Last month, we talked about the differences between Chocolate Makers and Chocolatiers. This month we will talk about Chocolate Sommeliers. What exactly is a chocolate sommelier? Well, a good Chocolate Taster, is someone who can be defined as a chocolate sommelier. They are able to recognize a wide range of aromas and flavors when tasting a dark chocolate. The cacao releases aromas which the mind connects to flavors and aromas that are already known. Tasting chocolate is an art and ritual. Made for an experience which involves all of the senses. It is important to taste and not only eat the chocolate. While on Maui, come visit Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours to have an authentic tasting experience! Keep reading on to discover more about the art of chocolate tasting.

How to taste chocolate

Like wine experts, professional chocolate makers and connoisseurs use a simple but systematic procedure to unlock all the nuances in a bite of chocolate. With a few tips and tricks, you can learn to taste chocolate like a pro! Slowing down, savoring, and focusing your attention on taste and texture is exactly how to do it. Therefore, you will discover all the benefits of tasting chocolate.

There is no “right, or wrong” way to taste chocolate. In our opinion, the best chocolate is the one you like the most. No two people perceive aroma or taste flavors exactly the same way. Each persons texture can differ from one palate to another. Your individual chocolate palate evolves and sharpens over time with experience. When tasting, look for, notice, and describe what pleases you in the chocolates you taste as well as what you find less appealing about a specific chocolate.

Tasting the chocolate

Use your eyes: The chocolate should be compact with uniform color and its surface homogenous, bright and flawless.

Smell: Concentrate on its aroma to discover the intensity and richness of aromatic notes.

Taste: Let the chocolate melt in the mouth slowly, without breaking or chewing it with your teeth. Take the time to appreciate its flavor and all the aromas you are able to recognize. In this way, just one small piece will be enough to give you a lasting and pleasant sensation.

How to preserve chocolate

Preservation of the chocolate is extremely important. Keep the chocolate away from direct light and sources of heat. Chocolates have a long shelf life, so you can shop early and they will still be good for the holidays. Months after the holidays have passed, you can still dig into those boxed chocolates!

Here’s some tips for chocolate preservation :

• The ideal temperature is between 16° and 18°centigrade with a relative humidity of less than 50%
• For best results, store boxed chocolates at a moderate room temperature
• Wrap tightly to keep the odors away
• Do not keep chocolate in the fridge or in a cupboard unless it is well sealed, otherwise it may become contaminated
• If the climate in your home is routinely above 70° Fahrenheit and humid, or if you can’t polish off an entire box of chocolates within a few months…your next best option is to refrigerate or freeze your boxed chocolates.
• How long do boxed chocolates last in the fridge or freezer? As a general rule, refrigerating chocolate can extend its shelf life by at least 25%, while freezing can prolong it by 50% or more. Place the original box in a heavy-duty plastic freezer bag, seal it tightly and then refrigerate for up to one year or freeze for up to 18 months for best quality. Thaw frozen chocolates in the refrigerator.
• How long does a box of chocolates last at room temperature? Stored under those moderate temperatures, most types of boxed chocolates will retain their quality for at least 6 to 9 months, even after they been opened.

Experience Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours

Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours is a local business offering tours at Kupa’a Farms, in Upcountry Maui. With our private tours, you will get an exclusive and educational experience. Laughing while tasting chocolate and coffee for the entire duration of the tour is how we do it! The tours include everything from the beginning of the chocolate on the cacao tree, all the way to being made into chocolate! The private group size is limited to 8 people. Smaller groups keep the experience more intimate since there is a hands-on chocolate making demonstration as part of the adventure. We explore the many flavors of chocolates that are single origin sourced from around the world coming from different latitudes. The tasting will include at least 2 chocolates from Hawaii. After your tour, you will fully understand how rare chocolates from Hawaii are, and especially from Maui.

We hope that you enjoy your sensational time tasting chocolate! Embrace the art of chocolate tasting, and delve into your favorite flavors. Don’t forget to book a tour with us at Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours to try our delicious Maui made chocolate!

There can be much confusion over who makes chocolate, or what “making chocolate” even means. To clear the air, a Chocolate Maker receives the cacao beans, roasts, grinds, and fine tunes it into what we know as chocolate. Chocolate makers can make white chocolate, dark chocolate, and anything in between. A Chocolatier, receives chocolate made by the maker, and uses it to create chocolates, ganaches, figurines, showpieces, confections, and so on. They do not make the chocolate, however they can make chocolates. There are small batch producers who don’t own their own factory but use bigger chocolate makers to work with them to create their own chocolate. Today we will be pointing out the differences on Chocolate Makers vs Chocolatiers, and featuring some local businesses along the way!

Chocolate Maker

A chocolate maker goes through the entire chocolate making process by starting with the raw bean (fermented and dried). There are raw chocolate makers out there, but the bigger part of craft chocolate makers make chocolate as with these steps:

1. Roasting fermented and dried beans

2. Cracking

3. Winnowing

4. Grinding

5. Depending on the maker: conching

6. Tempering

7. Fill into molds and packaging

We make the chocolate from scratch here at Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours. You will get to do the crack, winnow, and grind with your own two hands!

Chocolatier

There are differences between Chocolate Makers vs Chocolatiers. One of the most common misconceptions is that chocolatiers make their own chocolate from cocoa beans. But they don’t!

Chocolatiers leave the purchasing of cocoa beans, roasting,  and grinding them into chocolate to ‘chocolate makers’. The chocolatiers simply purchase couverture chocolate to make their creations.

Great chocolatiers take their ingredients and aim to create something truly wonderful.

In other words, the chocolatier is the person who fills chocolates, makes truffles and creates flavored bars. It’s a very different discipline from making chocolate from cocoa beans.

Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours

Here at Maui Chocolate Coffee Tours, we do a little bit of everything! Manager, Tour Guide, Chocolate enthusiast, and now a self-taught fruit to bar chocolate maker, Ann Tuomela, has resided in Maui for the past 35 years.

She graduated from University of Washington, Seattle, WA, with a BS degree in business and marketing. Then, she moved directly to Kihei. You can’t pry her off this rock! She has a self proclaimed club for people like her: The Opihi Club. These delectable tasty treats (limpets) are what fishermen hunt on the ocean lava rocks at low tide. Her friends in the “Opihi Club” have lived on Maui for at least two decades continuously. That means not living elsewhere and then returning to Maui after they miss living here!

After a fulfilling career in the Wine industry for 15 years, she re-evaluated as to why she moved to Maui…not to work for corporate America! Ann opened and operated Who Cut The Cheese for 10 years before opening and looking beyond the chocolate wrapper! For those not familiar, Who Cut The Cheese, was a gourmet cheese and wine shop in Kihei.

“A place for those with fine taste AND a sense of humor!”

Who Cut The Cheese, offered monthly wine and cheese tastings for 5 years at Stella Blues and various other restaurants such as Spago’s at the Four Seasons Wailea, Mala Tavern, and Capische?

Canadian Chocoholic

We adore Cyndi from @Canadianchocoholic, and wanted to feature her in this month’s blog! She is a true chocoholic with an extensive background.

On Vancouver Island, she worked as a Chocolatier, becoming more interested in chocolate. Since then she has taken tasting classes through Ecole Chocolat and the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting, led chocolate tastings, judged the International Chocolate Awards and always continues to learn and read about chocolate.

She is a chocolate sommelier/certified chocolate taster and is always happy to create custom tastings and pairings for all occasions and group sizes. She now offers tastings online for any size of group. Check out her website to learn more! 

Cyndi also does consultant work in setting up pairings, offering education around
chocolate, or finding the perfect chocolate to go with your product.

In 2020, she launched a line of hand-sewn, silk screened face masks that allows chocoholics to wear their love of cacao amidst the pandemic. When she struggled to find fabrics she loved, she just designed them on her own! Following this, she created other sewn products and produced fabrics with a chocolate theme including tote bags, zippered pouches and masks. How cute!

Cyndi was also the sponsor of Cacao Magazine issue 3 #womeninchocolate and has an article about her work with jewelry in it. A magazine about all things bean to bar chocolate.

In 2020, she also joined The Chocolate Notebook team for edition 2 of The Chocolate Notebook, an atypical calendar/planner/notebook that takes you on a journey through the year with a focus on chocolate. All the illustrations in the book are created by herself.

Cyndi also brings her love of chocolate to the world through her skills as a goldsmith,
having a line of chocolate-themed sterling silver cacao pods and cacao beans. Using various techniques, she hand crafts and creates unique, wearable art. She designs and makes jewelry, drawing on her professional training and experience as a goldsmith. Her two years of school in metal smithing taught her so many skills that she was able to use to create her sterling silver, bronze and gold cacao inspired pieces of jewelry. Cyndi’s favorite techniques include lost wax casting, construction, and enameling.

In 2021, she stepped away from her full time job due to some health issues that are still in the process of being pinned down… and moved to working more on the art and chocolate side of things. She then launched Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers in March of 2021, a monthly subscription that allows her to share her creativity and love of chocolate with other chocolate lovers.

You can subscribe to receive digital happy mail, a
physical postcard with a personalized note written on it, or an envelope in
the mail full of chocolate themed goodies each month.

Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers has been arriving digitally to inboxes around the globe
twice a month, and Happy Mail for Chocolate Lovers postcards and envelopes have been traveling to three different continents each month, bringing joy and surprise to all who receive them. It’s a great treat for yourself, or makes a great gift for a friend.

Being a maker, Cyndi has an appreciation for small batch, one-of-a-kind, local products, produce and small businesses. She shares the joy of chocolate with others through chocolate tastings, sharing bars, reaching into her purse, as well as her handmade jewelry. When she’s not busy eating chocolate, you can find her posting often on IG
@canadianchocoholic and writing her blog.

Although there are vast differences between Chocolate Makers vs Chocolatiers, we all have one thing in common…our love for chocolate! Stay tuned on next month’s blog, where we will dive into the depths of the Global Chocolate Movement and Chocolate Sommeliers!

What are the health benefits of chocolate and CBD? Well, dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, can be quite nutritious. Nutritious foods don’t need to be bland or flavorless, they can be decadent and satisfying! Dark chocolate contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals. It can be a source of powerful antioxidants, may improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, may protect your skin from the sun, and more! Cannabidiol (CBD) has become a popular natural remedy used for many common ailments. It is one of over 100 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, Cannabis Sativa.

THC is the main psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, and that is what causes the feeling or sensation of getting “high”. However, unlike THC, CBD is NOT psychoactive. This feature makes CBD a very attractive option for those looking for a pain reliever, or other symptoms without having the mind-altering effects of marijuana or other pharmaceutical drugs. Not only is CBD a pain reliever, but it can also reduce anxiety and depression, alleviate cancer-related symptoms, may reduce acne, and benefit heart health, along with many other potential benefits. What about CBD and chocolate combined together?! Well, I am here to give you the scoop.

CBD Chocolate

Chocolate stimulates more than just your taste buds. Some reasons people choose to indulge is because they understand the chemical reactions caused by chocolate. CBD generates very similar chemical reactions in your body. This makes CBD chocolate a functional method of administering the health benefits of the hemp plant. “Edibles” made with CBD are made differently depending on taste and desired effect. Many different types of reactions and benefits can occur with a variety of CBD products, so it is of value to learn how to take CBD oils in ways that will benefit yourself. It is important to listen to your body and what it needs. After all, you are reading into this to possibly improve your quality of life!

CBD Chocolate and its effects on the brain

Apparently the cannabis industry calls chocolate the “soul mate” of CBD. They are perfectly compatible! First, lets learn about Anandamide. This is a chemical messenger in your body- a powerful neurotransmitter, that targets the same brain structures as THC. Anandamide prompts regulation of serotonin and dopamine, which can balance your mood, appetite, and cognitive functions. Chocolate contains small quantities of anandamide. There are fats aka lipids in CBD chocolate, that help to extend the duration of the CBD effects. This means your dosage lasts longer, and your money that you spent goes further!

Benefits of CBD

Research into the benefits of CBD has shown that it has potent antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective effects.

Additionally, it may help to reduce the symptoms of the following conditions :

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Chronic pain, such as arthritis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy

Not to mention, CBD also has an excellent safety profile and rarely causes side effects. However, it can interact with a number of prescription and over-the-counter medications. We recommend that anyone looking into using CBD for a specific medical condition should consult with their physician first.

Benefits of Chocolate

Chocolate has powerful antioxidant properties just like CBD! Did you know that it actually contains more antioxidants than most foods?! Chocolate also contains a variety of essential minerals which include magnesium, copper, potassium, and iron. Consuming a good quality, high-percentage dark chocolate in moderation can possbily offer the following benefits:
-Anti inflammatory
-Protects against cardiovascular disease
-Reduces diabetes risk
-Stimulates the central nervous system

Is CBD Oil Legal?

CBD is readily available in most parts of the United States, however it’s exact status is in flux. “All 50 states have laws legalizing CBD with varying degrees of restriction, and while the federal government still considers CBD in the same class as marijuana, it doesn’t habitually enforce against it.”

Is CBD Safe?

There are possible side effects to anything that you ingest into your body. The side effects are highly unlikely, but can include nausea, fatigue, and irritability. It can have negative side effects when combined with certain pharmaceuticals such as the blood thinner Coumadin. CBD is sold as a supplement, not a medication, so it is not regulated by the FDA.

This is what we have learned over time, researched, and discovered! Now, it is up to you to decide whether CBD or Chocolate…. or chocolate and CBD oil combined, are right for you! Remember, we are professional chocolate makers, but we are not here to give any medical advice. Like I said earlier, it is always best to consult with a physician first.
Hopefully you too will be able to jump on board, and experience the health benefits of chocolate and CBD together! Book a private tour with us today to have a fun and exclusive chocolate making experience.