The brothers Marc and Steve Grimm are one of the newest bean to bar chocolate makers in Switzerland. Both trained chefs, hoteliers and confectioners respectively, decided at the beginning of 2019 to set up their own chocolate factory in their home in Lüscherz next to Lake Biel. Their motto is: From the best fine cocoa beans to the finished chocolate bar. From fair trade and direct trade.
Following a traditional process, cocoa beans are winnowed, roasted, ground and conched in a melangeur for up to 72 hours with the addition of raw cane sugar and cocoa butter. The maturation takes place for at least 3 weeks at room temperature in your maturation cabinet.
We have come up with something very special to test their chocolate. We compared the same Arriba Nacional cocoa beans from Ecuador from Cacao Criollo Arriba interpreted by three different chocolate manufacturers: < / p>
1) The actual chocolate bar of the Gebrüder Grimm
2) Miguel Orellana - he is co-founder of Cacao Criollo Arriba, is responsible for the quality of the cocoa beans, the fermentation protocols and the import to Europe. But he is also a talented chocolate maker and knows his cocoa very well.
3) We at the small batch project made our own chocolate in our kitchen at home with a normal oven, mixer, vacuum cleaner and a stone melangeur.
We tested the samples as melted warm chocolate to better develop the different flavors.
The result? All three chocolates have a very nice light reddish color. But the tasting notes are quite different. It seems like we conducted an unplanned test of the roast profile.
1) The Gebrüder Grimm seem to use a dark roast, resulting in roasted aromas, dried plums, molasses and a hint of coffee notes.
2) Miguel suggests a lighter roast and brings out more fruity notes, we also find dried fruits, but more honey notes, sweet orange and slightly floral notes.
3) Our chocolate shines to be the freshest of them all - light and fruity, a little banana and orange.
All chocolates have in common that the bitterness is completely absent, it is complex and allows many nuances to be discovered if one takes their time. Except ours, they are very nicely balanced.
Number 1 you can find here . Numbers 2 and 3 are not officially in stores and are only available as samples, upon request by email.