I'm on a journey to explore the world of American craft chocolate

Notes From the Underground Chocolate Salon

When you get 20 chocolate lovers in a room together, you learn things, even if your day job is thinking about craft chocolate 24/7. For example, apparently D’Agostino’s in Manhattan sells cacao juice (or they will until later this week, when I buy ALL of it). Also, that the brands “Dandelion Chocolate” and “Dancing Lion Chocolate” sound pretty similar if you have a sinus infection. Also, one of the chocolate makers who came to this salon has 400 pounds of cocoa beans in his apartment.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “WTF is an Underground Chocolate Salon?” I’ve always been jealous of Paris in the 1920s, when artistic and literary luminaries gathered at Gertrude Stein’s house to talk and hang out: Picasso, Cézanne, Joyce, Eliot, Cocteau. Only one thing would have made it better: chocolate. That’s why I started what I’m calling the Underground Chocolate Salon, for like-minded (or not so like-minded) people to get together and talk chocolate, as well as enjoy one another’s company.

If you want a spot at the next one, in New York on Tuesday, September 6 from 6:30 to 8 PM, email me immediately at megan@chocolatenoise.com to let me know and I’ll send you the details and location. Spots are super limited for this one!

In the meantime here are some notes from last week’s salon.

Fruition, 74% Costa Rica

Tangy, creamy, tart, bright, unexpected, acidic/fruity

French Broad, 73% Guatemala

Tobacco, nutty, smells sweet, less creamy than Fruition, “something woodsy”

Monsieur Truffle (from Australia!), 72% Jamaica

“Slippery,” very shiny, “tastes overroasted,” not much flavor, cocoa butter/greasy, very thin bar

Michael Laiskonis at ICE, 70% St. Lucia

“Punch to it,” burned rubber tire, bitter, astringent, bready/yeasty/molasses, “tastes like closets” (note: I’ve had this bar for several months and it did, in fact, sit in my closet)

Batch Craft, 65% Ecuador With Vanilla

Definitely a flavored bar, nutty, sweet, lots of cocoa butter, rounded, balanced, strong vanilla taste, “like a chocolate cookie”