Isn’t the idea of combining chocolate and coffee amazing?
Well, that was the beginning of the conversation with my good friend Diana Aguilar from Zaruma Gold Coffee, who was enthusiastic about the idea. We were then able to start creating the event at that very moment.
Our cocoa and chocolate beans share infinite similarities in processes as well as the flavors and aromas that emerge from the land where they are grown; thus, we call it a pairing event.
Ecuador Taste
Villakuyaya's main harvest area is Esmeraldas on Ecuador's northern Pacific coast, whereas Zaruma has chosen a variety of Ecuadorian regions such as Sierra, Costa, Amazonia, and Galapagos, where coffee cultivation is rich in flavors and aromas.
The pairing began with Zaruma explaining the methods we were going to use in the coffee. These were very didactic for the assistants because the demonstration of each one was carried out in situ.
While the preparations were being made, it was Villakuyaya's turn to give a brief explanation of how to taste chocolate using the senses; however, I can say that the attendees had a preliminary tasting experience, which made the explanation easier.
The chocolate began to melt on the palate, allowing the flavor notes to emerge. We then began our first pairing with a sip of Sierra origin coffee made with the Quemex Pour Over technique. This was paired with a 80% pure dark chocolate.
This first pairing produced notes of tobacco at the start, wood in the middle, and a strong aftertaste of mushrooms.
In the second pairing, we used a fresh Cold Brew with a little vanilla syrup added and our 65% pure dark chocolate, resulting in notes of chocolate, smoke, and an aftertaste of toasted hazelnuts. This pairing was my favorite and the one I'm most amazed at.
Moving on, the third pairing combined cortado coffee with 65% dark chocolate with coconut and vanilla inclusion, which produced notes of red fruits at the start, vanilla caramel in the middle, and an aftertaste of almonds and walnuts.
Finally, we used the Quemex method again, which was prepared by our assistants. This was the icing on the cake since they had a lot of fun doing this activity. We used Galapagos coffee that has a lot of fruity tones and paired it with 39% milk chocolate, resulting in notes of spices at the beginning, almonds and nuts in the middle, and a chocolate with a caramel aftertaste at the end.
A Successful Pairing Event
To sum it up, the result of our first pairing event was incredible. Both we and the attendees enjoyed it from start to finish, and we were left wanting to continue exploring flavors and aromas through more sips and pieces of chocolate. It really was an experience that awakened all our senses and took us on a flavor and aroma journal around "Ecuador taste."