Selecting Chocolate

Determining whether chocolate is of high quality involves all the senses.

• Glossy shine indicates that it has been properly stored, around 65 degrees F. When chocolate melts and resolidifies, the cocoa butter rises to the top, causing "bloom." It may look off, but changes the taste and texture only slightly.
• Snap
• Aroma
• Texture: When talking about food in your mouth, texture is referred to as "mouth feel." The mouth feel of good chocolate should be smooth, not grainy, not waxy. It should melt in your mouth, literally. Cocoa butter has a melting point lower than 98.6 degrees F, body temperature. Chocolate with vegetable fat will hold its shape in your mouth longer. Solid shortening has a melting temperature that is above body temperature and has a waxy mouth feel.
• Taste: In the end, this is what will determine for you which chocolate is right. Every manufacturers' chocolate is different based on a combination of many factors including where the cacao beans come from, how they are roasted, and the balance of cocoa butter, sugar, and pure chocolate.