Chocolate

I finally stopped by TCHO last Saturday.  I love chocolate and have had many blind taste tests of various chocolates.  My favorite, for a long time has been Valrhona.  I usually use the 55% Equatorial Noire Feves because it is very close to the Le Noir Gastronomie 61% I enjoy most and comes in easily melted pieces.  I have compared it with Guittard, Hershey, Ghirardelli, El Rey, Callebaut, and any other brand of dark chocolate I can get my hands on.  I like chocolate with a strong snap and crunch on the first bite developing into a long-lasting chocolaty finish.  All that fluffy citrus/floral/nutty tastes fall off in favor of a deep chocolate flavor.

TCHO has a chocolate flavored chocolate.  It's quite good.  I love TCHOPro Baking Drops 68% as it is a combination of their chocolaty and nutty.  Like the Valrhona, it snaps well and has a long-lasting flavor.  Unlike Valrhona, the chocolate takes on a creaminess like a dove chocolate as it melts.  It's very good and I recommend it highly.

So, you ask, what chocolates do I turn to?  You now know my choices for dark couverture chocolate.  My cocoa powder of choice is Callebaut.  It has the richest cocoa I have tried.  I tend to turn to Sharffen Berger for unsweetened and nothing for milk chocolate.  I think I've lost my interest in milk chocolate.  For simple eating pleasure?  I go for a piece of couverture.