What Happens When A Chocolate Expert Takes a Blind Chocolate Taste Test?

When an industry professional recently took a blind chocolate taste test, the results were fascinating. The job of a chocolate expert seems like something we’d all love to do. Surely it just involves sitting around eating sticky brown treats, right? But how much do chocolatiers actually know? Is there really enough of a difference between expensive choc and the cheaper grocery store alternative? Can you trust the high gourmet prices to actually deliver a unique experience? Or is it all just a marketing ploy to get you to pay more for your snacks? In case you’ve ever wondered just what makes a chocolate so expensive, Amy Guittard of Guittard Chocolate Company has undergone a blind taste test of several different kinds of cocoa-based treats. The results are very surprising – it turns out there really are some qualities that make different brands of creamy chocs stand out from one another!

The Blind Test

Amy Guittard has devoted her life to chocolate. If anyone is qualified to tell the difference between cheap and expensive stuff, it’s her. So let’s see what happens when she tries to tell different cocoa products apart in a blind test.

First Up, Choc Chips

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Guittard starts her taste test with some choc chips, often used in baking. Even before putting any in her mouth, she already has a good idea of which one might be cheaper based on appearance alone.

Blooming Chips

The A chips have a white powder residue on the surface, which Guittard explains is bloom, a side effect of improper cooling. This suggests that these chips were made particularly quickly, although that doesn’t necessarily affect taste.

Sugar Up Front

As Guittard starts snacking on these chips, the first thing she tastes is sugar. This again suggests that the chips have been made very quickly in a hurried refining process, leading to an inferior finished product.