{"id":3750,"date":"2022-11-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=3750"},"modified":"2022-10-26T00:53:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T05:53:04","slug":"a-new-species-of-mocha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/a-new-species-of-mocha\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Kind of Mocha: On Specialty Chocolate Producers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soon after I asked Alan Draper how using high-end, specialty chocolate has changed the mochas at 4A Coffee, he asked a regular customer for her take. The woman comes to 4A\u2019s caf\u00e9 in Brookline, Massachusetts, every day and orders a mocha. She\u2019s probably thought more about the drink than Draper. After he questioned her, the woman didn\u2019t say anything, and something about her manner made Alan worry he shouldn\u2019t have either. Maybe she wasn\u2019t happy to be known as a mocha addict.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few hours later, a coworker of the woman arrived with a letter. The fussed look on the woman\u2019s face hadn\u2019t been annoyance: it resulted from a slew of thoughts trying to plow their way into consciousness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the note, she described the union of coffee and chocolate, the melding of the two into a better one. \u201cThere\u2019s magic in each cup of mocha,\u201d she wrote in what amounted to a crush note to her drink. Even a letter couldn\u2019t communicate the joy she got from her daily mocha, and she broke into superlatives. \u201cIt\u2019s perfection,\u201d she wrote, \u201csimple and earthy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Standalone Ingredient<\/span><\/h2>\n

When it comes to adding other flavors to coffee, chocolate holds a rare position in caf\u00e9s. Milk and sugar act as coffee\u2019s salt and pepper, sometimes incorporated behind the bar but mostly set out for customers to add to taste. Other flavors, whether syrups or whole ingredients, are reserved for signature drinks, if used at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chocolate floats between; not a staple but not a novelty. Think of it this way: besides milk, what other ingredient has its own coffee drink on every caf\u00e9\u2019s menu? Usually, chocolate doesn\u2019t get the attention and thought an ingredient in its position should. That\u2019s changing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mocha_Askinosie_coffeebar\"
Photo courtesy Askinosie Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nFor about a decade, cutting-edge chocolate producers have been sourcing specialty cocoa beans, sometimes in direct-trade models, and treating them lightly and thoughtfully\u2014a development makers credit unreservedly to coffee. The chocolate in a mocha is being transformed into as many variations as the espressos it\u2019s paired with.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talking to makers about what makes great chocolate is similar to talking to roasters about coffee. Much of the effort in crafting the final product, the process of which begins much like coffee roasting, is about eliciting the best qualities from cocoa beans. Modern chocolate makers interpret that as not getting in the beans\u2019 way. Before this current approach, chocolate makers, at least in the United States, roasted beans dark, and most of the flavors from the finished product reflected the darkness of the roast. Take a bite of an outstanding chocolate today, and you\u2019ll taste the bean itself, which can present flavors as varied as red berries, lemon, and tobacco, just for starters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not Just Chocolate Syrup<\/span><\/h2>\n

Mochas made with these kinds of chocolate bring a lot more flavor than your typical sweet Hershey syrup. \u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re tasting almost a completely different drink,\u201d says Lawren Askinosie, director of sales and marketing for\u00a0<\/span>Askinosie Chocolate<\/span><\/a>, a company in Springfield, Missouri. \u201cIt\u2019s that round, rich, full-bodied experience that a lot of people don\u2019t realize they were missing until they try it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Taza-Hot-Chocolate-(No-Coffee)\"
Photo courtesy of Taza Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the major differences between stock syrups and fine chocolates is the lower sugar content. Draper from 4A uses <\/span>Taza Chocolate<\/span><\/a>, a company that creates rounds of chocolate that could be described as rustic if that phrase also meant decadent. \u201cIt\u2019s like going back in time,\u201d Draper says. \u201cThe bars take a lot to wrap your head around, but cut with milk, it allows people to appreciate it without needing to reconfigure their brains.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Customers might need to alter their expectations, though. Taza\u2019s chocolate doesn\u2019t produce a sweet mocha. It creates a lot more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foremost is the bright and fruity notes that distinguish modern craft chocolates. All the chocolate makers interviewed for this article say these trumpet-blast flavors require a bit more thought regarding the pairing of chocolate and coffee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Whitmore, Taza\u2019s owner, echoed several other chocolate makers when he said that pairing bright coffee with bright chocolate creates a lot of conflict in the cup. If a balanced marriage of flavors is the goal, and it usually is with mochas, Whitmore encourages deeper roasts or low-acidity coffees. Funnily, a perfect pairing for modern chocolate may be a coffee with a chocolaty profile.<\/span><\/p>\n

But while a tender marriage of flavors might be best, the explosive tastes in these chocolates create a chance for a pyrotechnic flavor show. There is, after all, something to be said for a torrid love affair, even one that fails. Jamie Fey, a caf\u00e9 manager for\u00a0<\/span>Dogwood Coffee<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Minneapolis, says that many single-origin coffees open up in the presence of chocolate. Citric notes unfurl in ways they never do without the extra ingredient.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Symphony of Flavors<\/span><\/h2>\n

To head toward culinary cloud cuckoo land, caf\u00e9s can vary their chocolate choices. Like coffee, chocolate can be sold based on the country of origin of its cocoa beans, and some shops use different chocolate origins from the same company for different coffees. Scott Querry of Salt Lake\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Solstice Chocolate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0works with six coffeehouses. \u201cI like the way [the different shops] choose a very specific origin of coffee and a very specific origin of chocolate,\u201d he says. \u201cI would think most places would say, \u2018Oh, we like this single origin of yours, and it works well with our whole line.\u2019 That\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Taza_Mexican_Coffee\"
Photo courtesy of Taza Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike coffee roasters, who tend to possess a purist streak, chocolate makers view their creations as ingredients as much as a great thing to be enjoyed alone. Because of this, most chocolate companies offer a range of chocolates and chocolate products for caf\u00e9s to use in drinks. The most common are syrups, whole bars, and bulk broken bars. Some have shaved chocolate, and a few offer cocoa powder. Ghirardelli now offers an ultra-premium cocoa powder for caf\u00e9s that want to stick with established brands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Choosing which product to use depends on a shop\u2019s needs and the products available from the company it partners with. Dogwood uses cocoa powder from Askinosie, adding espresso to the powder, whisking, then adding milk. Fey says the process is no more difficult than working with syrup or ganache.\u00a0<\/span>Blueprint Coffee<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in St. Louis had used the cocoa for syrup but has switched to broken bars to make ganache in their small kitchen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Draper uses Taza\u2019s shaved chocolate for his mochas, adding it straight to the cup. Whitmore likes this method but says it has a couple of problems. The first and biggest is that shaved chocolate can melt during shipping. This points to the benefit of working with a local chocolate company, which are appearing in more and more food-forward cities. The second problem, though maybe it\u2019s better to call it a consideration, is that shaved chocolate has fatty cocoa butter, which will float in globules on top of the drink. Some customers might freak out at this, but plenty more are going to groove on the silky, rich mouthfeel the small amount of fat brings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking On New Form<\/span><\/h2>\n

Chocolate bars or pieces can be melted and made into syrups, but they can quickly become solid because of the higher fat content. At\u00a0<\/span>Fine and Raw<\/span><\/a>\u00a0chocolate shop, which also serves specialty coffee, Daniel Sklaar melts his chocolate in a crock-pot on display. \u201cWhen people see it\u2014a pot full of chocolate that we ladle out\u2014their eyes pop,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

As more and more coffee customers develop increasingly sophisticated palates and a sense of adventure, great, bold-flavored chocolates are gaining a place near the grinders and tampers. The flavor potentials in mochas are blossoming, and a drink that coffee purists might dismiss can now be arguably more compelling and complex than a solitary coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n

With such excellent flavor potential, the options may seem easy to get lost in. Sklaar advises caf\u00e9 owners to take a fun-loving approach to bringing great chocolate to their menus. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dealing in such fantastic quality,\u201d he says, \u201cyou just splash it around and have some fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover photo courtesy of Fine and Raw<\/em><\/p>\n

This story was originally published on November 24, 2014, and has been updated to meet Fresh Cup’s current editorial standards.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The same care and craft that’s transformed specialty coffee has also changed the way we make and consume chocolate\u2014and how we drink our mochas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA New Kind of Mocha: On Specialty Chocolate Producers - 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