Day 2 - Jan. 6, 2012

Todays taste test began with six different variations of chocolate.  We had tasting squares of milk and dark chocolate which were subjected to different conditions to see if we could tell the difference between them.  We heated a square of milk and dark chocolate, left one piece of each out to breathe for several hours before tasting, and had one piece of each directly out of the wrapper at room temperature.

The heated dark chocolate was slightly tart with a faint fruity taste.  The dark chocolate that was let to breathe seemed to have more of a cocoa taste than that of the heated dark and the texture was noticably grittier.  The dark chocolate that was eaten directly out of the package was more sour than the one that had breathed. 

The heated milk chocolate was creamy and smooth.  The milk chocolate that was allowed to breathe seemed to have more of a milky taste than that of the heated, and also seemed to be sweeter.  The packaged milk chocolate did not have a noticable difference from the breathed for me. 

For this test, I really tried to engage all of my senses but looking at it, smelling it, cracking it next to my ear, feeling the texture, and tasting several different ways once it was actually in my mouth.

The final taste test of the day was one on cheese.  I was a little apprehensive about this test because I have never been a huge fan of cheese by itself.  I love certain cheeses on crackers, bread, or melted on my sandwich, but I never eat it plain.  However, I was surprised to find that I could tolerate all of the cheeses we had, and I could tell the difference in them fairly well, although the volabulary is still lacking.

We tried five different cheeses.  The first was a mozzarella, which had an unbelievable milky taste.  The first thought that came to my mind when it hit my mouth was "milk."  The second was a Marscapone.  This was a very light cheese that was incredibly smooth, and had both a creamy texture and taste.  The third was the Nu-Chatel.  This was by far my favorite cheese out of the five with its sweet and very rich taste.  We made a ricotta in class.  This had a very strong taste, but it was hard to discern any other tastes other than the salt.  The last cheese we tasted was a store bought ricotta.  The biggest thing that I noticed about this was the gritty texture.