolate." Sometimes you just need to slow down, take it all in and try to learn something new. Once I started growing vegetables I realized plants, just like people, are incredibly varied. There's so many varieties of everything but most people wouldn't know it as the supermarkets stock only a couple varieties that have been bred for looks, size and transportability over flavor.
I once bought a single origin chocolate out of curiosity at an elitist organic store, and until then I believed chocolate always needed sugar to make it taste good, they were delicious without being overtly sweet. They were so expensive though!
Good chocolate tends to be expensive because of the work that goes into good chocolate. Same goes for good coffee, Tea, and just about everything else - you can do a cheap mass production method with little in the way of quality control steps in between, but - if you want a good product, that QC is necessary to ensure you get properly ripened source product. At it's core - this means that quality products aren't just a little more expensive, it means they tend to be a fair amount more expensive - and it starts with the harvest: Hand harvesting is basically necessary - the machines don't distinguish from almost ripe, to ripe, to overripe: It all is grabbed, and you do a good enough separation - but that good enough separation is cheap, and doesn't do a great job all things considered. Overall, what you end up with is easily tripling the end product price. And then there is mass production homogenization that is desired by big companies. Instead of getting small batches of a product that varies over time do to the input ingredients, the goal of these companies is to get a homogeneous flavor between batches so the consumer becomes familiar with that end result.
I once tasted some really dark belgian choclate brought to me by a friend from Luxembourg. It was something like 80 or even 90% cocoa and normally I find anything over around 50% to bitter. But this one was AMAZING. It was the best chocolate I've ever tasted. It wasn't even bitter at all, but I can't describe the flavour anymore. It's been almost six years and I still regularly think about this chocolate. I never could wrap my head around why this one was so diffrent from the dark chocolates I normally knew - until now. I would have never thought that there are so much diffrences between cocoa beans, or in how many countries cocoa is grown. Thank you! It also explains why powdered cocoa/ hot chocolate can taste extremly diffrent depending on the brand.
Well for things like hot chocolate, you also have to consider the difference in levels of cocoa butter, cocoa solids,, milk, and so-on. While it's true that even with identical recipes, they could taste different, for lower quality products like that, the differences are more likely to be due to recipe than bean source. When you're sourcing large amounts for high volume products, there are typically only a couple companies you can realistically choose from.
The bitterness can also come from over roasting. With a small artisan chocolate maker, they can closely monitor smaller batches and roast them just right.
Fine flavour cacao shouldn't really even be bitter. That is a marketing bamboozle! There are so many good craft chocolate makers out there now no reason for anyone to eat the other junk. BUT...careful, Belgian (or swiss) chocolate does not necessarily mean good. Most of that is just Barry Callebaut, a giant industrial manufacturer
i noticed one of the chocolate bars you bought is from Zotter. they are a well known higher end chocolate company from Austria. and they actually have a chocolate factory in Austria that you can visit. they provide tours and you can try so so so much chocolate it's incredible. you get to try the different kinds of chocolate at different stages in the process, they even let you try some cocoa beans. it's a super fun day out for anyone and also quite educational
I was gonna comment that! As an Austrian, Zotter is my favourite chocolate company, I've been to the factory so many times and it's always an amazing experience!
Really happy to see the Philippines mentioned here! We've had quite a history with chocolate as it was first introduced to us by the Spaniards during the galleon trade with Mexico in the 17th century. It's even made its way to our traditional cuisine with dishes like champorado and tablea chocolate (it's pretty common to find chocolate cakes and desserts here marketed as made with tablea to indicate that it's a very dark chocolate) That said our own local artisinal chocolate scene is pretty recent. There's been efforts by these local companies like Auro, Malagos, etc. to spotlight homegrown chocolates, and they are slowly getting more mainstream like getting sold in big Philippine supermarket chains instead of just their own specialty stores, and even win international awards. I'm really happy to see our chocolate get more recognition outside the country! Cheers Anne!
I love finding bits of the exchange between Mexico and phillipines. We have Champurrado in Mexico too and those chocolate tablets, wonder how similar they are. Would love to taste a Phillipines traditional chocolate! love form Mx
@@rocknpirates456 same, i'd love to taste a proper Mexican champurrado! Our champorado might be different though since it's more like a warm rice pudding with sticky rice in it. We have 2 versions of tsokolate drinks (one thin amd drinkable, and one very thick) and a regional variant called Tsokolate de Batirol which features tablea, sugar, and ground peanuts/peanut butter. Highly recommended if you ever visit the northern mountain provinces of the Philippines! Thank you Mexico for introducing chocolate to us ☺️
It must be exciting to pioneer the local flavor of such a big industry! My home town in Canada has a large Filipino community and the cuisine is to die for, I'd love to see what they do with chocolate!
it was really cool for me to see too, NZ has a really good relationship with the Philippines (or at least it feels like we do T.T) but I notice that even The Wellington Chocolate Factory (biggest single-source producer that I know) does NOT get your beans, so I hadn't realised that you guys have a bunch of farms there. I'm sad that I don't know nearly as much as I should about a close neighbour *thoughtful face* becomes even more sad when you all go to the trouble of learning english and none of us learn Tagalog T.T
When I was 8 my family was in Honduras for a vacation, and one day we visited a cocoa farm that was set up to show tourists some of the process of cocoa growing. I still remember being fascinated (and a little grossed out) seeing a pod cracked open and these slimy white beans come out 😂 blew my tiny child mind that chocolate could have ever started from that point. This video really brought me back to that moment, even almost 2 decades later. Hope that farm is still doing well
@@oxoelfoxo I mean, I was 8 at the time and it’s now nearly 20 years later so I could be misremembering it, but I think I remember it being slimy. I know I thought it seemed gross for some quality it had lol. Maybe it just looked slimy but wasn’t actually? I don’t know that I touched it.
as a botanist i am so glad you mentioned how environment affects how plants grow and taste. so many people dont realize how even slight soil pH or nutrient changes, rainfall, or humidity affect how your food tastes and medicine works!
So true ! Even the same varieties of local backyard / homegrown fruits & veggies will vary in taste , depending on soil , water , organic fertilizer , mulch , etc.
As a botanist can you tell us how many of those healthy benefits in the original cocoa fruit survive all the way to the final product? Don't bother, I already know the answer.
First of all, I'm so excited that you picked a bar of Zotter chocolate, because its "home-base" is close to where I'm from (you can visit the factory, watch the chocolate-making process, "taste" every step of the journey from bean to bar, and later have an all-you-can-eat of selected flavours and products) Also, I just love the quality of your videos so much; you take so much care to be nuanced and factual. I absolutely loved everything about this video!
I bought some Zotter chocolate when I was in Wien, but I didn't like it :/ maybe I chose the wrong kind. Personally I like Chocolats Villars from Fribourg 🇨🇭
Als Wienerin muss ich ehrlich sagen, dass ich Zotter Schokolade (bis jetzt) überhaupt nicht mag. Ich war aber mal in so nem schicken Schoko-Geschäft (irgendwo im 6. oder so, in der Nähe der Mahü) und die hatten dort die Marke Pichler. Extrem gut, vor allem deren Kirschen-Schokolade. Hat mich echt umgehauen haha 😂 Aber Pichler kennt halt wirklich keiner, ist ne Marke aus Kärnten oder Tirol glaub ich
@@priestrat I can agree that it's a bit of an acquired taste - it's a very different "style" of chocolate than what lots of other brands do. Each bar comes with an instruction to really savour each bite though, to fully let it melt in your mouth to experience all the flavours, and that can be amazing. I've found that the easiest "entry" into Zotter chocolate, for most people, seems to be Laboko: their "pure" chocolates (of different percentages / single fruit flavours). Also their Drinking Chocolate range. And their weirder flavours at least always provide an interesting experience. What I definitely can faithfully promise though is that regardless of how much you think you like their chocolate, if you ever find yourself in Austria again, the factory is well worth a visit, and (especially for what it offers) the ticket price is extremely reasonable.
When we were kids (Philippines) and was introduced to 'Quik' Chocolate drink, were were like, "are we drinking shredded paper soup"??? After years of enjoying chocolate from our Grandma's tree... i knew i know how Chocolate should taste!
This is why I love Ann!! You aren’t just telling us about the different chocolate, but going in depth with similarities, differences, and using people to compare. I now want to go out and try different types of chocolate because of you!!
One day I tasted the chocolate from an old little shop run by a family of chocolate makers since 1930 and I discovered REAL chocolate! It’s just like all another food: I usually don’t really like chocolate, but that one is different. Please support your local shops, sometimes you can find incredible thing thanks to them!
I used to think that I didn't like chocolate until I learned in a documentary about the different types of beans and how bars are made and I got curious about it. Today I really love dark chocolate, but I only buy very small quantities of very good quality bars. A lot of people who tells me that they don't like dark chocolate have been impressed so far when they taste it.
I think this is my favorite H2CT video yet. Excellent information density paired with really good visuals (I really adored the map, especially what you did at 6:36). The flavor interviews were really powerful- they did a superb job showing the variation between different regions' beans, and it was particularly telling that even though people didn't describe the beans in the exact same terms, everyone still tended to cluster around flavor profiles unique to each bean. That there were *preferences* rather than "this one is good and this one is bad" made me think about what kind of experience we could all be having as chocolate consumers. This video has certainly inspired me to investigate further on my own!
I had a subscription box for chocolate a while back and it was only then I started to realise chocolate tastes so different from the supermarket bars I was used to - you can taste the fermentation, there’s so much character in it. Anyway, after the subscription ended chocolate was of course ruined for me 😂
This was a great taste test. We have a chocolate shop near me called The Meadow and they carry so so so many single origins bars, bars that have unique tastes and techniques, bars from all over the world. If you haven't had the pleasure of trying single origin or artisan chocolate, it will change your life.
This video just made me go out and spend £100+ at London Chocolate since they do single source chocolate bars. It was crazy to me how good dark chocolate could taste, and how different each of the bars could be, even with it just being cocao and sugar. Thank you, Ann!
@@oliviamartini9700 Why are you here to shame on how some bloke spends his hard earned pay? He didn't write the laws that have the pensioners starving. Let him alone and write to your politicians if you have a bone to pick.
Haha this reminds me so much of culinary school. Most of my classmates agree that Lindt is bland as a chocolate. However I argue that this is advantageous during chocolate bon bon making because then you can really concentrate on the filling, almost like a blank canvas. Would love a part 2 of this video where you explain how ruby chocolate is made!
Lindt make a variety of different chocolates. Not all are bland. The sweeter ones are. The 85% rich dark version is nice imho. It's fair for its price.
@@zvikaso for most people, the 85% is nice but for most of us in the culinary world, it's considered a bland chocolate. This is because it tends to lack depth of taste, there is no evolution as the chocolate lingers on your tongue and melts. Of course it all comes down to personal enjoyment at the end of the day so if you enjoy it, enjoy it! I am definitely shamed by my peers for liking Somersby cider and nobody can tell me differently. :)
That Lindt bar you showed was part of a recent consumer report about lead and cadmium in chocolate. I would love to hear you talk about the implications of that report.
22 other brands exceed also violated California's maximum allowable dose levels for lead or cadmium. The implications of that report are that cocoa farmers and the cocoa industry need to implement better agricultural practices such as reducing wet cocoa bean contact with soil and dust, and soil-testing at farms.
@@Alexander_C69 and equipment consumpion. lead and cadmium are found in metal alloys, aka: check the grinders and all metallic tools used in the process that are prolly overused.
This reminds me a lot of the difference between commercial and specialty coffee. The process is slightly different but it seems there are more similarities than differences. I also note that your eldest has really good vocabulary for tasting. You've clearly taught him well!
I was going to comment the same thing. I know a bit about the coffee industry because my partner works in specialty coffee, and it's so similar! I was even surprised at the similarities of roasting the beans longer to get rid of undesirable flavors. It's so cool that smaller companies are working directly with farms to help them fine tune their product.
Yep .. was also my observation. Coffee, but really many other household products available made by small local companies and the bland but cheaper version by big name brands.
I thought of the coffee comparison as well. Since we seem to really love chocolate, someone likely could make a killing by using the start-up concepts of Starbucks on cocoa beans. My guess is that the concept would really grow.
I was lucky enough to have a friend from El Salvador that lived in the jungle; her family made molcajette fudge (cocoa + rock sugar ground together into a paste and dried) it was somewhat chalky, and it was THE BEST chocolate I have ever had in my life. The abundance of flavors and smell was like no chocolate I had ever had or have had since.
I'm proud of our booming infant chocolate industry. Even though it only recently started few years ago, our local producers were able to produce world class cacao beans and chocolate products that are starting to get attention in the international stage. Thank you for including the cholate industry of the Philippines. BTW, I'm eating a coffee-dark chocolate bar produced from Davao right now. :)
@@blazechaos212 where do you live? I'm not quite sure what brands export internationally. The one in the video is a UK brand i think that offers philippine-sourced beans for their limited edition line. Famous Filipino brands that I can name for now that source their chocolates from the same region are Malagos Chocolate, Auro Chocolates, Cacao Culture, Cacao de Davao and The Chocolate Bean.
I’m in love with the fact you have that tree growing. Its going to be so amazing and special when it gets fruit. I can see you making your own special chocolate.
It really does suck that colesworth seemingly adamantly refuse to stock any fair trade chocolate, and insist on only stocking chocolate from slaver companies. I have to look a lot harder and pay a lot more to get actually decent chocolate that is slavery-free.
I just say screw it and buy Tony's chocoloney, but it seems to be hard to find. Quite depressing how prevalent nestle and mondelez is, and both companies produce awful quality. It's really sad how Cadburys tastes like a skeleton of its former self
Unfortunately, that's usually the reason when something is so cheap - they use slave labour and/or produce their goods in countries where workers have far fewer rights.
I went to a workshop on chocolate and they had samples from all over the world for every stage of the production, when they offered us the raw cocoa bean we were shocked and disgusted! There was a room were you could smell the beans from different countries, they all had a specific fragrance, so cool!
The raw cacao bean actually tastes good when it still has the goopy stuff on it. It tastes like a fresh fruit, like a mango! But don't bite down, the bean itself is very bitter
As a former chocolatier, I thought I knew a lot about chocolate. I have specific chocolate makers that are my go-to for product, but I never really thought about WHY. This was a highly informative and highly entertaining video! Such engrossing delivery and format, and I learned so much. Thank you for this video!
Wonderful content!! I used to be part of this cocoa chain (supplychain) largely for NYBOT and LIFFE (now both changed their names). Just to add my 2 cents worth; 1. Cocoa beans travel half way around the world to be processed. This has a very damaging effect on the beans. There are infestations, condensations, extra fermentation due to condensations etc. 2. The demand for cocoa beans have grown exponentially in last 10 odd years. Hence the supply has become relatively tighter. Everyone is trying to get as much beans as possible. Hence the threshold for all grades have been somewhat lowered. 3. Recycled beans become a big business. The extra fermented or other low grades beans were not so much in demand years ago. Yet these have become super hot as their cost was super low before. Hence there are specialists who collect and trades these low grade beans. The problem is, small producers would not have sufficient volume to blend these into their line, hence those are mostly used by ‘large’ producers. There used to be some Chinese backed producers who specialised in low grade beans but after their collapse, the supply have been available to anyone who wants it. So many of the cost conscious producers adopted low grade beans more and more. This trend will only continue to grow as the crop yield is likely to fall and the demand stays strong. We are seeing more and more ‘artificial flavouring’ introduced to the products. Unfortunately this is likely to continue and grow as the constraint supply will be squeezed even tighter and demand will only grow with population growth. The good old true chocolates will soon the out of reach for many. Shame.
I wish we could somehow collectively agree to indulge in good quality chocolate maybe once a week. Stop wasting it in milk and cereals and cakes and cheap treats. Treat it like the specialty product it is.
Out of curiosity, what do you think about the possibility of people isolating the different bacterial strains for more precise fermentation? Do you think it'd be a good thing or a bad thing if other places could use the bacterial strains to grow and ferment cacao outside of its natural habitat in greenhouses?
I remember visiting a Cacao plantation, in the mountains of Sucre, Venezuela. All the plantation belonged to a single family that lived around it, below the trees, above those evergreen mountains, always humid, with very little light reaching the ground, because of the very high trees that grew above, and the cacao was fuchsia, or orange, or both. That family happened to be MY family by my mother's side. All those people were actually my cousins, or uncles and aunties. I will never forget that trip.
I feel a weird sense of kinship, when I see how grown up your kids are getting. Thanks for you continuing efforts! Your videos keep getting better without losing the authenticity and personal charm of your early content.
I know exactly what he meant at 4:56 We had these huge Hoya plants in our house as a kid, and when they'd bloom, the flowers begin forming little nectar beads and drip. That nectar had a very distinct, sweet, almost rose-like flavor. Not sure if you can straight up eat the flower, but the nectar was totally safe.
I will never forget the first time I tried cocoa nibs from a local company that makes their own cocoa products (including chocolate). It really gives you a sense of what cocoa really tastes like.
I know what you mean, I love milk chocolate cocoa nibs, it feels like you the best of both worlds, sweet, vanilla-y, dairy on the outside and rich, crunchy flavors on the inside. Please note that I can't ABIDE coffee, the smell, the taste, it's makes me physically ill.
@@freshdumbledore8177 no, he is right. cocoa by itself, and 100% cocoa chocolate is bitter and plastic like, even if it's hand-made at the best place, i can tell you from experience, and that is also the science behind it. What you enjoy about chocolate is the milk, sugar, etc.
Finally someone said it! I can’t tell people enough about how fancy Indonesian cocoa specifically is different from standard commercial chocolate! I legitimately bought a bag of cocoa nibs to make into tea when I returned to Singapore 😢 you should try the brands Krakatoa and Jika, it’s made by Indonesians without the foreign middleman
Nib tea? Please explain! I love tea and have never heard of this, do you steep it just like a regular tisane or do you need to do anything special with it?
Hiii can you tell me where to buy or find these Indonesian chocolate please because I am Indonesian and I consider myself a chocolate lover (clearly not quite since I have only ever eaten the "famous" and "basic/usual" brands of chocolate, and I would love to try out some local chocolate especially after watching Ann's video😂
Last year, I did a brownie tasting at an upscale chocolatier - each brownie was made using different chocolates from different locales. It was funny because everyone asked me, did they really even taste different? Yes, absolutely! One was very fruity and tangy (like raspberries and yogurt), one was very sweet and floral (like honey), and one was very fudgy and a little savory (think like brushing olive oil on brownies). I've completely stopped buying mass-produced chocolate, and it is pretty shocking how bland it tastes after you make the switch.
I hadn't realized how complex the process was to make the end product for the cacao beans. It honestly sounds a lot like making cheese, with all the enzymes and fermentation processes. No wonder it's so complex and varied in all the different regions of the world.
this was so interesting and definitely has me wanting to invest in some single origin chocolate bars from smaller farms and makers even though they will be more expensive than the big brand stuff. Sounds worth it as a treat
I wish there was more information out there about the unsafe lead and cadmium levels in chocolate, so we could make informed decisions about buying from smaller chocolate makers like these.
This video showed up whilst I was eating my Lindt 78% chocolate.😅 I tried to get flavours from it and I just couldn't really distinguish anything besides what I would think of as chocolate bitter and sugar. I am an absolute sucker for super in-depth detailed videos about super specific things such as the topic that you're discussing. All the information is really well presented and this video is absolutely fantastic, I am definitely going to try some new brands. thanks Ann!!!
Theres even some small independant chocolate growers/companies popping up in Australia/Queensland in the past few years! Same goes for coffee as well. Would love to see a coffee episode similar to this, and would love if you could include some Aussie coffee if you can get your hands on it
This video makes me more happy than it should. I've always thought that when people say they love that Freia brand, I just go "What the flork are you talking about? It tastes like dust". I thought I was going crazy there for a bit.
I am a chocolatier and work in a small bear-to-bar chocolaterie and regularly do chocolate tastings with people. They are always so surpised as to all the different flavours 😊
I’d love to see a part 2 about the “pre-Lindt process” chocolates (done without conching), since some are still made that way and that’s closer to how chocolate was made in central and South America. The texture and flavour changes SO much since you can feel each ingredients so clearly and distinctly because they haven’t melted.
There is a manufacturer in Bayonne in the Southwest of France that still produces some that way, it's interesting but I like the post-Lindt chocolate better haha
Its not just the taste and ingredients (yes palm oil, I'm looking at you), Cadbury's went from the most trusted brand in NZ to No.36 in the space of only a couple of years. It now sits at what appears to be near permanent discount and Whitakers occupies the premium space at supermarkets. In terms of taste, freshly hand made chocolate in Zurich Switzerland (eat in 3 days, no preservatives) was a highlight :)
Kraft ruined Cadburys. Here in the UK basically we all kicked off because the chocolate now tastes more American candy bar than chocolate bar. Cadburys used to be UK's top selling chocolate bars because of the quality.
00:25 🍫 Different types of cocoa beans result in distinct chocolate flavors. 03:33 🌍 The location where cocoa beans are grown significantly influences chocolate flavor. 07:35 🍇 Fermentation is a critical step in developing the flavor of cocoa beans. 09:19 🕒 Even a minor change in fermentation time affects the flavor profile of the chocolate. 11:53 🌐 Many cocoa farmers have never tasted chocolate made from their own beans, which highlights the need for better education and communication in the industry. 14:47 🔬 Conching, a process that refines chocolate texture, can either enhance or diminish flavors depending on itsduration.
Exactly as wine. I do wine more than 10 years, result is unpredictable, it depends of various factors including grape condition, yeast, maceration, maturing... Some of 7 or 5 years old are brocken, some others are delicious. Endless journey).
This video is absolutely wonderful. Not just the topic, but the storytelling, the presentation, the editing, everything. Beautifully done. Now I'm craving chocolate before I've even had my breakfast...
As a German, Lindt chocoalte was always kind of the best thing out there. Except for whenever I go to our local chocolatier here, because their stuff is just beyond amazing but I could never tell why. Now this explains it so thoroughly!
God, Dave is so freaking hilarious! The world is a much better place because of your family! God bless you guys, lord knows we need more people like you!
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of going to the Dominican Republic with family. We went on a tour of a cacao farm. We saw all the stages Ann mentioned, from fruits being harvested to fermentation to drying. The owner of the farm roasted a few of the beans himself over wood coals, and then roughly ground them with a metate. I got to try some, and it tasted nutty, chocolaty, and a little bit like coffee. It was an experience I hope I never forget.
My sister gave me a single origin chocolate bar and I can honestly say that I tasted fruits while eating it. I even checked the label to see if I was eating a fruit and nut bar but it wasn't. Just some good quality chocolate.
I started getting into artisanal chocolate a couple years ago and love tasting the different flavors. My sister and I went to Vegas in January and she came home with a $200 purse while I came home with $200 of artisanal chocolate bars, truffles, etc 😂
Just in case you've not already fallen into that and need another expensive hobby :P Try specialty coffee. It relates quite well to chocolate as you can get many similar flavours and it often grows in similar regions.
Never buy chocolate in USA. That are the worst quality on earth. There are lots of videos explaining the reasons for this ónline. It really are last place on earth to get good chocolate. .
@Mike There are some awesome chocolatiers in the US. Why would you not buy their chocolate? I've had great artisanal chocolate made by American chocolatiers.
Woah, your production quality just keeps going up. This was fantastic, learnt a lot and so well made! The coffee habit is bad enough, but now I want real chocolate xD
If you love both coffee and chocolate than better try to find whole roasted cocoa beans or high quality cocoa powder and brew it just like coffee, you'll get all the flavor without any sugar or additives. It's about as bitter as deeply roasted coffee and almost as strong a stimulant (the theobromine in cocoa is closely related to caffeine, even binding to the same receptors), so treat it like a cup of coffee and don't stack them. And, by the way, drinking coffee isn't a bad habit, in moderate quantities is actually quite healthy.
@@Dr_V Woah, thanks for the description, going to have to try that one day, sounds like an experience! Oh I meant the time and money invested in the habit was bad enough without adding a new obsession :D
I'm a single origin chocolate maker based in Indonesia, this video provides great education for consumers around the world! Big brands don't have the best products, if anything they actually have lower quality mass produced bars
So interesting! Same goes for wine, coffee, tofu, and many other foods: the farm and early processing have a huge impact on the quality and flavor profile, and small manufacturers have a higher chance of creating something flavorfull and unique. Up-scaling the process results in muted flavors and a sort of mediocare/avareged-out flavor and texture.
I do not think that the upscaling of the process is the root cause. Small manufacturers cannot afford to sell the same product as big companies. They need to cater to customers with higher expectations and the willingness to pay for a better product. The big company can sell a product that is Ok but not great and make their profit with the bulk of sale. This results in product that offends noone but is average in every way. Some even have the chuzpe to replace hazelnuts and cocoa with much cheaper fats and sugar and call it an improved recipe. As many people simply do not make the experience of consuming products away from the mainstream they are also trained to like it.
Completely irrelevant when the original health benefits from the cocoa fruit pulp completely disappear from the final product. Just ask a factory to make your favorite chocolate but without any sugar at all. Then comeback and tell us what was it like.
@@profounddamas Rajoles makes a 100% chocolate with no added sugar. It has a slight acidity and is less bitter than some of the 70% chocolates. I like it but I would never offer it to people who prefer milk chocolate (that would a waste of perfectly good choclate). At around 4-5 € per 80 g bar it is not cheap but still affordable.
As a diabetic, I can still eat chocolate (in *moderation*) when there isn't much sugar added, and LINDT 85% (And higher) chocolate really tastes extremely bland. Sometimes I'm able to find fairtrade chocolate with similar amounts of sugar and cocoa percentage and the taste difference is indeed amazing. Thanks for clearing up the reasons ... and now I need to check whether I still have some in my fridge :P
I've had Lily's chocolate over the years. It's quite good. It's got stevia instead of sugar. They've got dark, milk and white chocolate varieties. There's mint, caramel, even a cookies and cream. They also make chocolate chips, which I've successfully made truffles with.
This is the best chocolate education video ever, and I have seen many. The best part is the in-depth explanation of the flavor process and variation through the many farms and the challenges that are involved.👍
First time I tasted small-batch chocolate it was mind blowing. It was an explosion of fruity and floral flavors that went far beyond what I could ever imagine. Incredibly rich and complex. Since then, Ecuadorian and Bolivian have become my favorites. Incredibly fruity and floral, almost reminiscent of sweet, young white wines.
I used to love chocolate but my palette totally changed in the past decade. This makes me want to replicate tastings at home. I love the idea of revisiting neglected senses & mundanities I take for granted sometimes.
You've inspired me. My husband (who doesn't really care for chocolate) and I (who loves chocolate) bought fancy chocolate that's from specific places and fermented for certain lengths and roasted certain amounts. And I love chocolate even more now! It's so cool and complex. And my husband has figured out he likes chocolate less and really does prefer white chocolate and the least like chocolate chocolate you can buy. Lol.
White chocolate is making a resurgence in the craft chocolate industry with so many great inclusions. It is like a canvas fro craft chocolate makers. So many interesting and tasty bars out there right now.
I'm Mexican and one more time I feel... So sad that Mexico is not mentioned in a chocolate video. Over here, before the colonization, the cacao tree was considered to be gifted to the men by gods and cacao seeds were considered so valuable, there were used as exchange coin. The consumption of Xocolatl, a beverage made from cacao seeds, diferent spices, water and corn has been tracked to the mayan civilization over 2500 years ago. By the time the colonizers got here, the Aztecs reserved the consumption of Xocolatl for the higher members of society, when colonizers tasted the Xocolatl, changed the water for milk and the spices for sugar, creating modern chocolate and exporting it to the world, but currently we still use cacao seeds and chocolate for many different traditional dishes and beverages.
YES! I feel that any video on how chocolates got ruined should begin with the European need to grow cacao closer to their ports of trade and in countries where they didn't need to care about the humans and cultures that would grow it. Combining colonial mindset and an utter disrespect for the slaves they got to do their work?!? No wonder the priceless nature of chocolate was disrespected and devolved. The Yucatan peninsula is its birthplace and will forever define chocolate for me.
Ann this video was amazing! I love the format and I actually watched it twice so I could compare their flavor opinions to each region again. I had no idea there were different types of chocolate. Thank you so much. It is clear how much research, effort, and care you put in. We appreciate it. Commenting just to boost you up even the tiniest bit more. Hope you hit trending again because you all deserve it. ❤
She's such a great documentarian and teacher; we need more Ann in the world to set everybody straight. ('Ann Reardon, Chief Explainer to the UN'. End of wars forever).
I've been seeing your videos from across the world in South America, specifically Colombia for almost 2 years now, I always learn so much and enjoy your recipes, thank you for doing your best to inform and make the world a better place
@@HowToCookThat the end information about conching was really interesting Ann. I had heard about this process, but never really thought about the fact that multi national companies would need a means to ensure consistency in their end product ,and that conching could/would supply that consistency. You inspire me to go out and try many more different brands of chocolate to see if l can taste the differences. Thank you from a confirmed, very long time chocolate lover ❤
Incredible! As a chocolate lover I had no idea there was so much intricacies from the time cacao is harvest all the way to it's final product and how almost everything involved in its process affects the flavour of the chocolate
Thanks for making this video Ann! Loved the use of your sons, non chocolate lover husband and your two friends giving their unbiased opinion of different types of chocolate from around the world. I will probably come back to this video one day and watch it again when I am looking to try a new type of chocolate. Also, very informative on showing the steps and labor involved bringing this decadent dessert to our store shelves.
Man, now I really want to actually taste all of this because I am not even sure what chocolate is anymore. Lindt here is considered one of the best chocolates but Milka instead is the one that sells more frequently. They mix that with milk, I believe, and I like the flavour of that very much. I really want to try all of these that you've tried because those sound like new and exciting flavours
Milka had a few decent milk chocolates in the 90s, but every time I tried their products in the last 2 decades I was disappointed. I think they (along with all but a few Côte d'Or's products) really started going downhill after being acquired by Mondelez.
@@Liisa3139 - You should be able to order them online, but I wouldn't bother with their bonbons (namely the formerly excellent Bouchées, that are nowhere near as good now). Their thin dark chocolate bars (intense, sesame, pointe de sel, etc.) and the Truffé Noir bars are still very good, though, at least in Europe (they might make them in different places now, since Mondelez has factories all over).
I love that tasting chocolate is like a wine. A lot of the same verbiage, and even how they’re made is more alike than I would have thought! No wonder they pair together so well. 🍷 🍫
People have been fermenting, boiling, baking, roasting and mixing everything throughout history. The things one can make with just water ferment and grain alone… it’s part of our survival mechanism to try out these things. Once a product is discovered it’s generations of experimentation and refinery till it becomes a widespread product
EARLY!!! Ann's videos are honestly the best :))
Yes!
🎉🎉 I agreed! I just couldn't get enough of her documentaries and baking
I always look forward to Ann's amazing videos. I do always hope she'll have a new recipe but this was very interesting, too. And wouldn't you know: of course, Chocolate is incredibly difficult to make on your own. Rats.
I completely agree! BUT sorry for hijacking your comment:
Scrolling through your comments quite a bit, seems like I'm the only concerned about the (recent) scientific paper that came out about most chocolates containing LEAD(pb) due to the roasting process, and CADMIUM(cd) because of the soil the beans were grown. Considering Lead is sweet, don't be surprised if the contaminated ones taste 'better'.
Can you please look into this?! Lots of EU approved brands/chocolates were on the contaminated list...
For real
"This chocolate - by comparison - tastes bland"
*pulls out the most expensive chocolate available in my local supermarket*
I run a small chocolate business for nearly a decade and have been saying this to people for years. It's nice to see someone with such a good reputation for fact finding taking it on. Thanks Ann. Have a great week.
Can people order from you online? Or do you mainly supply other food businesses?
Would also like to know if you do online orders. I love trying new brands of chocolate, and being able to support a small business at the same time is a double win.
same, curious if you do online orders, would LOVE to try it!!!
Me too
Same!
It's so funny that Dave and the boys are up to taste just about any cooking "hack" monstrosity, and then the one time there's just genuinely good chocolate, they're like, "Meh." 🤣
All depends on what you like, and most of us don’t have that quality range
Repent to Jesus Christ “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
Romans 10:13 NIV
H
@@repentandbelieveinJesusChrist3 you will rot in hell for spamming lol
If it’s not microwaved for 10min, it’s not for them😂
@@Megan_XD it's probably a bot do bots even have enough of a soul to go to hell?
This was a surprisingly good description of the issues involved in making a good chocolate. As a former chocolatier from Trinidad, where the Trinitario type of cocoa originated, I was proud to make chocolate that was made in the same estate in which it was grown. For some of the finest chocolate in the world, it's worth searching out Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company's bars.
Are you Trinidad Indian? So nice to meet you!
@@shubhampadhye7263 I am! Very proud of both my Indian and Trinidadian heritage. And of Trinidad's extraordinary cocoa heritage as well.
Interesting that coffee enthusiasts get really into different beans and their flavors and complexity, but chocolate has never been marketed like that.
Exactly! I hunt for fruity/acidic coffee but never knew I could do the same for chocolate:)
There is a culture of unsweetened coffee far more than unsweetened chocolate, and this alone makes all the difference.
Sugar is highly addictive. You'll need rice most people who take sugar in their coffee don't especially care were it comes from either. It's mostly the people who take it black that care.
And because almost all chocolate is full of sugar, almost all chocolate eaters don't care as long as they get their sugar fix
Part of it probably has to do with how people see coffee vs chocolate. Coffee is a morning ritual for many, many people, it's a STAPLE of some people's lives, so there being coffee snobs developing out of this incredibly prolific drink makes sense. Caffeine is practically seen as essential in the working world. It's almost a hobby for some people.
Chocolate is a seen as a treat, so most people who eat it just want a sugary, sweet snack. You may be judged if you said that trying different types of chocolate is your hobby. We don't see plainclothes chocolate connoisseurs because most health-concious people don't see it as something that should be in our lives regularly, because it is unhealthy due to being so sugary- even though drinking too much coffee is also very unhealthy in a different way.
To many people, chocolate is chocolate no matter who makes it as long as it’s sweet.
@@snakewithapen5489
Well that depends on the culture! In Mexico having a cup of hot chocolate (or cold chocolate, in the form of smoothies) is a very common daily ritual. In fact I recall reading about a study that showed that cravings for chocolate are actually culture bound and that cultures that encourage common consumption of chocolate have women that express less cravings for chocolate.
There's a chocolate company in my country called Chocolate Makers. They were fed up with how chocolate was done by the big companies and started their own company. They also factored in the environment in their business plan where possible. We use it in our bakery and we've had a tour through their factory and their tasting and the flavors were AMAZING!!! So happy to have been able to go with that chocolate :D.
Same with Tony’s chocolate!
A fellow Dutch human 👀
it's amazing they offer shipping because ive been away from home and miss visiting chocolate makers 😢
chocoladeverkopers?
What country are you in?
Funnily enough, the Lindt that Anne uses as the "bland" version is considered some of the higher quality stuff you can get in Canadian supermarkets!
I mean, if the other chocolate bar brand is hershey's... Lindt is most likely better.
Same here on the East Coast of America. It's definitely not the most high-end chocolate out there--it's relatively easy to get fancier chocolate if you go looking--but it IS the finest that you can reliably get anywhere, since it's sold at most chain grocery stores and pharmacies. For anything more niche, you'll likely have to go to a more expensive store (like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.)
@@thaliafaudith9387 Thankfully, Hershey's is difficult to find in Canada. That stuff is atrocious.
Speaks absolute volumes
Yeah kinda sad, hard to find high quality chocolate where Im from, Lindt is like the best you can get
0:53 The way he says "no" like he thinks you're about to spring some 5-minute-crafts chocolate on him is so funny
I always find it so amazing to think about how things like chocolate came to be. How someone had to harvest these beans and figure out what to do with the stuff inside them, how you have to let them ferment and dry and everything, it's really cool to think about the long history of these products and all the people that helped in making them the way that they are today.
I believe, originally, the beans were actually smoked, not eaten. By the maya, inka or aztek indians. (I can never remember which one's which ^^;)
I once read an account of how aztecs made their "hot chocolate" drink by pouring it between two cups until frothy. I tried it recently with my own recipe and it came out incredible. They also added hot peppers to it rather than sugar (I add both lol)
Thats cool and all... but what about people who discovered how to safely eat incredibly dangerous food, like fugu fish.
Well, hundreds of years ago we didn't have Facebook, Twitter, RUclips, Tiktok, TV, and (depending on the region) not even newspapers. Besides the point being that less distraction might help in different ways, I don't suppose learning the process happened quickly; people more likely found out the process gradually, over years.
@@101Volts or that someone gathered a very bitter fruit so he threw it away only to later find it tasting better, so he gathered more and let them sit in a basket and then dried it so they would last longer.
Im actually planning to make some % out of kivi fruits because i had some spoil and they did smell nicely sweet. i didnt taste them only because it was uncontrolled fermentation.
point is, you can find out stuff like that by dumb luck.
10/10 love the "17 minute video about a food industry" format, please do more in-depth videos like this!
agreed
Same
Absolutely agree
As a mexican form the state of Tabasco, we are very proud of our chocolate! it was common in the past to grind and make chocolate at home, my grandma used to do it, so i was very familiar with the real flavor of cocoa beans and chocolate. Sometimes when tasting cheap or very procesed chocolate feel weird and some of my friends tend to call me a snob because i'm very exigent with the flavor of chocolate, but when they taste what is a real and good chocolate, they find out why i'm like that hahaha thanks a lot for sharing this knowledge!!!
more like they are trying to be polite 🤣
Sounds like a fascinating life experience. Thanks for sharing!
Pásame unos contactos porfa..me perdí los números a quienes me compré mi cacao 😂
.
Do you remember the name of the beans?
Been working in chocolate for 20 years. You nailed it. Never heard a better explanation of the difference between great chocolate and junk.
My experience after 15 years of R&D in conching with one of the big chocolate companies is quite different. In my experience conching is long and energy intense. Being an expensive process step, none of the large companies conche for a minute more than is necessary. Indeed over-conching does make chocolate bland, but that’s not what’s happening as much as she says. It’s almost an exception
@@raymasraymas OK, but what she says is that the difference is in how much conching is necessary, depending on the quality of beans.
All chocolate I’ve had is junk 😨
@@arkadiuszfilipczyk488 conching is not just a function of the bean, be it quality, origin or flavour profile. A large part of conching is achieving the right viscosity i.e. textural property for a smooth mouth feel. This is relatively easy to measure and the moment it is achieved conching comes to an end. So the case she makes for over-conching is dead in the water in my experience
Which brand do you recommend
if you put together a box of labelled samples from this video so we could taste them together while watching and compare, i'd pay crazy money for that, Ann! you've piqued my curiosity
This exists! Not very cheap but Gabriel’s chocolate in Yallingup (Western Australia) do tasting packs for single origin chocolates. They’re a really cool experience.
Ooooh, great idea!
Love this idea!!
I was thinking the same thing!
I know here in New Zealand we have a company that does tasting boxes like that - I never got it, because it is quite expensive. I imagine there is probably something like that wherever you happen to live.
I had a roommate in college that totally "ruined" me on cheaper chocolate after introducing me to these $5-6-7 bars from health food stores. Like everything, you get what you pay for. But instead of just inhaling those expensive bars like I was known to do with cheaper bars and still not feel satiated , the expensive ones satisfy me with just a few nibbles or a square. It's about quality over quantity!
Any recommendations? uWu
I tried out some super expensive chocolate at a Summerbird store i think, they explained the whole thing about how its done just like Ann just did, and man it was goooooood! We even got to try a 90% chocolate, that was bitter! I am honestly going to buy from them again, and test out the different chocolates as it was so much more satisfying getting that tiny piece then something cheap from the store :)
@@Gwenxyou probably already know this but if the amount of chocolate is your mesure ir quality (mine is 😅) you can get 90...92... And I think 96% from Lindt. Last year I bought one close to 100% but I can't remember if it was 96 or 99%.
Even some off brand chocolates go up to 90% and more.
@@Nemo_Anom Green & Blacks Organic Chocolate. If you are into dark chocolate, their 85% cacao bars are surprisingly creamy, smooth and not bitter. They're amazing. They have a whole line of excellent chocolate if you'd prefer less cacao.
I ones watched a documentary about chocolate and they said if People would Produce chocolate in a way which is fair to the workers and the environment it would have to cost 5€ a Bar. And I remember I was shocked because my parents always bought chocolate for under 1€
I live in a chocolate producing region of Indonesia. The local government then built a theme park called "Kampung Cokelat" (Chocolate village) filled with educational materials of chocolate production and they sell (locally made) chocolate bars as well! Thanks for the video!!
That would amazing to visit! Getting a chocolate bar/piece would be great learning incentive 😂 (thinking kids on school trips, etc)
as someone from the Philippines, I was shocked at how many varieties of apple they knew, but then when i think about it, i can also name several varieties of bananas easily 😂😂
It’s crazy! Washington where I’m from is very huge in Apple production and the market is very huge!
My area specifically grows a lot of
Fuji
Gala
Red delicious
Golden delicious
I wish we had more than the Cavendish where I'm from. Every other type I've had (gros michel, Cuban red, gold finger, blue java, pitogo, couple im forgetting) have been far and away better. We somehow settled for the absolute worst one.
@@KingdomOfDimensions I believe Cavendish is the least problematic to produce therefore most profitable, that's why it became so popular around the world.
There are over 400 varieties of English apple. It was a common hobby of priests to crossbreed new varieties. Some are unique to one specific hillside. Supermarket dominance means much of that knowledge is lost now, and many are extinct.
@@peterkiss1204it was chosen for its resistance to a disease or pest that was killing other varieties
My great grandma's village in Ghana also farms cocoa .. You'll mostly go and meet some cocoa beans being fermented ..So beautiful to see .and I'm glad My country was mentioned 😊❤️Ghana 🇬🇭
Maybe make some chocolate from it!
thanks for the chocolate man, and those funny home brew sci-fi classics ;)
@@napoleonfeanor we do on occasion
@@amoasiwa.n6598 I'd love to try but I have no access to this kind of chocolate.
They say that most of cocoa is expprted it is true? Is there good chocolate there?
I remember the first time I had an artisanal chocolate. It's been too long for me to recall specifics, but the feeling of standing there in front of the guy who made the final product while he explained the origins, the tasting notes, the process... indescribable. It was a creamy mouthfeel unlike anything I had experienced with chocolate before, and hearing him talk about it made me appreciate the product even more. That something like chocolate could have TASTING NOTES was unbelievable. It was a totally different experience. I still love my Hershey's Dark Chocolate stocking stuffers, but nothing can compete with the care that goes into the small batch producers!
This is the thing; I think perhaps many of us get so used to just shoving chocolate in our faces as kids that we forget to really make an effort to taste the complexities. It's a bit like music, I guess - sure, natural talent in things like playing an instrument or having a gourmet palate exists but it still has to be focused on and an effort made, and knowing the background adds a whole other layer to the experience. I will certainly think differently about the next chocolate I eat after watching this video.
I remember the first time I had an artisanal chocolate. It's been too long for me to recall specifics, but the feeling of standing their in front of the guy who made the final product while he explained the origins, the tasting notes, the process... indescribable. It was a creamy mouthfeel unlike anything I had experienced with chocolate before, and hearing him talk about it made me appreciate the product even more. That something like chocolate could have TASTING NOTES was unbelievable. It was a totally different experience. I still love my Hershey's Dark Chocolate stocking stuffers, but nothing can compete with the care that goes into the small batch producers!
She didn't even say anything about the people being exploited and how they have never tasted the same chocolate they are used like slaves to make... Typical west get anal about useless stuff but gloss over the atrocity
@@Kifflington Likewise. I think if people removed most of the sugar and then really _tasted_ their bog-standard chocolate, they'd realised it tastes of texture, not flavour at all. Sugar masks a lot of wrongs...
As someone from outside the US - Hershey’s is like a block of plastic, to me. So hard and almost crumbly in texture. It’s so funny how different a basic chocolate bar can be just because of a few variables like melting point and particle size…
This is a problem in the coffee world, too. There are so many parallels between chocolate and coffee. Comparison tasting is also massively helpful for both. Excellent work.
Also tea world. Basically with any natural product, the soil, farming and processing determine the end result.
I like Chocolate and Coffee but I never compared them until I read your post. Thanks.
@@rtyzxc I totally agree that agricultural products often go this way, so tea is totally another valid example. Coffee feels even more relevant to me alongside chocolate because both are grown in similar regions, both are seeds that you have to prepare and then roast. There's the combination of regional differences and then roast differences with a disconnect between the grower and the roaster. There's specialty coffee/chocolate and commodity coffee/chocolate, there are fair trade concerns. Modern specialty roasters of both coffee and chocolate are trying to reconnect with the farmers and improve quality of life for the farmers, quality of the product, and enhancing the notes of the terroir. I could go on. I wish I knew more about tea to make similar comparisons, but coffee and chocolate have such a similar and interesting journey.
@@error.418 I have heard all the same stuff you just said about tea.
@@rtyzxc Awesome! Would love to learn more.
A few decades? ago in the US, Nestle and Hershey's lobbied to have cocoa butter taken out of the definition of chocolate. They lost, but while cocoa butter remains in a few of their flagship products, you'll find in many of them it's replaced with some alternative oil.
And they even let them call that white stuff 'white chocolate.' It all depends on how things get defined. Earlier this year I had a kidney stone and it was from calcium oxalate. On the food sheet for my new diet there were things I now should avoid and chocolate and nuts are 2 of them. And they have a VERY HIGH level of the stuff. Moderation is key, so if and when I decide to get some chocolate, I will do my best to find the really good stuff. As for the nuts, that one is gonna be a problem, as I really like them.
yep they did! they wanted to replace it with what they call CBE or cocoa butter alternatives, blah. Cocoa butter is the most valuable part now and they get more money if they sell it off (like in cosmetics). They don't care how it tastes.
@@openingchocolatei buy cocoa butter(food grade)for making my own lip balms and lotion bars.
With local beeswax and coconut oil and cocoa butter.
Its very healing.
But when making candy I add a few disc of extra cocoa butter back in and people can tell for sure.
Even if just using cheap chips for cookies.
I'm not a huge chocolate person. But have always liked Mexican chocolate. Its not as sweet and its quite bitter afterwards but so rich.
I think of Hershey chocolate the same way I think of kraft singles "cheese". Plastic. Nothing like the real thing
YES!
Ann: I picked a few
Also Ann: Goes the extra mile and shows fifteen chocolate bars
She is a Food scientist after all 😁
As a fellow chocolate lover I can say that after watching this I have a STRONG desire to try some actually good chocolate (because for my uncultured tongue the Lindt seems great) 😅
####
Same!!
Me too!
Same
Yes! Lindt is also my favourite as far as supermarket brands go, but I've had really amazing single origin chocolate from a small manufacturer a couple of times and it's worldchanging if you're a chocolate lover. So worth the splurge, you won't gobble it all in one go anyway because it's so much more intense!
This channel consistently shows me that the world is a much more complex and interesting place if you take the time to look into it. Thank you Ann!
So true, I always learn something new from Ann 😊
A lot of people don't realize just how complex a lot of things are. Most Americans would probably think "Chocolate is chocolate." Sometimes you just need to slow down, take it all in and try to learn something new.
Once I started growing vegetables I realized plants, just like people, are incredibly varied. There's so many varieties of everything but most people wouldn't know it as the supermarkets stock only a couple varieties that have been bred for looks, size and transportability over flavor.
I once bought a single origin chocolate out of curiosity at an elitist organic store, and until then I believed chocolate always needed sugar to make it taste good, they were delicious without being overtly sweet. They were so expensive though!
Good chocolate tends to be expensive because of the work that goes into good chocolate. Same goes for good coffee, Tea, and just about everything else - you can do a cheap mass production method with little in the way of quality control steps in between, but - if you want a good product, that QC is necessary to ensure you get properly ripened source product. At it's core - this means that quality products aren't just a little more expensive, it means they tend to be a fair amount more expensive - and it starts with the harvest: Hand harvesting is basically necessary - the machines don't distinguish from almost ripe, to ripe, to overripe: It all is grabbed, and you do a good enough separation - but that good enough separation is cheap, and doesn't do a great job all things considered.
Overall, what you end up with is easily tripling the end product price.
And then there is mass production homogenization that is desired by big companies. Instead of getting small batches of a product that varies over time do to the input ingredients, the goal of these companies is to get a homogeneous flavor between batches so the consumer becomes familiar with that end result.
"an elitist organic store" 😅
@@ym10up I would never shop in those places normally. It is not for the spendthrift.
@@indulgentquagmire I just find the term so descriptive that I can not only see it, I could smell it 🤌🤌
@@ym10up Lol
I once tasted some really dark belgian choclate brought to me by a friend from Luxembourg. It was something like 80 or even 90% cocoa and normally I find anything over around 50% to bitter. But this one was AMAZING. It was the best chocolate I've ever tasted. It wasn't even bitter at all, but I can't describe the flavour anymore. It's been almost six years and I still regularly think about this chocolate. I never could wrap my head around why this one was so diffrent from the dark chocolates I normally knew - until now. I would have never thought that there are so much diffrences between cocoa beans, or in how many countries cocoa is grown. Thank you! It also explains why powdered cocoa/ hot chocolate can taste extremly diffrent depending on the brand.
Well for things like hot chocolate, you also have to consider the difference in levels of cocoa butter, cocoa solids,, milk, and so-on. While it's true that even with identical recipes, they could taste different, for lower quality products like that, the differences are more likely to be due to recipe than bean source. When you're sourcing large amounts for high volume products, there are typically only a couple companies you can realistically choose from.
The bitterness can also come from over roasting. With a small artisan chocolate maker, they can closely monitor smaller batches and roast them just right.
Fine flavour cacao shouldn't really even be bitter. That is a marketing bamboozle! There are so many good craft chocolate makers out there now no reason for anyone to eat the other junk. BUT...careful, Belgian (or swiss) chocolate does not necessarily mean good. Most of that is just Barry Callebaut, a giant industrial manufacturer
I absolutely hate hot chocolate, but boiling milk with belgian chocolate made the best cup I had ever had. It’s unreal!
Try Solkiki. They are amazing
i noticed one of the chocolate bars you bought is from Zotter. they are a well known higher end chocolate company from Austria. and they actually have a chocolate factory in Austria that you can visit. they provide tours and you can try so so so much chocolate it's incredible. you get to try the different kinds of chocolate at different stages in the process, they even let you try some cocoa beans. it's a super fun day out for anyone and also quite educational
I was gonna comment that! As an Austrian, Zotter is my favourite chocolate company, I've been to the factory so many times and it's always an amazing experience!
they also have Cadburys world here in the UK. i think it is similar to this but i have never been
That sounds like a delicious day!
There are some botique chocolate makers in Franschoek, Western Cape, South Africa that also provide a similar experience, although much smaller scale.
Super fun? Not just fun?
Really happy to see the Philippines mentioned here! We've had quite a history with chocolate as it was first introduced to us by the Spaniards during the galleon trade with Mexico in the 17th century. It's even made its way to our traditional cuisine with dishes like champorado and tablea chocolate (it's pretty common to find chocolate cakes and desserts here marketed as made with tablea to indicate that it's a very dark chocolate)
That said our own local artisinal chocolate scene is pretty recent. There's been efforts by these local companies like Auro, Malagos, etc. to spotlight homegrown chocolates, and they are slowly getting more mainstream like getting sold in big Philippine supermarket chains instead of just their own specialty stores, and even win international awards.
I'm really happy to see our chocolate get more recognition outside the country! Cheers Anne!
I love finding bits of the exchange between Mexico and phillipines. We have Champurrado in Mexico too and those chocolate tablets, wonder how similar they are. Would love to taste a Phillipines traditional chocolate! love form Mx
@@rocknpirates456 same, i'd love to taste a proper Mexican champurrado! Our champorado might be different though since it's more like a warm rice pudding with sticky rice in it. We have 2 versions of tsokolate drinks (one thin amd drinkable, and one very thick) and a regional variant called Tsokolate de Batirol which features tablea, sugar, and ground peanuts/peanut butter. Highly recommended if you ever visit the northern mountain provinces of the Philippines!
Thank you Mexico for introducing chocolate to us ☺️
I love how two halves of the globe can impact each other so deeply
It must be exciting to pioneer the local flavor of such a big industry! My home town in Canada has a large Filipino community and the cuisine is to die for, I'd love to see what they do with chocolate!
it was really cool for me to see too, NZ has a really good relationship with the Philippines (or at least it feels like we do T.T) but I notice that even The Wellington Chocolate Factory (biggest single-source producer that I know) does NOT get your beans, so I hadn't realised that you guys have a bunch of farms there. I'm sad that I don't know nearly as much as I should about a close neighbour *thoughtful face*
becomes even more sad when you all go to the trouble of learning english and none of us learn Tagalog T.T
When I was 8 my family was in Honduras for a vacation, and one day we visited a cocoa farm that was set up to show tourists some of the process of cocoa growing. I still remember being fascinated (and a little grossed out) seeing a pod cracked open and these slimy white beans come out 😂 blew my tiny child mind that chocolate could have ever started from that point. This video really brought me back to that moment, even almost 2 decades later. Hope that farm is still doing well
yoooo im from honduras glad you liked it there ✌️
slimy?! must've been an overripe pod. the white flesh should be firm, like a good mangosteen or santol.
@@oxoelfoxo I mean, I was 8 at the time and it’s now nearly 20 years later so I could be misremembering it, but I think I remember it being slimy. I know I thought it seemed gross for some quality it had lol. Maybe it just looked slimy but wasn’t actually? I don’t know that I touched it.
it's too bad they didn't give you a good seed to sample. it's actually quite yummy@@pancake2700
as a botanist i am so glad you mentioned how environment affects how plants grow and taste. so many people dont realize how even slight soil pH or nutrient changes, rainfall, or humidity affect how your food tastes and medicine works!
This is similar to how the flavors in wine come about.
Yes, It’s known as terroir.
@@viviandibrell849 Yes and coffee.
So true ! Even the same varieties of local backyard / homegrown fruits & veggies will vary in taste , depending on soil , water , organic fertilizer , mulch , etc.
As a botanist can you tell us how many of those healthy benefits in the original cocoa fruit survive all the way to the final product? Don't bother, I already know the answer.
First of all, I'm so excited that you picked a bar of Zotter chocolate, because its "home-base" is close to where I'm from (you can visit the factory, watch the chocolate-making process, "taste" every step of the journey from bean to bar, and later have an all-you-can-eat of selected flavours and products)
Also, I just love the quality of your videos so much; you take so much care to be nuanced and factual. I absolutely loved everything about this video!
I also noticed! And I really recommend visiting the factory. I’ve been twice and it were the two best days of my life ❤
I bought some Zotter chocolate when I was in Wien, but I didn't like it :/ maybe I chose the wrong kind. Personally I like Chocolats Villars from Fribourg 🇨🇭
Als Wienerin muss ich ehrlich sagen, dass ich Zotter Schokolade (bis jetzt) überhaupt nicht mag. Ich war aber mal in so nem schicken Schoko-Geschäft (irgendwo im 6. oder so, in der Nähe der Mahü) und die hatten dort die Marke Pichler. Extrem gut, vor allem deren Kirschen-Schokolade. Hat mich echt umgehauen haha 😂 Aber Pichler kennt halt wirklich keiner, ist ne Marke aus Kärnten oder Tirol glaub ich
@@priestrat I can agree that it's a bit of an acquired taste - it's a very different "style" of chocolate than what lots of other brands do. Each bar comes with an instruction to really savour each bite though, to fully let it melt in your mouth to experience all the flavours, and that can be amazing.
I've found that the easiest "entry" into Zotter chocolate, for most people, seems to be Laboko: their "pure" chocolates (of different percentages / single fruit flavours). Also their Drinking Chocolate range. And their weirder flavours at least always provide an interesting experience.
What I definitely can faithfully promise though is that regardless of how much you think you like their chocolate, if you ever find yourself in Austria again, the factory is well worth a visit, and (especially for what it offers) the ticket price is extremely reasonable.
I'm jealous!! I always wanted to visit the factory, I love Zotter so much ;_;
I knew NONE of this going in. As always, Ann, you never fail to educate AND entertain. (Always nice to see Dave & the boys again, as well.) Thanks!
When we were kids (Philippines) and was introduced to 'Quik' Chocolate drink, were were like, "are we drinking shredded paper soup"???
After years of enjoying chocolate from our Grandma's tree... i knew i know how Chocolate should taste!
I love how your husband’s reactions are often just “not nice” or “I like it” 😂. Very cute.
that's similar to how I rate movies - "alright" and "pretty good" ^_^
@@DemonsCrest1 😏 I rate movies: "awful" and "within acceptable parameters".
@@BigMamaDaveX
xD.
Yea, i feel like i am a lot less "wowed" by movies the last, oh i dunno, 15-20 years ^_^
This is why I love Ann!! You aren’t just telling us about the different chocolate, but going in depth with similarities, differences, and using people to compare.
I now want to go out and try different types of chocolate because of you!!
.
Very bad idea. Don't accept advice on what you should eat from people that want to sell you "food".
One day I tasted the chocolate from an old little shop run by a family of chocolate makers since 1930 and I discovered REAL chocolate! It’s just like all another food: I usually don’t really like chocolate, but that one is different. Please support your local shops, sometimes you can find incredible thing thanks to them!
I used to think that I didn't like chocolate until I learned in a documentary about the different types of beans and how bars are made and I got curious about it. Today I really love dark chocolate, but I only buy very small quantities of very good quality bars. A lot of people who tells me that they don't like dark chocolate have been impressed so far when they taste it.
So true. When you have only tasted bad grocery store chocolate good craft chocolate tastes so much better.
I think this is my favorite H2CT video yet. Excellent information density paired with really good visuals (I really adored the map, especially what you did at 6:36). The flavor interviews were really powerful- they did a superb job showing the variation between different regions' beans, and it was particularly telling that even though people didn't describe the beans in the exact same terms, everyone still tended to cluster around flavor profiles unique to each bean. That there were *preferences* rather than "this one is good and this one is bad" made me think about what kind of experience we could all be having as chocolate consumers. This video has certainly inspired me to investigate further on my own!
I had a subscription box for chocolate a while back and it was only then I started to realise chocolate tastes so different from the supermarket bars I was used to - you can taste the fermentation, there’s so much character in it. Anyway, after the subscription ended chocolate was of course ruined for me 😂
Do you remember the name of that? Bc it sounds so good!
@@justanotherclaud I'd like to know too!
I triple that request for a company name, please!
I'd like to quadruple that request
Quintuple
This was a great taste test. We have a chocolate shop near me called The Meadow and they carry so so so many single origins bars, bars that have unique tastes and techniques, bars from all over the world.
If you haven't had the pleasure of trying single origin or artisan chocolate, it will change your life.
The Meadow is so cool! I love visiting them when I can! (And I love that they have mystery boxes, those are so fun!)
@@DessertGeek ohhh they have mystery boxes? I need to visit soon...
oh, I mainly go there for salt! I'll have to try the chocolates.
I will never cease to be amazed at Anne's ability to break down complex topics in an understandable way. Keep up the good work Anne!
This video just made me go out and spend £100+ at London Chocolate since they do single source chocolate bars. It was crazy to me how good dark chocolate could taste, and how different each of the bars could be, even with it just being cocao and sugar. Thank you, Ann!
More money than sense...your pensioners are starving.
@@oliviamartini9700 If no one buys the expensive chocolate, then the chocolate makers will be starving too.
I would love to try some single source bars now, too! I don't know where to get them but I will have to try and find some
Me spending £100 at a local business helps the economy, and by relation, those starving pensioners, far more than it just sitting in my bank account.
@@oliviamartini9700 Why are you here to shame on how some bloke spends his hard earned pay? He didn't write the laws that have the pensioners starving. Let him alone and write to your politicians if you have a bone to pick.
The boys were actually VERY descriptive with their tastings, " ripe bananer and butterscotch" I'm impressed with how specific they were :)
Haha this reminds me so much of culinary school. Most of my classmates agree that Lindt is bland as a chocolate. However I argue that this is advantageous during chocolate bon bon making because then you can really concentrate on the filling, almost like a blank canvas.
Would love a part 2 of this video where you explain how ruby chocolate is made!
Lindt make a variety of different chocolates. Not all are bland. The sweeter ones are. The 85% rich dark version is nice imho. It's fair for its price.
@@zvikaso for most people, the 85% is nice but for most of us in the culinary world, it's considered a bland chocolate. This is because it tends to lack depth of taste, there is no evolution as the chocolate lingers on your tongue and melts. Of course it all comes down to personal enjoyment at the end of the day so if you enjoy it, enjoy it! I am definitely shamed by my peers for liking Somersby cider and nobody can tell me differently. :)
That Lindt bar you showed was part of a recent consumer report about lead and cadmium in chocolate. I would love to hear you talk about the implications of that report.
Loved the way they say bar, Bhe!😂
The implications are it's bad. That probably shouldn't be in food. All sorts of shit is in food though so
Yes I was going to add a comment about that as well. I'd like to know if it's true or not.
22 other brands exceed also violated California's maximum allowable dose levels for lead or cadmium. The implications of that report are that cocoa farmers and the cocoa industry need to implement better agricultural practices such as reducing wet cocoa bean contact with soil and dust, and soil-testing at farms.
@@Alexander_C69 and equipment consumpion. lead and cadmium are found in metal alloys, aka: check the grinders and all metallic tools used in the process that are prolly overused.
This reminds me a lot of the difference between commercial and specialty coffee. The process is slightly different but it seems there are more similarities than differences.
I also note that your eldest has really good vocabulary for tasting. You've clearly taught him well!
I was going to comment the same thing. I know a bit about the coffee industry because my partner works in specialty coffee, and it's so similar! I was even surprised at the similarities of roasting the beans longer to get rid of undesirable flavors.
It's so cool that smaller companies are working directly with farms to help them fine tune their product.
Yep .. was also my observation.
Coffee, but really many other household products available made by small local companies and the bland but cheaper version by big name brands.
I thought of the coffee comparison as well. Since we seem to really love chocolate, someone likely could make a killing by using the start-up concepts of Starbucks on cocoa beans. My guess is that the concept would really grow.
I was lucky enough to have a friend from El Salvador that lived in the jungle; her family made molcajette fudge (cocoa + rock sugar ground together into a paste and dried) it was somewhat chalky, and it was THE BEST chocolate I have ever had in my life. The abundance of flavors and smell was like no chocolate I had ever had or have had since.
This sounds similar to chocolate done without conching! I can easily believe it was the best you’ve ever had, the powdery (?) texture is incredible!
I bet someone has a mole sauce recipe that's next level compared to the stuff you get in jars
I'm proud of our booming infant chocolate industry. Even though it only recently started few years ago, our local producers were able to produce world class cacao beans and chocolate products that are starting to get attention in the international stage. Thank you for including the cholate industry of the Philippines. BTW, I'm eating a coffee-dark chocolate bar produced from Davao right now. :)
I live in Davao and I see local chocolates here a lot but I've been taking them for granted! Definitely will be buying some when I'm out shopping
Waiiit, what brands are they? Would love to buy them
@@blazechaos212 where do you live? I'm not quite sure what brands export internationally. The one in the video is a UK brand i think that offers philippine-sourced beans for their limited edition line. Famous Filipino brands that I can name for now that source their chocolates from the same region are Malagos Chocolate, Auro Chocolates, Cacao Culture, Cacao de Davao and The Chocolate Bean.
@@snflwrchan8019 I see. I live in Iligan City, in Northern Mindanao
I've been enjoying Malagos chocolate recently. They're great chocolates from Davao.
I’m in love with the fact you have that tree growing. Its going to be so amazing and special when it gets fruit. I can see you making your own special chocolate.
It really does suck that colesworth seemingly adamantly refuse to stock any fair trade chocolate, and insist on only stocking chocolate from slaver companies. I have to look a lot harder and pay a lot more to get actually decent chocolate that is slavery-free.
I just say screw it and buy Tony's chocoloney, but it seems to be hard to find. Quite depressing how prevalent nestle and mondelez is, and both companies produce awful quality. It's really sad how Cadburys tastes like a skeleton of its former self
if i ever buy chocolate at coles or woolies i always get whittakers
Woolworths sells Loving Earth chocolate in the health food isle. It’s fair trade.
@@Jakey4000 I only find them at the high end supermarkets which I don't really shop at
Unfortunately, that's usually the reason when something is so cheap - they use slave labour and/or produce their goods in countries where workers have far fewer rights.
I went to a workshop on chocolate and they had samples from all over the world for every stage of the production, when they offered us the raw cocoa bean we were shocked and disgusted!
There was a room were you could smell the beans from different countries, they all had a specific fragrance, so cool!
this is so cool!
The raw cacao bean actually tastes good when it still has the goopy stuff on it. It tastes like a fresh fruit, like a mango! But don't bite down, the bean itself is very bitter
As a former chocolatier, I thought I knew a lot about chocolate. I have specific chocolate makers that are my go-to for product, but I never really thought about WHY. This was a highly informative and highly entertaining video! Such engrossing delivery and format, and I learned so much. Thank you for this video!
Wonderful content!!
I used to be part of this cocoa chain (supplychain) largely for NYBOT and LIFFE (now both changed their names).
Just to add my 2 cents worth;
1. Cocoa beans travel half way around the world to be processed. This has a very damaging effect on the beans. There are infestations, condensations, extra fermentation due to condensations etc.
2. The demand for cocoa beans have grown exponentially in last 10 odd years. Hence the supply has become relatively tighter. Everyone is trying to get as much beans as possible. Hence the threshold for all grades have been somewhat lowered.
3. Recycled beans become a big business. The extra fermented or other low grades beans were not so much in demand years ago. Yet these have become super hot as their cost was super low before. Hence there are specialists who collect and trades these low grade beans. The problem is, small producers would not have sufficient volume to blend these into their line, hence those are mostly used by ‘large’ producers. There used to be some Chinese backed producers who specialised in low grade beans but after their collapse, the supply have been available to anyone who wants it. So many of the cost conscious producers adopted low grade beans more and more. This trend will only continue to grow as the crop yield is likely to fall and the demand stays strong.
We are seeing more and more ‘artificial flavouring’ introduced to the products. Unfortunately this is likely to continue and grow as the constraint supply will be squeezed even tighter and demand will only grow with population growth.
The good old true chocolates will soon the out of reach for many. Shame.
This makes sense to me because even Lindt chocolate tasted better 10 or 15 years ago. Now it's inedible
Thanks for sharing
Hersheys always had a waxy taste. Wonder why?
I wish we could somehow collectively agree to indulge in good quality chocolate maybe once a week. Stop wasting it in milk and cereals and cakes and cheap treats. Treat it like the specialty product it is.
Out of curiosity, what do you think about the possibility of people isolating the different bacterial strains for more precise fermentation? Do you think it'd be a good thing or a bad thing if other places could use the bacterial strains to grow and ferment cacao outside of its natural habitat in greenhouses?
I remember visiting a Cacao plantation, in the mountains of Sucre, Venezuela. All the plantation belonged to a single family that lived around it, below the trees, above those evergreen mountains, always humid, with very little light reaching the ground, because of the very high trees that grew above, and the cacao was fuchsia, or orange, or both. That family happened to be MY family by my mother's side. All those people were actually my cousins, or uncles and aunties. I will never forget that trip.
Protect this lady at all costs... The amount of knowledge i get from her channel is just amazing and how she beautifully explains it.. Thankyou Ann
I feel a weird sense of kinship, when I see how grown up your kids are getting.
Thanks for you continuing efforts! Your videos keep getting better without losing the authenticity and personal charm of your early content.
I swear every single video they look different 😭 growing up too fast
I know exactly what he meant at 4:56
We had these huge Hoya plants in our house as a kid, and when they'd bloom, the flowers begin forming little nectar beads and drip. That nectar had a very distinct, sweet, almost rose-like flavor. Not sure if you can straight up eat the flower, but the nectar was totally safe.
I will never forget the first time I tried cocoa nibs from a local company that makes their own cocoa products (including chocolate). It really gives you a sense of what cocoa really tastes like.
Yeah bitter and nasty. So happy they add sugar and milk or it would be miserable. More like coffee
@@miunya maybe try another kind of chocolate
I know what you mean, I love milk chocolate cocoa nibs, it feels like you the best of both worlds, sweet, vanilla-y, dairy on the outside and rich, crunchy flavors on the inside.
Please note that I can't ABIDE coffee, the smell, the taste, it's makes me physically ill.
yeah, disgustingly bitter.
@@freshdumbledore8177 no, he is right. cocoa by itself, and 100% cocoa chocolate is bitter and plastic like, even if it's hand-made at the best place, i can tell you from experience, and that is also the science behind it. What you enjoy about chocolate is the milk, sugar, etc.
Finally someone said it! I can’t tell people enough about how fancy Indonesian cocoa specifically is different from standard commercial chocolate! I legitimately bought a bag of cocoa nibs to make into tea when I returned to Singapore 😢 you should try the brands Krakatoa and Jika, it’s made by Indonesians without the foreign middleman
Nib tea? Please explain! I love tea and have never heard of this, do you steep it just like a regular tisane or do you need to do anything special with it?
@@ArtsyImagination it’s really just a regular tisane
Hiii can you tell me where to buy or find these Indonesian chocolate please because I am Indonesian and I consider myself a chocolate lover (clearly not quite since I have only ever eaten the "famous" and "basic/usual" brands of chocolate, and I would love to try out some local chocolate especially after watching Ann's video😂
@@TryinaD thanks a bunch, can't wait to taste them 😍
Last year, I did a brownie tasting at an upscale chocolatier - each brownie was made using different chocolates from different locales. It was funny because everyone asked me, did they really even taste different? Yes, absolutely! One was very fruity and tangy (like raspberries and yogurt), one was very sweet and floral (like honey), and one was very fudgy and a little savory (think like brushing olive oil on brownies). I've completely stopped buying mass-produced chocolate, and it is pretty shocking how bland it tastes after you make the switch.
I hadn't realized how complex the process was to make the end product for the cacao beans. It honestly sounds a lot like making cheese, with all the enzymes and fermentation processes. No wonder it's so complex and varied in all the different regions of the world.
this was so interesting and definitely has me wanting to invest in some single origin chocolate bars from smaller farms and makers even though they will be more expensive than the big brand stuff. Sounds worth it as a treat
Invest in chocolate 😂
I wish there was more information out there about the unsafe lead and cadmium levels in chocolate, so we could make informed decisions about buying from smaller chocolate makers like these.
This video showed up whilst I was eating my Lindt 78% chocolate.😅 I tried to get flavours from it and I just couldn't really distinguish anything besides what I would think of as chocolate bitter and sugar. I am an absolute sucker for super in-depth detailed videos about super specific things such as the topic that you're discussing. All the information is really well presented and this video is absolutely fantastic, I am definitely going to try some new brands. thanks Ann!!!
I can't stand Lindt, now I don't have to feel guilty about that!
BB is watching you.
Theres even some small independant chocolate growers/companies popping up in Australia/Queensland in the past few years! Same goes for coffee as well. Would love to see a coffee episode similar to this, and would love if you could include some Aussie coffee if you can get your hands on it
oh yes, I looked up the QLD growers. I'd like to get up there one day
I would say that already 80 % of this video applies to coffee, too :) Single origin/processing/taste profiles/roasting etc.
This video makes me more happy than it should. I've always thought that when people say they love that Freia brand, I just go "What the flork are you talking about? It tastes like dust". I thought I was going crazy there for a bit.
I am a chocolatier and work in a small bear-to-bar chocolaterie and regularly do chocolate tastings with people. They are always so surpised as to all the different flavours 😊
I’d love to see a part 2 about the “pre-Lindt process” chocolates (done without conching), since some are still made that way and that’s closer to how chocolate was made in central and South America. The texture and flavour changes SO much since you can feel each ingredients so clearly and distinctly because they haven’t melted.
I once had such chocolate at a museum... It wasn't for me to be honest. 😅
There is a manufacturer in Bayonne in the Southwest of France that still produces some that way, it's interesting but I like the post-Lindt chocolate better haha
Its not just the taste and ingredients (yes palm oil, I'm looking at you), Cadbury's went from the most trusted brand in NZ to No.36 in the space of only a couple of years. It now sits at what appears to be near permanent discount and Whitakers occupies the premium space at supermarkets. In terms of taste, freshly hand made chocolate in Zurich Switzerland (eat in 3 days, no preservatives) was a highlight :)
Kraft ruined Cadburys. Here in the UK basically we all kicked off because the chocolate now tastes more American candy bar than chocolate bar. Cadburys used to be UK's top selling chocolate bars because of the quality.
00:25 🍫 Different types of cocoa beans result in distinct chocolate flavors.
03:33 🌍 The location where cocoa beans are grown significantly influences chocolate flavor.
07:35 🍇 Fermentation is a critical step in developing the flavor of cocoa beans.
09:19 🕒 Even a minor change in fermentation time affects the flavor profile of the chocolate.
11:53 🌐 Many cocoa farmers have never tasted chocolate made from their own beans, which highlights the need for better education and communication in the industry.
14:47 🔬 Conching, a process that refines chocolate texture, can either enhance or diminish flavors depending on itsduration.
yes! many chances to develop interesting flavours.
Exactly as wine. I do wine more than 10 years, result is unpredictable, it depends of various factors including grape condition, yeast, maceration, maturing... Some of 7 or 5 years old are brocken, some others are delicious. Endless journey).
This video is absolutely wonderful. Not just the topic, but the storytelling, the presentation, the editing, everything. Beautifully done. Now I'm craving chocolate before I've even had my breakfast...
As a German, Lindt chocoalte was always kind of the best thing out there. Except for whenever I go to our local chocolatier here, because their stuff is just beyond amazing but I could never tell why. Now this explains it so thoroughly!
Lindt is not the only good brand in Switzerland, there are a lot of other brands there which are very good.
I prefer milk chocolate to dark any day.
God, Dave is so freaking hilarious! The world is a much better place because of your family! God bless you guys, lord knows we need more people like you!
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of going to the Dominican Republic with family. We went on a tour of a cacao farm. We saw all the stages Ann mentioned, from fruits being harvested to fermentation to drying. The owner of the farm roasted a few of the beans himself over wood coals, and then roughly ground them with a metate. I got to try some, and it tasted nutty, chocolaty, and a little bit like coffee. It was an experience I hope I never forget.
That sounds like such a fun experience!
My sister gave me a single origin chocolate bar and I can honestly say that I tasted fruits while eating it. I even checked the label to see if I was eating a fruit and nut bar but it wasn't. Just some good quality chocolate.
Went to the Seattle chocolate festival last year with some friends. Sooo many lovely chocolates.
Just chocolate doesn't have fruity flavors...
Coming from a chocolate country (that grows cocoa) I can’t stand the standard American chocolate😖
@Di :3 we ruined suits at first too. America was the China of the 19th century to manufacturing.
@@di3486 The Philippines has a growing cocoa industry but chocolate hipsters from the western world has priced out many of the locals from tasting it.
I started getting into artisanal chocolate a couple years ago and love tasting the different flavors. My sister and I went to Vegas in January and she came home with a $200 purse while I came home with $200 of artisanal chocolate bars, truffles, etc 😂
Just in case you've not already fallen into that and need another expensive hobby :P
Try specialty coffee. It relates quite well to chocolate as you can get many similar flavours and it often grows in similar regions.
Never buy chocolate in USA. That are the worst quality on earth. There are lots of videos explaining the reasons for this ónline. It really are last place on earth to get good chocolate. .
Ooh I think you won out!
You chose wisely! 😉
@Mike There are some awesome chocolatiers in the US. Why would you not buy their chocolate? I've had great artisanal chocolate made by American chocolatiers.
Woah, your production quality just keeps going up. This was fantastic, learnt a lot and so well made! The coffee habit is bad enough, but now I want real chocolate xD
I feel you bro haha :)
If you love both coffee and chocolate than better try to find whole roasted cocoa beans or high quality cocoa powder and brew it just like coffee, you'll get all the flavor without any sugar or additives. It's about as bitter as deeply roasted coffee and almost as strong a stimulant (the theobromine in cocoa is closely related to caffeine, even binding to the same receptors), so treat it like a cup of coffee and don't stack them. And, by the way, drinking coffee isn't a bad habit, in moderate quantities is actually quite healthy.
@@Dr_V Woah, thanks for the description, going to have to try that one day, sounds like an experience! Oh I meant the time and money invested in the habit was bad enough without adding a new obsession :D
I'm a single origin chocolate maker based in Indonesia, this video provides great education for consumers around the world! Big brands don't have the best products, if anything they actually have lower quality mass produced bars
So interesting! Same goes for wine, coffee, tofu, and many other foods: the farm and early processing have a huge impact on the quality and flavor profile, and small manufacturers have a higher chance of creating something flavorfull and unique. Up-scaling the process results in muted flavors and a sort of mediocare/avareged-out flavor and texture.
I do not think that the upscaling of the process is the root cause. Small manufacturers cannot afford to sell the same product as big companies. They need to cater to customers with higher expectations and the willingness to pay for a better product. The big company can sell a product that is Ok but not great and make their profit with the bulk of sale. This results in product that offends noone but is average in every way. Some even have the chuzpe to replace hazelnuts and cocoa with much cheaper fats and sugar and call it an improved recipe.
As many people simply do not make the experience of consuming products away from the mainstream they are also trained to like it.
Completely irrelevant when the original health benefits from the cocoa fruit pulp completely disappear from the final product. Just ask a factory to make your favorite chocolate but without any sugar at all. Then comeback and tell us what was it like.
@@profounddamas Rajoles makes a 100% chocolate with no added sugar. It has a slight acidity and is less bitter than some of the 70% chocolates. I like it but I would never offer it to people who prefer milk chocolate (that would a waste of perfectly good choclate). At around 4-5 € per 80 g bar it is not cheap but still affordable.
As a diabetic, I can still eat chocolate (in *moderation*) when there isn't much sugar added, and LINDT 85% (And higher) chocolate really tastes extremely bland. Sometimes I'm able to find fairtrade chocolate with similar amounts of sugar and cocoa percentage and the taste difference is indeed amazing. Thanks for clearing up the reasons ... and now I need to check whether I still have some in my fridge :P
I've had Lily's chocolate over the years. It's quite good. It's got stevia instead of sugar. They've got dark, milk and white chocolate varieties. There's mint, caramel, even a cookies and cream. They also make chocolate chips, which I've successfully made truffles with.
Japan has a Meiji chocolate (common brand) that's 88% and it's very smooth but very bitter, too.
This is the best chocolate education video ever, and I have seen many. The best part is the in-depth explanation of the flavor process and variation through the many farms and the challenges that are involved.👍
Food science really is fascinating! Had no idea chocolate was a result of fermentation.
Edit: they just ran a Lindt ad on top of your video 😂
First time I tasted small-batch chocolate it was mind blowing. It was an explosion of fruity and floral flavors that went far beyond what I could ever imagine. Incredibly rich and complex. Since then, Ecuadorian and Bolivian have become my favorites. Incredibly fruity and floral, almost reminiscent of sweet, young white wines.
I used to love chocolate but my palette totally changed in the past decade. This makes me want to replicate tastings at home. I love the idea of revisiting neglected senses & mundanities I take for granted sometimes.
I love your thoroughly researched deep dives. Your work is greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much, lots of research for this one.
You've inspired me. My husband (who doesn't really care for chocolate) and I (who loves chocolate) bought fancy chocolate that's from specific places and fermented for certain lengths and roasted certain amounts. And I love chocolate even more now! It's so cool and complex. And my husband has figured out he likes chocolate less and really does prefer white chocolate and the least like chocolate chocolate you can buy. Lol.
Aww, I thought this story was going to end with your husband discovering af let's one type of chocolate he actually liked. 😂
"it's so cool and complex" you just leveled up to Hipster Supreme. No really though, enjoy your $10 50g chocolate bar.
@@TickleMeTimbersif you watched the vid you'd realise shes not doing it to be a hipster
@@Christoff070 if you weren't retarded you'd realize he's talking about the commenter
White chocolate is making a resurgence in the craft chocolate industry with so many great inclusions. It is like a canvas fro craft chocolate makers. So many interesting and tasty bars out there right now.
8:35 Now we know what that bitter taste was... Smelly feet xD
XD
I'm Mexican and one more time I feel... So sad that Mexico is not mentioned in a chocolate video. Over here, before the colonization, the cacao tree was considered to be gifted to the men by gods and cacao seeds were considered so valuable, there were used as exchange coin. The consumption of Xocolatl, a beverage made from cacao seeds, diferent spices, water and corn has been tracked to the mayan civilization over 2500 years ago.
By the time the colonizers got here, the Aztecs reserved the consumption of Xocolatl for the higher members of society, when colonizers tasted the Xocolatl, changed the water for milk and the spices for sugar, creating modern chocolate and exporting it to the world, but currently we still use cacao seeds and chocolate for many different traditional dishes and beverages.
I thought this was odd too, I wonder if this is an Australian thing, because in the US it's fairly easy to find Mexican chocolate.
i was surprised too, all mexican chocolate bars i ever tasted were really unique in taste
Yes, chocolate came from the New World. It was hijacked.
YES! I feel that any video on how chocolates got ruined should begin with the European need to grow cacao closer to their ports of trade and in countries where they didn't need to care about the humans and cultures that would grow it. Combining colonial mindset and an utter disrespect for the slaves they got to do their work?!? No wonder the priceless nature of chocolate was disrespected and devolved. The Yucatan peninsula is its birthplace and will forever define chocolate for me.
@@bilson7523 Likely. Importing things to Australia is a nightmare
Ann this video was amazing! I love the format and I actually watched it twice so I could compare their flavor opinions to each region again. I had no idea there were different types of chocolate. Thank you so much. It is clear how much research, effort, and care you put in. We appreciate it. Commenting just to boost you up even the tiniest bit more. Hope you hit trending again because you all deserve it. ❤
I love all of your debunking and cake save videos, but this was so educational, I loved it! ❤
Ann, you're always good at explaining stuff.
thanks Byron 🛎
She's such a great documentarian and teacher; we need more Ann in the world to set everybody straight. ('Ann Reardon, Chief Explainer to the UN'. End of wars forever).
I've been seeing your videos from across the world in South America, specifically Colombia for almost 2 years now, I always learn so much and enjoy your recipes, thank you for doing your best to inform and make the world a better place
Thanks Laura 💕😀
@@HowToCookThat the end information about conching was really interesting Ann. I had heard about this process, but never really thought about the fact that multi national companies would need a means to ensure consistency in their end product ,and that conching could/would supply that consistency.
You inspire me to go out and try many more different brands of chocolate to see if l can taste the differences. Thank you from a confirmed, very long time chocolate lover ❤
Incredible! As a chocolate lover I had no idea there was so much intricacies from the time cacao is harvest all the way to it's final product and how almost everything involved in its process affects the flavour of the chocolate
This was utterly fascinating!! Thank you for the time you obviously put into this. ❤
Thanks for making this video Ann! Loved the use of your sons, non chocolate lover husband and your two friends giving their unbiased opinion of different types of chocolate from around the world. I will probably come back to this video one day and watch it again when I am looking to try a new type of chocolate. Also, very informative on showing the steps and labor involved bringing this decadent dessert to our store shelves.
I thought they looked alike, makes sense now :)
I get so happy when I see Ann's video...the magic she creates by combining science and art.💕
So excited to see this! I work in a chocolate factory in Utah that specializes in single origin chocolate and other chocolate tastes so flat now!
Please tell us the name of your company. I want to buy good US chocolate. I love Utah's Redmond Real Salt.
Where is this? I live in Utah
Where? I live in Utah and would love some awesome chocolate.
@@rutht2023 Logan! Utah State has a chocolate factory now:)
@@stelaidrizi Logan :) at Utah State University!
Man, now I really want to actually taste all of this because I am not even sure what chocolate is anymore. Lindt here is considered one of the best chocolates but Milka instead is the one that sells more frequently. They mix that with milk, I believe, and I like the flavour of that very much. I really want to try all of these that you've tried because those sound like new and exciting flavours
Milka is absolute garbage. Way too sweet, a lot of cheap milk powder and added vanilla aroma. It's a shame.
Milka had a few decent milk chocolates in the 90s, but every time I tried their products in the last 2 decades I was disappointed. I think they (along with all but a few Côte d'Or's products) really started going downhill after being acquired by Mondelez.
@@RFC3514 Côte d'Or used to be good, but it totally disappeared from our stores when the brand was bought.
@@Liisa3139 - You should be able to order them online, but I wouldn't bother with their bonbons (namely the formerly excellent Bouchées, that are nowhere near as good now).
Their thin dark chocolate bars (intense, sesame, pointe de sel, etc.) and the Truffé Noir bars are still very good, though, at least in Europe (they might make them in different places now, since Mondelez has factories all over).
@@RFC3514 I used to love Kilt bar, the dark chocolate one. Maybe the one that is now called Zero is similar?
I love that tasting chocolate is like a wine. A lot of the same verbiage, and even how they’re made is more alike than I would have thought! No wonder they pair together so well. 🍷 🍫
Making chocolate is such a complicated process it makes me wonder how anyone discovered it.
A guess a long history of trial and error. And maybe a couple of happy accidents.
People have been fermenting, boiling, baking, roasting and mixing everything throughout history. The things one can make with just water ferment and grain alone… it’s part of our survival mechanism to try out these things. Once a product is discovered it’s generations of experimentation and refinery till it becomes a widespread product
9:30 Dave describing the flavor of fermented beans as “demure” cracked me up
very demure, very mindful