What I did on my birthday....

I opened lots of presents.....I visited lots of friends....I spilled lots of food all over myself....I ate some South American Chocolate and even won a bar to take home. In short I had a great day.

I have never been a huge fan of dark chocolate. That is a well known fact, but after tasting some of the finer chocolates last night, I can say that I now appreciate it.

Some interesting facts. 87% of the worlds chocolate production is done with the Forasero bean. It tends to be waxy, and if you have ever had Hersheys chocolate, you know what I mean. This bean is used because it has the highest yield per hectare and is the cheapest by the tom of the the three species of beans.

10% of the world population os Cacao is called Trinirario. It is a hybrid of Forastero and Criollo beans. It was created after WWII in the hopes of producing a tree and pods that were more robust but carried the same Criollo taste in the seed. Most of these plants are grown in the Caribbean.

Less that 5% of the worlds production is Criollo. It is by far the most expensive and fragile bean on the market and is now cultivated mostly in Venezuela, where it still represents one ton out of 6ooo produced. This plant is very delicate and is grown only in shade and polenated by gnats.

Here are the chocolates that we tasted and the % of Cacao that they contained.

Cluizel Baking chocolate 99% It was a chance to try chocolate with out sugar. It had a touch of orange peel and was very bitter.

Valhorona Guanaja 70% A blend of criollo and trinitaria from the island of Guanaja, off the coast of Honduras. Smooth but not complex.

Amedei Venezuela 70% A blend of Trinitarios and maybe Criollos from Venezuela. High- temperature conchinig leads to a strong caramel flavor that over powers the other more subtle aromas. I didn't taste or smell the caramel at all.

Amedei La Tavoletta 70% Bean source unknown. Its a very dark roast and not for everyday eating.

El Rey Apamate 73.5% They specialize in the famed Carnero Superior trinitatio bean from the Barlovento region west of Caracas. This is an exceptionally smooth and balanced chocolate, the sweetest 73% bar because it has not intrinsic bitterness from the bean.

Amedei chuao 70% From the famed isolated peninsula north of Caracas, this subspecies of Crillo is said by some to be the best in the world. Fruity and silky.

Amedei Porcelana 70% A creilli subspecies from north central Venezuela, Porcelana is the most expensive bean in the world. Nutty and fruity, delicate yet lasts a long time on the tongue. In our Host, Dave's opinion, the finest chocolate in the world.

Where to: learn more about chocolate.


Also: Where to buy

Dave was a good host, very funny and friendly. We met some nice people. I have to say that it wasn't what Raine thought it was going to be but I think it was very interesting and fun. I'm not sure I was in the right mood to chat with a bunch of strangers, I always need a heads up when I have to be socialable with strangers but I really did enjoy the group that I chatted with. I was very chilly so I didn't take off my coat and when I got home I realized how glad I was that I didn't. At dinner I had sent a lobster tail flying and ended up with far more spots on my shirt that I could have imagined. I think I may have splattered poor Christophers new shirt too. I felt so bad about that. I washed mine and it came out so I hope that it comes out of Christophers too. If not, I will have to buy him another shirt. Overall, it was a great night. I'm so glad that Raine found out about this little get together. It was a new experience, very interesting and I almost forgot to mention Dave's cats. They were pretty but frankly they were lacking many of the qualities that Tooch and Twit have. Oh...we had to take of out shoes because Dave is a bit of a neat freak, not because we had to play twister. I'm not even going to bother explaining why a guy said to me, "Oh and you are Wet?" lol, jez.... lets just say that i scratched the face paint that had my shortened name across my cheek. It took me a second to realize that the guy was just being friendly and not filthy. I thought he was another one of those freaks that I tend to meet. LOL.