Wednesday, January 18, 2006


valrhona cocoa vs. droste

long-time readers know i'm a big valrhona fan. i love valrhona cocoa in cooking. (hint: it makes great brownies and is a smidge more affordable than the chocolate: US$25 for a kilo of cocoa as opposed to US$29 for a kilo of chocolate.)

but you know, i've never had the chance to drink it as a cup of hot cocoa. don't ask my why; it's always in my kitchen!

so last night, i made up some valrhona and found: in some ways, plain old droste (often US$7 for 9 oz., but i can usually buy it at sahadi's for less) might be better. why?

the big reason: i think droste dissolves faster and more completely in milk. of course, valrhona cocoa has a fantastic mahogany color and an intense chocolate taste.

as plain hot cocoa, i thought it was a tad fruity and added a little vanilla paste. check this out for yourself and see.

the downside with droste is that it can often have a slightly chalky feel in the mouth, while the valrhona is very silky. but i think a lot of people would prefer the droste flavor to the slightly fruity valrhona.

naturally, one test is clearly inadequate. i need to have more hot cocoa soon.

and with this strange weather we're having lately -- very western tasmanian -- there's clearly no shortage of opportunity!

posted by fortune | 10:12 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 3 comments