On Saturday, September 20, Kitsilano’s Chocolate Arts chocolate shop and café releases Allure, a signature chocolate created in collaboration with renowned French chocolate house Cacao Barry.
Chocolatier Greg Hook is the first artisan chocolatier in Canada to visit their Or Noir laboratory and blend his own signature chocolate. Allure will embody the precise flavour profile and characteristics Hook/Chocolate Arts desires in their chocolate consisting of: bitter, sweet, aromatic, fruity and cocoa.
Allure will be available in various chocolates and pastries at Chocolate Arts chocolate shop and café, as well as in various formats for home use.
Each phase of the meticulous multi-step process building on the outcome of the one before, Greg’s research began while still in Vancouver, with a blind taste test of pure 100% chocolates demonstrating various key flavor profiles: bitter, sweet, aromatic, fruity and cocoa. Next he travelled to France, where he went through another round of single-origin chocolate tasting, sampling and selecting various cocoa beans. With the help of Or Noir experts, he then tried his selections combined in various quantities: as cocoa liqueur, ganache and paired with various fruits and nuts in order to evaluate compatibility. The result was Allure, a dark chocolate comprised of cocoa beans from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Peru.
Allure demonstrates a strong cocoa start that carries through a round fruity finish. While traditionally most fruity chocolates lack a strong cocoa punch and cocoa-heavy varieties lack fruit, Chocolate Arts’ personal blend manifests and harmonizes these flavours, effectively capturing chocolate’s inscrutable universal charm and appeal.
Last modified: November 21, 2019
