Water, the right beverage for chocolate?

by Michael Mascha

In Mexico hot chocolate is made with water, not milk. Water is brought to a boil and chocolate is added to the hot water. A person in a state of sexual excitement is said to be "like water for chocolate”.

Chocolate is known to have healthy effects because of the high content of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. Cocoa has also a high food value, containing as much as 20 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 40 percent fat.

The Aztecs and Mayans were the first to recognize the potency of chocolate. Montezuma, reportedly drank 50 cups of chocolate each day to better serve his harem of 500 women. Seventeenth-century church officials deemed it sinful to partake of chocolate.  Chocolate contains among other things PEA, or phenylethylamine. This is the very same molecule that courses through the veins of one who is in love. Combine our internal stores of this natural amphetamine with chocolate, and one only heightens a sensation called love.

So, during this season of love, what is the right water to drink with chocolate and chocolate deserts?

On the other side of food pairing, conventional wisdom has it that big, bold red wines are the perfect match for chocolate and chocolate desserts.   According to Chris Meeske, former sommelier and wine director for the Patina Group, this thinking is “totally wrong.” Meeske points out that “while there are very few rules for matching wine with food, wine should always be sweeter than the food”.

Chris is on a mission to educate consumers with his new “Mission Wines” Store and he explains that “the texture of the chocolate coats the mouth and leaves dry red wines tasting metallic”. The main reason people think that red wine matches with chocolate is due to the conventional progression of wines through dinner. Usually light white wines are served with appetizers, and the wines progress to bigger reds as the courses continue. By the time desert is served, big red wines are called for and matched with the chocolate.

So, at FineWaters, we decided to apply this thinking to pairing chocolate with fine, bottled water.  

We sampled dark chocolate which usually has a large content of cocoa (40-85%) and started with a soft almost sweet still water and progressed through the FineWaters Balance™ with Effervescent, Light Classic and Bold designated waters. We concluded that a still water is not the optimal match for chocolate.

A sparkling water with the FineWaters Balance™ of Light or Effervescent is a much better choice as the light bubbles of the sparking water cut through the chocolate without disturbing the sensation. Those waters are surprisingly delightful with the chocolate and our choice for matching water with chocolate and chocolate desserts.

Waters with a FineWaters Balance™ of Classic or Bold create too much of a distraction to be considered good matches. Nevertheless, we noticed that waters with a FineWaters Balance™ of Classic match very well with chocolate that contains nuts, as the water creates a nice dialogue with the crunchy mouthfeel of the chocolate.

We also sampled white chocolate, which is usually made with cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder and vanilla, with no cocoa. Certainly we would agree that white chocolate is not actual chocolate due to the absence of cocoa. Nevertheless, the same rules for matching white chocolate and water do seem to apply.

Treat your Valentine and yourself to a tasting. Take a box of chocolate, make yourself comfortable on the couch and explore the subtle differences the right water can make in enjoying an ancient drug.

Resources:
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate is an acquired taste, but it serves as an exquisite cap to an elegant meal or the center piece of a tasting. As your palate will matures and comes to appreciate dark chocolate, you will soon realize that it is full of subtle distinctions similar to wine. Like grapes, cocoa is an agricultural product that expresses terroir.