Ok, I admit it. It's been a while. (6 Months? Really?) There have been some big changes in the world of the Tasty Show since the summer. A quick rundown: since my last post, I wrapped things up with my boutique PR gig, packed up my stuff, moved across the country, set myself up in San Francisco, and started working with a tech PR firm called LaunchSquad.

And here we are in January 2009.

Much as I've been slacking in the blog department, I didn't waste any time bringing chocolate into the mix here at my new digs - the holidays put me in the spirit to introduce my fellow PR enthusiasts at LaunchSquad to my chocolate obsession. And behold - see below the menu for the very first chocoparty I've done for my own company (rather than other people's companies - which are good too, but, you know, different...) A momentous occasion, and a delicious one at that.

I created this menu based on the responses of a small group of friends during a last minute 'testing session' that we held in my little studio apartment two nights before my company chocoparty. I'm always amazed at the sheer range and intensity of the responses to the pairing menus I've presented. In any pairing, I find that it's less about pleasing everyone (which becomes more and more impossible as the group gets larger), and more about experimentation and discussion. Here is our full menu + a few of the tasting notes my co-workers jotted down on little notecards I handed out before our tasting:

Valrhona Jivara Lait 40% + Chimay: The Valrhona Jivara is a classic sweet milk - an excellent, relatively neutral place to start. The idea here was a simple pairing based on the sweetness of the chocolate and the sweet malts of the beer. This one got a pretty varied response, ranging from "Better separate!" to, "Although the Chimay on its own is a bit sweet for my palate, paired with the milk chocolate, I was better able to detect the subtler, maltier properties."

Michel Cluizel Mangaro Milk 50% + Anchor Steam Holiday Brew: This pairing was one of the most beloved of the afternoon. As for each element on its own, many loved the ultra creamy intensity that Michel Cluizel is so well-known for, and the beer, brewed right in San Francisco, got good reviews all around ("This beer is amazing!"). (On an unrelated note, one fellow taster offered an alternative non-chocolate pairing that she discovered last Christmas while she was, um, mildly intoxicated. If, by chance, you accidentally drop a candy cane into your Anchor Steam Holiday beer, don't fret. Just leave it there for a while, then drink and enjoy.)

Recchuiti Dark Milk 55% + Aventinus Eisboch: This pairing got some of the most contrasting responses of the six. Around half the people at LaunchSquad HATED the Eisboch. The other half LOVED it. People's written comments ranged from "Bark tasting" and "BAD" to the more middle ground, "pairing was a bit too sweet for my taste," to "Wow, this is fascinating!" And just a couple nights before, this pairing got rave reviews. Fascinating.

Amano 70% Madagascar + Westmalle Tripel: Quite different than all the others - subtlety was the theme in this pairing. Amano's Madagascar, with its soft, even notes of dried fruit and figs, needed a beer that wouldn't overpower. The Tripel is airy, lighter than the other beers in the pairing with a fruity note that mingled gently with the chocolate. A pretty popular pairing overall. One of my personal favorites.

Domori 70% Venezuela + Ommegang: I've been a raging fan of Domori's Madagascar bars in the past, but I have to admit that this particular Venezuela variety hit me like something of a bitter, rude awakening... it wasn't my favorite, nor that of most of my fellow tasters, that's for sure. I paired it with the ever honey sweetness of Belgian-style Ommegang Ale to bring the bitter notes down a notch, and would say that the pairing was relatively successful, though I did overhear a likening to "wet concrete." Ha.

TCHO 70% Ghana + Lindemans Raspberry Lambic: Always a classic. "The most delicious of deliciousness!" was one of my favorite comments of the afternoon. For the most part, you can't go wrong with raspberry and dark chocolate, and I often conclude my menus this way because it leaves my fellow tasters with a wholly pleasing sense of the experience. The chocolate in this pairing was most certainly one of the favored dark chocolates of the six we tried. It was one of the "beta" bars released by San Francisco's very own TCHO, one of the industry's newest chocolate-makers based not too far from my office.