A recap of Artisinful! Chocolate & Beer Fest – including our choice for Best {Chocolate & Beer} Couple.

Last weekend, Mr. B and I had the pleasure of attending Artisinful! a festival celebrating local artisan crafted chocolates and beers, presented by Culmination Brewing in Portland. I’ll be taking on the chocolate side of things, and Mr. B will be telling you a little about the beers a few paragraphs down.

Before we get too far along, however, we should probably makes an distinction between a Chocolate Maker and a Chocolatier. If you plan on attending an event that involves both, it’s good to know the difference, because some of these artisans are a little finicky about how you refer to them. (Honestly, I don’t blame them a bit: both are proud of what they do, and deserve to be recognized for it.)

So what is the difference between a Chocolate Maker and a Chocolatier?

Glad you asked!

A Chocolate Maker is someone who roasts cacao beans, grinds them, and mixes them with sugar to make chocolate. Portland chocolate makers are fond of referring to themselves as “bean-to-bar” chocolate makers, and saying things like, “Our chocolate is made from fair trade, single farm-sourced beans from >a South American country near the equator<.”

Artisinful! Chocolate & Beer Fest included tastings from three Portland chocolate makers: Cleo, Wood Block, and our personal favorite – the silky, smooth stylings of master chocolate maker Brian Flick of Pitch Dark.

Interesting side-note about the local politics of chocolate making: As we were making the rounds, we stopped to listen to one of the chocolate makers talk about his product. In an effort to impress the gathered crowd, he made the emphatic claim that theirs was the only single-origin (single farm, collective, or varietal) chocolate made in Portland. Having had some previous education on Portland bean-to-bar chocolate, I waited until the crowd dispersed and then asked him if he knew that the Pitch Dark chocolate bars a few tables away were also made from single origin cacao beans. [Read my post on Pitch Dark.] Initially attempting to dispute my claim, he was soon stumbling over his words like Daffy Duck in a tongue-twister contest. (In all fairness, I’m not sure if this was an actual “chocolate maker,” or simply an employee sent to man the table. In any event, I guess the lesson here is that it’s probably good to get your facts straight when you’re presenting to a room full of informed Portland foodies.)

Anyway, back to the second half of the Chocolate Maker/ Chocolatier question: What’s a Chocolatier? 

A Chocolatier is someone who takes the chocolate that a Chocolate Maker makes and creates those sweet chocolate confections – dipped and creamy, nutty and smooth – that make us close our eyes and breathe deep. Chocolatiers say things like, “Here, try this one next – it’s brand new,” and, “Try this one now – it’s fabulous!” and, “This one is my personal favorite – you have to try it!”

Just for you, Mr B and I sucked it up and forced ourselves to sample something from each and every Chocolatier at the event. After making at least two rounds of the Chocolate Hall (just to be sure) we narrowed our favorites to two: Missionary and Batch PDX.

Let’s start with Missionary Chocolates and their handcrafted gluten-free, vegan truffles. Missionary was our first stop in the Chocolate Hall, and it took all we had to walk away and make our way to the next table.

Missionary’s chocolates are smooth, sweet, and relatively solid on the tooth. Our favorite flavor as a stand-alone confection was their Blood Orange & Cardamom truffle: the combination of bold citrus and smoky cardamom was sublime. Other flavors that stood out to us were the Meyer Lemon Explosion (aptly named, I might add), and their exquisite Spicy Cinnamon Chipotle truffle.

Missionary Chocolates have an interesting history. They began in 2008 when Melissa Berry, a naturopathic physician, began making chocolates to give to her gluten-intolerant vegan mother. Made with organic coconut cream, fair-trade chocolate and local, seasonal, organic ingredients, they are lactose and gluten free, with no added sugars or preservatives. (Yes Portland, there is a chocolate faerie for each an every one of us!) Within months, Melissa had her own company, and her dairy-free truffles were taking first place at the Northwest Chocolate Festival.

Our other local favorite was Batch PDX. Watching Batch PDX founder Jeremy Karp work is an absolute pleasure, and knowing that he literally has a hand in making those beautiful chocolates adds some elusive ingredient to the mix. Jeremy has the perfect personality for a chocolatier, and he clearly loves what he does.

Jeremy is passionate about his chocolates, mixing new combinations in his mind long before chocolate ever meets heat, like a song-writer composing before his fingers ever strike a chord. My personal Batch favorite is the Spicy Passion with its classic combination of sweet and heat. Mr B was in heaven sampling Batch’s newest offering – a salted caramel truffle topped with a thin slice of candy-cap mushroom that delivered a sweet, smooth, earthy finish.

Honestly, comparing Batch and Missionary, we’d be hard-pressed to choose between the two.  I would say that Batch’s chocolates are smoother and a bit softer in the middle than Missionary’s, and if size matters to you, it might be noted that Batch chocolates are definitely single serving size (about 3/4 to 1-inch across), while Missionary chocolates tend big enough to share with a friend… or two. Both have interesting, unique, well-balanced flavors with notes that change on the palate like wine as they flow across your tongue.

Beer Notes from Mr B

The Chocolate & Beer Festival featured eleven beers, one cider, and one mead. Each was chosen because it paired well with chocolate.

I tasted seven of the thirteen pours at the event, including:

• Blackberry Habenero Sour {Culmination}, a lovely, spicy concoction that wasn’t quite as flavorful or aromatic as I anticipated.
• Choco Mountain {Culmination}, a milk chocolate stout with a heavy cacao flavor; the result of being aged on cacao nibs.
• Chocolate Chile Chupacabra {Old Town Brewing}, a tasty beer that would pair well with a savory dish.
• Coco Pono Toasted Coconut Cream Ale {Pono Brewing/ Culmination Collaboration}, which will likely be a winner with the IPA-loving crowd, as it turned out to be far more hoppy than I expected from a cream ale.

I could go on and on about each beer we sampled, but instead I’m just going to get right to it. Not that I didn’t appreciate the rest of the beers, but when we are talking about Beer-with-Chocolate, one stood so far above the crowd that nothing else compared – and it wasn’t just because the brewmaster was six-foot something and wearing a kilt.

Dragon’s Gate Brewery, from Milton-Freewater, blew me away with their Belgium Chocolate Stout. This full-bodied brew has a rich, dark head and a flavor reminiscent of espresso laced with chocolate liqueur. It’s quite filling, so it’s not something you’re going to sit around and sip in the backyard on a hot summer day, but if you want a deep, dark, delicious mug of stout on a cold winter night, this is your beer.

Which leads me to our choice for Best Pairing at the Festival:

Missionary ♥ Spicy Cinnamon-Chipotle Truffle
Dragon’s Gate ♥ Le Morte d’Arthur Belgium Chocolate Stout

These two were made for each other. The spicy, smooth bite of the Cinnamon-Chipotle Truffle becomes a strong, sensual companion when paired with the heavy chocolate stout, each complementing and enhancing the other without overpowering, making for a perfect dessert combination.

Where can you find the aforementioned delectable treats?

• Dragon’s Gate Brewery is just getting off the ground, and since they are based in eastern Oreogn, their beers are not yet available in the Portland area. Your next chance to try them in Portland will be at the 2016 Nano Beer Fest at John’s Marketplace in SW Portland, April 9-10.
• Missionary Chocolates can be found online, at their retail store in Portland, and at specialty stores and food coops around the Portland area.

Disclosure: We received complimentary media passes to this event.