Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

topic posted Mon, March 13, 2006 - 7:18 PM by  Devi Maile
Aloha all,
Some chocolate contains Choc. Liquor which I heard is a cheap additive. Are there any bars people know of sans this ingredient?
Thanks, Devi
posted by:
Devi Maile
Hawaii
  • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

    Tue, March 14, 2006 - 9:13 PM
    Uh... I don't know what you're talking about...where did you hear that term used negatively?

    It's the essence of chocolate. If you take cocoa pods and roast em and grind up the little nibs into this sticky insanely bitter paste - THAT is chocolate liquor. It's not a cheap additive. It's the stage before becoming nice sugared tempered solid eating chocolate. And while you can separate the cocoa solids from the cocoa butter and fool around with the ratios and add in junky stuff TO the chocolate liquor... that term is usually used to refer to the GOOOOOOD stuff, not some adjunct to ruin your chocolate fun. It has nothing to do with cheap ingredients nor alcohol.
    • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

      Fri, March 17, 2006 - 2:28 AM
      How to know that the Choc. Liquor part hasn't been fooled with? Would the additional ingredients be listed in ( ) after or just as additonal ingredients on the list? Thanks for the info Frayed.....
      • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

        Fri, March 17, 2006 - 7:45 AM
        I have no idea, Devi, I'm not sure what you're looking for. If you could explain? I don't think they have to disclose at all, but I don't work for the FDA.

        In the original post, you seemed to be trying to avoid ingredients that weren't part of "good" or "pure" or "organic" chocolate; containing stuff that's cheap additive. OK so we cleared that up. But almost every chocolatier will "fool around with" their chocolate, it's how they make a unique product. Now as for how much of it they disclose, vs say "flavorings added" on the label, I do not know. If people are using rare or expensive or unique ingredients... if you used for instance organic estate-grown Réunion vanilla bean, you will damn sure advertise it. (and charge accordingly.) And there's really common adjuncts like soy lecithin (an emulsifier) that nearly every chocolate will have.

        So what are you trying to avoid, exactly? Just poor quality ingredients in general? You didn't specify anything but "cheap" so stick to the upper end of chocolatiers and you'll do fine.
        • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

          Mon, March 20, 2006 - 2:34 AM
          I am staying away from anything with alcohol in it, even if it's been burned off. You did establish that chocolate liquor was the cocoa nibs so when I ask about those additional ingredients I wonder if alcohol could be an ingredient somehow not listed. For example I know many times vanilla has some alcohol content yet alcohol is usually not listed, just vanilla. My mention of 'cheap additive' was the way someone described choc. liquor to me at one time. Probably the best best would be to go with the higher end bars out there. I have been nibbling on fairly inexpensive dark choc raspberry milanos since this thread began. ; )
          • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

            Mon, March 20, 2006 - 8:16 AM
            According to www.karachocolates.com/chochist.html, which gives a really awesome rundown of everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate:

            "The nibs, which contain about 53 percent cocoa butter, are next conveyed to mills, where they are crushed between large grinding stones or heavy steel discs. The process generates enough frictional heat to liquefy the cocoa butter and form what is commercially know as chocolate liquor. The term liquor does not refer to alcohol, it simply means liquid. When the liquid is poured into molds and allowed to solidify, the resulting cakes are unsweetened or bitter chocolate."

            Eat with abandon! :)
          • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

            Mon, March 20, 2006 - 3:12 PM
            Ah, no worries. Whoever told you chocolate liquor was a cheap additive started it, so set 'em right.

            There's no alcohol as in alcoholic liquor, and since it's a religious taboo for more than one religion, I'm pretty sure they would print it as an ingredient if it did contain detectable amounts of alcohol. People get upset about things like that. :)

            But - alcohol is the universal solvent of food extractives, it's used to extract stuff from other stuff all the time, and basically unless you go into total raw foods diet crazy, you'll probably eat stuff that's been extracted via an alcohol solution. Vanilla, for instance. It will take considerable double-checking, if you don't even want trace amounts to be consumed.

            Hey if you don't want alcohol in any form in any amount, I guess I can understand you have your reasoning. But balance it with common sense. Think about what's in the air you breathe. Watch out for those polyunsaturated fats, too. Etc.

            Good luck!
            • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

              Mon, March 20, 2006 - 11:32 PM
              Mahalo (thanks) everyone for the 411.

              I am now a more educated chocolate lover and will share what I've learned.

              I just tried the Endangered Species bar Black Rhino dark choc with hazelnut crunch
              super yummy.....
  • Re: Dark Chocolate without Choc. Liquor?

    Sat, October 21, 2006 - 7:53 PM
    I am a sober alcoholic and was in quite a tizzy when I read that my dark chocolate ice cream topping had something called chocolate liquor in it. I NEED to know if there is any form of alcohol in it, because, if so, I may have just screwed up my 3.5 years of sobriety. Can someone please tell e whether or not it has alcohol in it? Thanks!