(Update: In 2022, Tcho is still around, and has morphed their product line into a line of entirely plant-based, vegan chocolates. At some point I hope to do a re-review.)
One of the odder topics bouncing around a few of the food-related messageboards and magazines is TCHO Chocolate’s “Beta” chocolate samples.
TCHO is a San Francisco-based start-up which is trying to develop new chocolate varieties from scratch by making chocolate from single varieties of cacao, trying to find those that express the basic flavors of chocolate.
So far, they’ve released “beta” versions of their “Fruity” (from Peru), “Nutty” (also from Peru), and “Chocolately” (from Ghana) varieties.
I had a small sample of “Fruity” when I was in San Francisco which was quite good (and noticeably “fruitier” than most chocolate), so I decided that it would be neat to try out all their current varieties, so I ordered this sample pack.
The industrial-style packaging is kind of odd as well.
One of the odder topics bouncing around a few of the food-related messageboards and magazines is TCHO Chocolate’s “Beta” chocolate samples.
Tying these out, the three flavors where very, very interesting. The “chocolatey” flavor (which is version 0.99, or just about ready for release) is one of the best chocolate samples I’ve had. Has a nice purity to it that I’ve only gotten from a few other high-end chocolates (like the Chocolate Nazi at Legacy Chocolate in St Paul, MN). Very good, and worth searching out.
“Fruity” and “Nutty” were also very good, and interesting in showing how different chocolate can taste just by careful selection of beans. Fruity had a subtle raspberry and dark cherry flavor, while nutty was reminiscent of roasted malt or hazelnuts. Very, very interesting.
(These are all pure 70% cacao dark chocolate bars with no additives but vanilla and soy lecithin)
TCHO Chocolate
http://www.tcho.com
