Chocolate in its Refined Form

Upon looking back at my paper I realized that my introduction did not promise anything for the rest of the paper. The paper is about the taste of different chocolates and the introduction was about the history and making of chocolate. One of the reasons that the introduction is lengthy and all about the making of chocolate, is that I found how to make chocolate extremely interesting. The reason that I got into the making of chocolate is that you told us to go online and research the product we were writing about. I found this website that was all about chocolate and the making of chocolate. I read through how to make chocolate and found it interesting. I did not completely know how to start writing about how the chocolate tasted so I started writing about how it was made. This type of writing comes easier to me than descriptive writing so I started with it. I think the process of how chocolate is made has some relevance on how it tastes but not that much. There are some differences in manufacturing that change the taste of the chocolate but most of the process of making chocolate is consistent with different brands. I could leave some of the parts of how to make chocolate that influences the different tastes. The processes that stay consistent through the different brands of chocolate could be left out.

Chocolate

            Chocolate, a wonderful sweet that is enjoyed by all who taste it. Who does not love chocolate, the rich creamy melt in your mouth deliciousness that is chocolate.  Chocolate has a long history in our hearts. It originated in the Americas with the Mayas and Aztecs the founders of chocolate. They did not enjoy the chocolate that we all know and love they drank their chocolate in a biter frothy drink. When the Europeans came to the Americas they brought back with them the chocolate drink of the natives. In Europe they added sugar to the drink to make it sweeter. The chocolate drink was a symbol of wealth in Europe because cacao the tree that chocolate is made of and sugar was expensive. Both could not be grown in Europe and had to be shipped from the tropical locations they were grown in. The industrial revolution allowed chocolate to be made faster and cheaper. This was the first time that the common people got to taste chocolate. The cacao was still grown and harvested by hand but the other processes of making chocolate were improved.  

            There are different types of chocolate that vary the manufacturing process slightly using a different ratio of ingredients or cocoa from different countries. The different types of chocolate have slightly different tastes and texture. The presentation of chocolate can vary dramatically with different packaging and different shapes. I decided to taste all of the different types of chocolate to compare their different qualities.

The most dramatic difference in the chocolate was the appearance. In my studies I tried two different types of Dove chocolate. One of them was a small individually wrapped serving and another was a bar of chocolate. Both of the products had Dove written on the chocolate so you always know what type of chocolate you are eating. Many of the chocolates that I tasted had the same mentality as Dove and put their name on the chocolate, including Heresy and Lindt. The packaging of the chocolate was all about making you feel good when eating it. The packages claimed that the chocolate was silky smooth chocolate and that you would, “lose yourself in the taste of Dove pure silk chocolate”. This was not my experience in eating the chocolate I was not lost in the process of eating the chocolate. What I thought was the best was that the individually wrapped chocolates had a saying on the inside of the wrapper. The chocolate that I ate claimed that, “Sometimes one smile means more than a dozen roses”. I found this humorous that Dove was not only trying to feed you chocolate but give you advice on your love life. The chocolate bar was wrapped in gold foil trying to convey the message that their chocolate was as good as gold. Another chocolate that I tasted was Godiva that also had its chocolate wrapped in gold foil.

 During my taste test I also tasted two different types of Hershey chocolate. I tasted the classic Hershey chocolate and the more sophisticate symphony chocolate that is also made by Hershey. The classic Hershey bar was wrapped in silver foil with a chocolate colored paper sleeve slid over it. The paper had Hershey written on it in large print that almost took the entire sleeve.  The more sophisticated Hershey chocolate Symphony was wrapped in a silver foil with a milk chocolate colored sleeve. The actual Symphony chocolate was a lighter color than the classic chocolate. Both as discussed before had Hershey written on them.

Lindt chocolate was also in my line up for chocolate taste testing. The Lindt packaging claimed that it had the finest creamy smooth milk chocolate. The Lindt chocolate that I tasted was a chocolate bar. This was done in order to level the playing field because in my opinion the hands down winner of chocolate is the Lindt truffles. They are balls of chocolate filled with creamy smooth on the verge of liquid chocolate. This is not comparable to a plain chocolate bar so it was not involved in the chocolate taste test. The chocolate like many others had its name writhen on it. The name was slightly fancier written than the Hershey name aiming more for class. The Hershey company wanted even the slightly blind to read their name. Godiva was the last chocolate that I tasted during the taste test. This chocolate was clearly aiming to the higher class and tried to look fancy. The chocolate was wrapped in gold foil. This was also the only chocolate that I tasted that did not have its name written on the chocolate. On their chocolate there was a person riding a horse engraved in chocolate. The person was very elegant and looked like a person in a old move riding a horse in their fancy clothes in a dramatic scene.

For the most part all of the chocolate that I sampled had the same texture. The texture was for the most part creamy and smooth. The classic Hershey chocolate was the least smooth chocolate, it was slightly grainy. This chocolate did not melt in your mouth as much as the other chocolates. It was more able to be chewed. The Lindt chocolate was the creamiest of the chocolate and it was almost too rich. The creamy chocolate was not at the best balance in your mouth and in some ways dried out your mouth.

By the end of the chocolate taste test I was having difficulties telling the difference between the tastes of all the different chocolates. Most of the chocolates tasted rich and creamy. The symphony was nuttier and the classic Hershey was chocolatier and not as creamy. All of the chocolates smelled like chocolate. The smell was sweet, creamy and nutty. A realization I came upon from my chocolate taste testing was that many chocolates taste very similar.

My favorite chocolate was the classic Hershey chocolate. This chocolate was not as creamy as the other chocolates and was more refreshing. The other chocolates were too creamy and made me thirsty. The Hershey chocolate was slightly grainier than the other chocolates.

During my chocolate taste test I discovered that I like most chocolate. Chocolate has a complicated past and a long history in the world. It has progressed over time into the chocolate that we enjoy today. The chocolate taste test also taught me that most chocolates taste similar. This is probably due to the fact that the manufacturing of chocolate does not have many variations that can be made. Chocolate can vary in taste when it is combined with other products. Chocolate can be combined with almost any thing to change and excite the flavor.