Valrhona Grand Cru Dark Caraibe 66% Beans

TASTING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Made from a single variety of cocoa bean—the Trinitario, the Valrhona Caraibe 66% Bean is aromatic, with soft hints of coffee on the nose. This follows to its flavor, which is delicate, and hinting of almonds, dried fruit, and roasted coffee. It’s the perfect balance of cocoa solids and sugar, and is not too bitter. It adds depth to even the simplest chocolate dessert.

PREPARATION AND PAIRINGS

The Valrhona Caraibe 66% Bean is a baking chocolate, elevating even the simplest desserts to a different level. Use it in your cakes, brownies, and the like. A word of warning, though: once you start to use these in place of chocolate chips in your cookies, you will never want to use anything else. These feves are easy to weigh out, and quick to melt, creating beautiful and mouth-watering puddles of chocolate in your cookies. They will take your everyday chocolate chip cookies from looking homemade, to looking patisserie quality.

WONDER BEAN

The three major varieties of cocoa beans are Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. The Valrhona Caraibe 66% Bean is made of pure Trinitario cocoa beans. After the Criollo plantations of Trinidad were nearly completely destroyed following the hurricane in 1727, Forastero seeds were imported from Venezuela. These seeds were cross-fertilized with native Criollo beans, and the result was the Trinitario. These beans make up about 12% of the world’s cocoa production, and are most commonly found in the Caribbean.

Storage Instructions

Store your chocolate feves in a cool, dark place, ideally between 18 to 24°C. You can use the refrigerator, but place the chocolate in an airtight container to keep the moisture and humidity out—and retain its full range of flavors, of course!