How to choose good quality chocolate

There are many different chocolates available in shops today, but they are far from being the same in quality. For the vast majority of chocolates, price and quality go hand in hand. This is mainly because the ingredients that chocolate manufacturers include in good quality chocolates are much more expensive than the cheap substitutes that appear in poorer quality chocolates. But this is not always the case.

There have also been cases where expensive chocolates have actually been found to contain substitute and low-quality ingredients. It is therefore important to check the quality of the chocolate for yourself. There are a number of quick tests that can tell you immediately whether the chocolate you are buying is of good quality or not.

Appearance and breakage

The quickest way to tell whether chocolate is good quality or not is to look at it. Before you taste the chocolate, look at it first. It should have a shiny outer surface, free from stains or spots. If the outside of the chocolate is greyish, cloudy or even full of spots, this is the first sign that the chocolate is old or has been improperly handled. This means that it may have been exposed to high temperatures or other damage during transport.

If the chocolate looks good quality, break it. Fresh, good quality chocolate will break quickly and smoothly.

However, if it breaks or even bends, this is again a good sign that the chocolate is obviously old or made with poor quality ingredients and should be avoided.

Smell

Good chocolate will have a strong chocolate smell. Rub your fingers over the surface of the chocolate several times in succession to warm it. Then bring the bar to your nose and smell it. If the chocolate does not smell of chocolate but of vanilla or some other ingredient, this means that it will also not taste of chocolate. In this case, the chocolate manufacturer has obviously mixed in more low-quality additives, reduced the proportion of cocoa particles and thus reduced the quality of the chocolate itself.

Another interesting characteristic of chocolate is that it quickly picks up odours from the environment. If you find that your chocolate smells like coffee, tea or other food and not chocolate as it should, this may be a good sign that the chocolate has not been properly packaged and stored and has ''caught'' other smells in the shop. Such chocolate also has a higher chance of spoiling during storage.

Taste and mouthfeel

When you put a piece of chocolate in your mouth, pay attention to how it melts in your mouth and how it feels in your mouth. Is it waxy, does it contain beans, or is it smooth and mild? Quality chocolate will leave a smooth and mild taste in your mouth, while different adulterants will leave different traces, which can also affect the taste of the chocolate itself.

The taste of quality chocolate also depends on the type of chocolate. If you have chosen dark chocolate, the chocolate will be more bitter, depending of course on how much cocoa it contains. However, if you have opted for milk chocolate with additives such as lemon, strawberry or hazelnut, it is logical that the chocolate will leave a taste of the flavour of your choice in your mouth.

But surely the taste of chocolate itself is the most subjective thing, and it would therefore be difficult to conclude from the taste alone whether the chocolate is of good quality or not. No two people taste exactly the same, and one person will find one type of chocolate good and of good quality, while another will not. It is therefore important to consider all your senses when choosing chocolate and, in the end, decide whether the chocolate you have bought is of good quality or not.