May is the month where we celebrate our mothers, so why not help them celebrate with a box of Intrigue truffles?
Fortunato No.4 Truffle – This truffle is named for Senor Fortunato, a Peruvian farmer who played a crucial role in bringing this single origin chocolate back out into the whole wide world. Thought to be extinct for 100 years this fairly-traded cacao is organically grown at high altitudes.
Jamaican HOT Chocolate Truffle – One of our favorites, this truffle is laden with flavor from habanero peppers, vanilla, honey, nutmeg, and dark rum. One of the hottest peppers, habaneros are tropical fruit that is orange when ripe. Found in the Caribbean, they are originally from the Yucatan.
Saint Basil Truffle – Popular with customers, the Saint Basil truffle may surprise you with its green flavor and organic freshness. Granted magical attributes throughout the centuries, basil reigns among herbs for its flexibility and health benefits..
Zoka Moka Latte Truffle – Roasted by Zoka Coffee Roasters and Tea Company, an award winning Seattle-based operation, the coffee used in this extraordinary Moka Latte comes through in a big way, but manages to keep its smoothness. A Nicaraguan bean, the coffee used in this Intrigue truffle is direct-traded, and organically grown.
Orchid Truffle – Exotic food in your pantry? You probably have vanilla extract on hand, and that’s plenty exotic. Considered a rare plant, bearing an orchid as its flower, and one of the most labor intensive foods you will find in the world. Laborers who are quick with their hands, usually women and children, pollinate around 1,500 vanilla orchid flowers a day. Cultivation, pollination and harvesting is done completely without machines, fertilizers or pesticides. We use the whole vanilla bean to infuse this truffle with one of the best of aromas.
Vrai Chai Truffle – In Hindi “chai” simply means “tea”, and can be a myriad combination of spices all around a base of black tea, often with milk and honey included. Recipes for chai, as we know it, vary between families and are passed down through generations. Aaron starts with a complex chai blend with a list of warm spices as long as his arm, then tweaks it to just where he wants it by adding more spices. Be amazed as the many flavors emerge from this truffle as the chocolate melts.
Zen Dog Bite Truffle – Zen Dog Bite is the newest of our collaborations with Zen Dog Teas. This truffle is blended with Zen Dog‘s black pu-er tea. Pu-er tea is tea that is fermented after it is dried and rolled in the Yunnan province, China. The Bite is black pu-er tea and black cardamom: a zen dog bites its shadow at night.
Banana Truffle – This truffle is made with bananas and white rum which makes plenty of sense since Puerto Rico produces bananas and is the biggest producer of white rum.
Cassis Truffle – Cassis is a liquer made with black currants. Although there is a limited supply of black currants on the West Coast, we found a distillery in Oregon using fruit from a small grower in the region. Shipped while still on the stem, the result is a sweet and tart clear fruit brandy with huge flavor. Stirring it into dark chocolate seemed like the natural thing to do.
Dew of the Sea Truffle – Italian sea salt is harvested by filling pans with water in the spring from the Mediterranean Sea and letting the Sicillian sun and African winds evaporate the the water, which leaves you with salt that is rich in minerals and has a not too salty flavor.
Agave Truffle – Another traditional Native syrup, this one further South! Called “aquamiel” (honey-water) in Mexico, agave syrup comes from cooking down the sap and can also be made into candy. Held sacred and cultivated by the Aztecs, agave is a spikey plant that resembles a cactus or yucca. This large succulent is the essential ingredient for tequila, but from archeological evidence, its role in the lives of meso-americans was huge! Short list; fiber, clothing, storage, construction, fuel, food (shoots, flowers and sap). A light sweetness added to this truffle.
Urfa Biber Truffle – Urfa Biber is a turkish chile pepper that is often described as having a smoky raisin like taste that is less spicy than other chile peppers but slowly warms up. These peppers are prepared by drying them in the sun during the day then wrapping them tightly at night (this process is called ‘sweating’).
Melt into summer with a box of Intrigue Chocolates.
Chocolate Squared
View from our Workshop window
“Seattle’s Historic Heart”. Pioneer Square is a cool place. It’s an area of town layered with activity, personality, and history. For some it’s a destination to visit, for others it is home. Look around and you’ll start to read things like “my beloved Pioneer Square”, and “one of my favorite places in the World”. Those are some heavy endorsements, and we feel lucky to be part of this special community.
Share the Square. Such a historic neighborhood should have a website and publication of it’s very own, and it does! Writer for www.pioneersquare.org, Hien Dang, recently spent a little time with Aaron at Intrigue Chocolate Co.’s workshop. In a piece called Share the Square with Aaron Barthel you will get an informed perspective of Intrigue’s shop at Pioneer Square. Take a vicarious visit to where the chocolate magic happens.
Chocolate Artisan’s Workshop. Impressed with the avant-garde atmosphere of Intrigue Chocolatier’s personal workspace, Hien loved the way Aaron spends time with customers, giving them the chocolate tasting tour of a lifetime. We would love to have you come visit us when you make it to Seattle. Drop in and prepare to have some great samples!
April Truffle Flavors
As plants are in the middle of turning green this April, one of our Spring-themed truffles should be melting in your mouth.
Fortunato No.4 Truffle – Thought to be extinct for 100 years, this single origin chocolate comes from Peru and is organically grown and fairly traded. Named for the Peruvian farmer, one Senor Fortunato, who was caring for the re-discovered cacao trees at the high altitudes of the Maranon Canyon.
Jamaican HOT Chocolate Truffle – Dark rum, nutmeg, honey, vanilla and habanero peppers influence this favorite truffle. The character of rum can vary profoundly depending on how it is aged. Barrel aging and burnt sugar give this drink its characteristic natural brown color. Habanero peppers can be unpredictable, but they are all hot. The familiar orange tropical fruit originated in the Yucatan pennisula, but habaneros come out of the Caribbean, too. Rum and habaneros are old island mates, finally found together again in this exciting truffle.
Saint Basil Truffle – The “King of Herbs”, fresh, organic basil will surprise you with how wonderful it tastes in dark chocolate. One of the most popular herbs throughout history, our Saint Basil Truffle remains on the top of the popularity list with our customers. Rich in phyto-nutrients and iron, basil has many health benefits.
Zoka Moka Latte Truffle – Made with organic direct-trade coffee from Los Placeres Farm in Nicaragua. This bean is roasted by Zoka Coffe Roasters and Tea Company, an award winning Seattle-based operation.
Lemon Truffle – The anatomy of a lemon dictates that only the outer rind, containing the oils and perfumes, be used for fresh lemon zest. Just beneath, the white pith is unpleasantly bitter. Zest, or citrus peel, is prepared by carefully scraping away the “flavedo” to the proper depth. Adding big bang for the buck, zest adds big flavor to foods (making them “zesty”!). Known by the 16th-century Portuguese sailors to be a cure for scurvy, during sea voyages they would stop and plant lemon and orange seeds on many a distant shore.
Cardamon Truffle – Cardamom is an ancient spice with many world-wide associated traditions. Civilizations prized it as a flavoring and for other benefits. It is documented that Egyptians used it to clean their teeth and freshen their breath by chewing the seeds. The scent of cardamom became a Grecian perfume, and later was attributed aphrodisiac qualities in Arabian cultures. Melded with rich chocolate it becomes divine.
Vow of Silence Truffle – This truffle is very unique. It is infused with an herbal liqueur made by Sound Spirits, Seattle’s first distillery since prohibition.
Pink Peppercorn Truffle – Well, they’re a little more red than pink. And they’re not actually pepper, but rather “drupes” (meaning they are the fruit of a particular bush with a small pit or seed inside). But pink peppercorn does have a peppery flavor and is similar to regular peppercorn size. Found in ancient South American medicine, alcohol, and food, this plant has found its way to popularity in French cuisine.
Molasses Truffle – Made with blackstrap molasses (organic and unsulphured). Blackstrap is the third go-around in the process of separating sugar from sugar cane. A by-product by definition, but we think of it as one of nature’s yummiest sweeteners. Not to mention the nutrients it offers (iron, potassium, magnesium and calcium). Tons of character in this bittersweet and robust fella’. Bet you always wanted to know what “unsulphured” meant. You know the “un” variety is good for you, but did you know that sulfur dioxide is often added to natural products to make them look nice and extend their shelf life? It’s also what’s in acid rain! That can’t be good.
Bear Trap Truffle – A honey schnapps from those clever Germans, the Barenjager brand name translates as “bear hunter” but the general type of liqueur is called barenfang (“bear trap”). This vodka-based liqueur adds a wistful sweetness to the chocolate.
Zen Dog Bark Truffle – White pu-er tea and lavender…
Zen Dog’s Tea House Gallery is a traditional style loose leaf Asian tea house. They are located on top of Crown Hill in Seattle, Washington with a beautiful view of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Black Cherry Truffle – This truffle is made with black cherry juice. Did you know that the seeds of black cherries contain the necessary compounds and enzymes that produce hydrogen cyanide when the seed is crushed? We definitely don’t do that!Here at Intrigue Chocolates we will even help you melt into next month with our delightful truffles.
Dark Chocolate vs. Milk Chocolate: What are they?
There are many different kinds of chocolate but they can all be broken down into two main categories: dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is chocolate that has considerably less milk than milk chocolate, sometimes none at all. In the US there is not an official definition of dark chocolate, but in Europe rules state that dark chocolate has to contain at least 35% cocoa. Milk chocolate is chocolate that has more milk in it than dark chocolate which gives it a lighter color, much sweeter taste and much softer texture than dark chocolate. In the US milk chocolate must contain at least 10% of chocolate liquor, Europe states that milk chocolate must contain at least 25% of cocoa solids.
Some subcategories of chocolate are: Hershey process, Couverture chocolate, white chocolate, unsweetened chocolate and compound chocolate.
- Hershey process chocolate is more cheaply produced because it’s less sensitive to freshness of the milk. Experts believe that this is due to the fact that the milk is partially lipolyzed, creating butyric acid which keeps the milk from fermenting. It gives the chocolate a noticeably sour taste, something that the American public has become accustomed to. Some companies simply add butyric acid to their chocolate.
- Couverture chocolate is chocolate that contains high percentage of cocoa butter and a high percentage of cocoa. Examples of some couverture chocolate brands are: Valrhona, Lindt & Sprungli, Felchin, Cacao Barry, Guittard, Scharffen Berger and Callebaut.
- White chocolate is a chocolate that is made out of sugar, milk, and and cocoa butter with the cocoa solids removed.
- Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate liquor that has been mixed with some kind of fat to create a solid substance. Often referred to as “baking chocolate”, “bitter chocolate” and “cooking chocolate”, this chocolate does not contain any sugar which is why it is used for cooking.
- Compound chocolate is a confection that is made by combining cocoa with lots of sugar and vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, which produces a waxy, sweet and hard chocolate. Some countries do not allow it to be called chocolate, due to the fact that the vegetable fat is used in the place of cocoa butter.
Here at Intrigue Chocolates we make only the absolute best dark chocolate.
Coffee Tasting and Zoka
High quality coffee. At Intrigue Chocolates we use Zoka Coffee in our Zoka Moka Latte Truffle. In 1996 Jeff Babcock founded Zoka Coffee Roaster and Tea Company in Seattle, Washington. Their coffee is roasted in small batches, and the homemade baked foods keep their coffee shops packed from open to close.
Your taste buds are special. Our tongues do not have a specific taste bud lay out, it is different for each person. When we taste things the flavor is a combination of different stimuli being activated at the same time, which can actually create brand new flavors. You can even train your tongue to determine your own relationship between stimuli and taste perception. How strongly you experience tastes is due to our genetic predispositions. If you are a supertaster then coffee will taste bitter to you, but generally not if you are a nontaster or a medium taster.
Tasting coffee for a living? Coffee tasters (yes, coffee tasters are real) start their tasting assessment with their noses, right as the coffee begins to brew and its fragrance is released. They move on to slurp the coffee and swirl it around so they can get the full flavor and feeling all around their mouths. The care and attention that goes into determining coffee tasting reflects the level of intensity we put into determining flavor combinations for Intrigue truffles.