Last Thursday was the Slow Food St. Louis tasting at Kakao Chocolate and I wanted to tell you about it! This was the first tasting I organized for Slow Food and I was really nervous excited. It turned out really well though, and everyone seemed to have a good time!
Slow Food is such a powerful, active organization here in St. Louis. They promote local and sustainable food growth and really do a lot for the farms, markets, restaurants, and businesses in the area. Kakao strives to use local ingredients and all their chocolates are completely all natural (and organic when feasible!). They fit in really well with the Slow Food mission and that’s why they made a great tasting event!
Kakao’s Brian Pelletier (left) got together with Kyle Harsha from Harsha Wines (right) and paired wine and chocolates that were all phenomenal.
Kyle welcomed us to the tasting with a Moscato that was just the right amount of sweetness and made everyone excited for the chocolate that was waiting behind the scenes!
The first chocolate to make its way around the room was an espresso bark, and it was paired with a red blend wine from Navarra, Spain. Both were delicious – the espresso flavor in the chocolate wasn’t overpowering, and it paired well with the deep-flavored red.
The next chocolate Brian sent around was one of their famous sea salt chocolate caramels. These are seriously to die for. The homemade caramel melts in your mouth and the salt adds the perfect balance to the sweet. Kyle paired this confection with a 2007 Red Zinfandel, Pietra Santa, from California.
(Doesn’t Kakao have the best decor? Look at those walls!)
Next, we tried a cinnamon truffle. The inside was perfect gooey chocolate and the outside had the unique cinnamon taste. This was paired with a Gewurztraminer, which is a rich, kind of buttery and sweet French white wine.
Almost done! I didn’t want it to end. The next chocolate Brian gave us was a lemon, peppercorn, and thyme truffle topped with a pink peppercorn. Such an interesting combination! I am not a huge fan of anything too peppery but these little truffles were a great combination.
Kyle paired them with a 2005 German Riesling, which was a great balance of the pepper in the truffle.
The last confection wasn’t a chocolate at all, but it was a great ending to the four before it. It was a passionfruit pates de fruits, a jelly chew. It was paired with a Dulce dessert wine from Spain. I usually find dessert wines too sweet to drink, but this had a bit of a bite to it, and it paired well with the sugary dessert!
I think for my first tasting, it was a success! Everyone seemed to have a great time and all the chocolate and wine could not have been better. Brian was generous enough to offer $5 off a $25 purchase that evening in the store, so I bought plenty to take home too :)
Thanks again to Kyle Harsha and Brian Pelletier for being so accommodating and willing to do the tasting!
Look for more Slow Food tastings to come! If you’re a St. Louis native and have an idea or suggestion for a tasting, please let me know!
Last Thursday was the Slow Food St. Louis tasting at Kakao Chocolate and I wanted to tell you about it! This was the first tasting I organized for Slow Food and I was really
nervousexcited. It turned out really well though, and everyone seemed to have a good time!Slow Food is such a powerful, active organization here in St. Louis. They promote local and sustainable food growth and really do a lot for the farms, markets, restaurants, and businesses in the area. Kakao strives to use local ingredients and all their chocolates are completely all natural (and organic when feasible!). They fit in really well with the Slow Food mission and that’s why they made a great tasting event!
Kakao’s Brian Pelletier (left) got together with Kyle Harsha from Harsha Wines (right) and paired wine and chocolates that were all phenomenal.
Kyle welcomed us to the tasting with a Moscato that was just the right amount of sweetness and made everyone excited for the chocolate that was waiting behind the scenes!
The first chocolate to make its way around the room was an espresso bark, and it was paired with a red blend wine from Navarra, Spain. Both were delicious – the espresso flavor in the chocolate wasn’t overpowering, and it paired well with the deep-flavored red.
The next chocolate Brian sent around was one of their famous sea salt chocolate caramels. These are seriously to die for. The homemade caramel melts in your mouth and the salt adds the perfect balance to the sweet. Kyle paired this confection with a 2007 Red Zinfandel, Pietra Santa, from California.
(Doesn’t Kakao have the best decor? Look at those walls!)
Next, we tried a cinnamon truffle. The inside was perfect gooey chocolate and the outside had the unique cinnamon taste. This was paired with a Gewurztraminer, which is a rich, kind of buttery and sweet French white wine.
Almost done! I didn’t want it to end. The next chocolate Brian gave us was a lemon, peppercorn, and thyme truffle topped with a pink peppercorn. Such an interesting combination! I am not a huge fan of anything too peppery but these little truffles were a great combination.
Kyle paired them with a 2005 German Riesling, which was a great balance of the pepper in the truffle.
The last confection wasn’t a chocolate at all, but it was a great ending to the four before it. It was a passionfruit pates de fruits, a jelly chew. It was paired with a Dulce dessert wine from Spain. I usually find dessert wines too sweet to drink, but this had a bit of a bite to it, and it paired well with the sugary dessert!
I think for my first tasting, it was a success! Everyone seemed to have a great time and all the chocolate and wine could not have been better. Brian was generous enough to offer $5 off a $25 purchase that evening in the store, so I bought plenty to take home too :)
Thanks again to Kyle Harsha and Brian Pelletier for being so accommodating and willing to do the tasting!
Look for more Slow Food tastings to come! If you’re a St. Louis native and have an idea or suggestion for a tasting, please let me know!