I fell in love with TCHO and their chocolates while vacationing in San Francisco a few years ago. Just think about it - a company founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who love food as well as technology, and want to make the best chocolate possible. The belief that chocolate, like wine, can reflect its source material's unique terroir as a result of thoughtful processing. Faith in loyal customers' palates and the proven results of iterative development processes. What's not to love? Since that vacation, I've kept the love alive with the occasional online order, in-person purchases at Starbucks and Cardullo's (back when those retailers carried Tcho, sigh), and now, most recently, helping to develop a forthcoming milk chocolate / coffee fusion bar! This project was called the TchoJoe Beta. (Joe for coffee, get it?) Us eager participants, in delightfully punny fashion, were Beta Tasters!
So, how did this Beta work? (FYI: I'm a project manager at a technology company, so please excuse any process-related nerd-outs.)
TCHO sent three shipments of Beta chocolates (0.4, 0.6, and 0.8), each with two distinct bars (A and B), over the course of two months. The bars were packaged in simplistic brown paper, with Tcho's logo and the specific Beta version printed on the outside. The individual bars were good-sized, only slightly smaller than a production TCHO bar, with six chocolate squares each. After receiving and tasting each shipment, Beta Tasters entered feedback on the bars online, responding to prompts and questions such as:
- General Tasting Notes (free text)
- Flavors Noted (checkboxes)
- How is the overall balance? (dropdown)
- How is the finish? (dropdown)
- Rate this bar. (radio buttons)
- Which bar did you prefer, A or B, and why? (dropdown, free text)
- Describe the preferred bar in 5 words or less. (free text)
- What would you name the preferred bar? (free text)
I appreciate the mix of reportable data points and individualized feedback, though I'm worried that my best and strongest commentary couldn't be conveyed via the predefined inputs. Oh, I should probably mention the tasting instructions. Each online feedback form reminded us of all that had to happen pre-documentation! And I quote:
"Be prepared: (1) Try not eat anything strongly seasoned or especially spicy before tasting. (2) Find a quiet, calm place. Reducing distractions so you can focus just on your palate is surprisingly beneficial to really tasting, instead of just eating. (3) Keep a glass of warm water nearby to cleanse your palate.
Taste like a pro: (1) Break off one square. (2) Place the chocolate in your mouth [duh]. (3) Try closing your eyes to reduce distractions and help focus your senses. (4) Chew just a few times, then let the chocolate melt and linger on your tongue. [Your stomach doesn't have any tastebuds!] (5) Recognize the different flavor notes appearing throughout the tasting process – beginning, middle, end, and aftertaste. (6) Take your time and don't move on to the next chocolate too quickly. (7) Have fun!"
Like I said earlier, LOVE.
The times I set aside to do my tastings really did feel special. I've condensed my feedback on each iteration below, sharing my General Tasting Notes along with each shipment's comparison commentary.
0.4 A
I'm struck by how unusual the "milk" aspect of the milk chocolate is - it's surprisingly tart, like sour cream. This is well balanced by some sweet caramel notes, and the chocolate overall feels nice and smooth. The coffee's abrasive at first, though. It tastes burnt and smoky up front. It evened out through the tasting process, and mostly disappeared by the end.
0.4 B
This is a very subtle bar - delightfully smooth, creamy milk chocolate, with no particularly overwhelming flavors (caramel, sugar, etc). It would be a great canvas/background for a more robust flavor addition, but the coffee's not present enough for me. I notice a hint of roasted coffee taste at the end of the tasting cycle, but if I didn't know that was supposed to be coffee I probably would have guessed the flavor came from roasted hazelnuts or chestnuts.
0.4 Comparison
I preferred Version B. While I loved the milk chocolate formulation used in Version A, its overwhelming burnt coffee flavor really turned me off. So, I would rather snack on some B, as it is more balanced and is closer to the kind of coffee flavor I like. Want a suggestion? Take the chocolate from A, and incorporate B's coffee into it - only use three times as much coffee as you used in B.
- The Five Words: good, but playing it safe
- The Name: Buzz
0.6A
The milk chocolate is really great - it has some of the tanginess that I loved about version 0.4A, as if it were inspired by a nice, tart chocolate creme brulee. The coffee's better this time around, very robust and roasty up front (in a way that reminds me of a warm cup in front of a ski-lodge fire, mmm) but nowhere near burnt. The flavor changes a bit over time, getting a tad more bitter as the bar melts, and ending with a flat note I'm finding hard to describe, almost like the aroma of wet paper towels.
0.6B
This has a good-enough baseline milk chocolate, but it doesn't pique my interest/curiosity like other Tchocolates have. Also, the coffee is nearly nonexistent. Instead, I detect raisin notes as soon as the chocolate starts to melt, maybe with a hint of toasted nuts. The aftertaste is raisin-y, too.
0.6 Comparison
I preferred Version A. A is tasty up front, and remains (mostly) tasty as I eat it. It's complex, and therefore gets me thinking and paying really close attention. I still can't get over how full-bodied and unique the chocolate is. B is blah by comparison. The chocolate just seems average, and I don't like the flavor notes I manage to detect. (Disclaimer: this is the girl who can't stand oatmeal raisin cookies, and considers brownies with nuts a crime against humanity.)
- The Five Words: eyebrows raised, eyes wide, smile.
- The Name: Crema
0.8A
The milk chocolate in version A, with its creamy tanginess, continues to be excellent - but the non-chocolate flavors of this version have changed, and not to my liking. The bar smells of raisins and figs - or rather, a compote containing those fruits - at first, and then tastes like something woody, bitter, and even a tad metallic. The aftertaste mellows out a bit, which I like, and makes me think of sweet port. But, where's the coffee? I miss the coffee, and am so confused.
0.8B
I wasn't sure what to expect upon smelling version B's port-y aroma, but this bar came through for me! The milk chocolate has evolved from past Bs so that it more closely approximates A's consistent tanginess, but this seems a hint sweeter. Love! The coffee flavor is assertive at first bite but then calms down, with occasional flavor jolts causing me to perk up. There's a hint of roastedness about the coffee, but it's not overwhelming. The finish is smooth and sweet, almost like caramel.
0.8 Comparison
I preferred Version B. B is extremely close to being your TchoJoe bar. The coffee and chocolate flavors are well-balanced, and its consistency - both in terms of texture and taste - hasn't yet been matched.
- The Five Words: A solid caramel mocha. Yum!
- The Name: Crema (again. almost went with Jolt, but the name needs to convey mood as well as taste)
Whew. That was a lot of chocolate...and a lot of fun!
I really enjoyed following the characteristics throughout the iterations - for example, how Version A's interestingly tangy milk chocolate remained a fixture of each A bar and finally asserted itself in the last B bar, as well as the progressive introduction of dried fruit notes in the later bars. I was continually surprised at the coffee flavor throughout these bars, since it was never as...accurate?...as I would have expected. Maybe since we were dealing with milk chocolate, instead of a higher-percent-cacao formulation, the chocolate makers didn't want to be as assertive or obvious with the coffee? Who knows. Overall, 0.6A and 0.8B were my favorites - the former, because of its standout milk chocolate and strong coffee; the latter, due to its near-perfect balance. I can't wait to see what characteristics made it through to the final product, which Beta Tasters will receive shortly.
I mentioned above that each Beta bar had six squares. I only used two squares for each tasting, and have saved the remainders. My plan, once the ultimate TchoJoe arrives, is to do a vertical tasting of all the iterations alongside the production release. Stay tuned for a review of that endeavor!
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