Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Chocolate from Bean to Bar

flavorlab.xyz

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 62 posts

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#11

Post by jcims »

have_faith wrote: post #8
renarl wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me wonder how many insanely taste things we are not experiencing because they went extinct or have not appeared yet. Defiantly there are way way more than the ones that we happened to overlap with.

I would be happy if supermarkets stocked more than one or two of the blandest varieties of most foods. There's plenty of existing tasty foods you don't get to experience.

Just had a long conversation about morel mushrooms last night. They fit nicely in this category. Hands down the best mushroom I’ve ever eaten.

Probably because they look like a brain on a stick.

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#12

Post by [deleted] »

bedobi wrote: post #6
renarl wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me wonder how many insanely taste things we are not experiencing because they went extinct or have not appeared yet. Defiantly there are way way more than the ones that we happened to overlap with.

for sure, but if you could push a button to make it so, would you really risk giving up chocolate (or whatever you consider to be the tastiest thing in the world) forever for potentially something less tasty? :P no right or wrong here, just an honest and silly question I know I wouldn't risk chocolate, coffee, beer and wine for anything

[deleted]

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#13

Post by afranchuk »

I did this once as I like to understand the processes that go into modern everyday items. Without a grinding mill I wasn't able to get the cacao to the smoothest consistency (it was grainy as the article describes), however it still came out as delicious pieces of chocolate. I did not add any cocoa butter, just sugar (and not much, I like it dark).

The process of shelling, toasting, grinding, conching, and tempering wasn't as difficult as one might think; I recommend curious minds to order some beans and try it out! It makes for a fun (and tasty) afternoon.

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#16

Post by hoseja »

jcims wrote: post #11
have_faith wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be happy if supermarkets stocked more than one or two of the blandest varieties of most foods. There's plenty of existing tasty foods you don't get to experience.

Just had a long conversation about morel mushrooms last night. They fit nicely in this category. Hands down the best mushroom I’ve ever eaten. Probably because they look like a brain on a stick.

There are thousands of mindblowingly delicious fruits that are simply incompatible with modern supply chains so most people don't even know exist. I recommend "Weird Explorer" on youtube to get a small glimpse.

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#17

Post by tasogare »

afranchuk wrote: post #13

I did this once as I like to understand the processes that go into modern everyday items. Without a grinding mill I wasn't able to get the cacao to the smoothest consistency (it was grainy as the article describes), however it still came out as delicious pieces of chocolate. I did not add any cocoa butter, just sugar (and not much, I like it dark). The process of shelling, toasting, grinding, conching, and tempering…

It's something I want to try one day. Did you write something about your experience like a blogpost?

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#18

Post by jcims »

hoseja wrote: post #16
jcims wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just had a long conversation about morel mushrooms last night. They fit nicely in this category. Hands down the best mushroom I’ve ever eaten. Probably because they look like a brain on a stick.

There are thousands of mindblowingly delicious fruits that are simply incompatible with modern supply chains so most people don't even know exist. I recommend "Weird Explorer" on youtube to get a small glimpse.

Nice! Will check that out. I just saw a thing yesterday about nutmeg, the fruit it comes from and the 'mace' which is a beautiful webbing around the pit. Never heard of any of it.

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#19

Post by SyzygistSix »

nerdbaggy wrote: post #15

Rotten episode on Chocolate is really eye opening about the staggering amounts of slavery, child labor, and corruption in the chocolate industry. Basically every brand you can think of is in on it. https://www.netflix.com/title/80146284

But there are many smaller brands making excellent chocolate using far more ethical sourcing, at least a hundred in the US alone. The upside of this is that the quality is much better than Nestle, Hershey, Cadbury, Dove, etc.

While fair trade and similar designations are not a cure-all and mostly profit farm owners, they seem downright ethical in comparison to the slavery and child labor used by growers of low quality beans. The plain truth is that chocolate, like coffee, is expensive to produce. Source- I worked as a chocolate maker in the US. It really is a fascinating process. And as a bonus, many chocolate companies enjoy showing visitors the process. As far as industrial tourism goes, I highly recommend visiting one. There may be a high quality chocolate maker closer to you than you realize.

Re: Chocolate from Bean to Bar

#20

Post by SyzygistSix »

rwmj wrote: post #2

This was an interesting series of blog posts about a (supposedly) bean to bar chocolate maker: https://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behin... https://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behin... https://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behin... https://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behin...

As a former chocolate maker for small, ethically-sourced chocolate company, this was both hilarious and disheartening to read about when it came out. The Mast Bros have kind of stood out in the industry for being tools.
Post reply on HN