Flavour

Red fruit, citrus, tropical fruit and dried fruit. The most sought-after family in craft chocolate, and the one whose causes are most often misattributed.

red fruit, raspberry, redcurrant, sour cherry, blackcurrant, citrus

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; created during fermentation; from where it grew; a fault, not a characteristic

Jasmine, orange blossom, rose. The most fragile family — a heavy roast removes it entirely.

jasmine, orange blossom, rose, elderflower, honeysuckle

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; from an added ingredient

Almond, hazelnut, walnut. Mostly a roast product, and one of the few families that is reliably a manufacturing decision rather than a bean characteristic.

almond, hazelnut, walnut, peanut, marzipan

Comes from: created during roasting; from the bean's genetics; from an added ingredient

Toffee, butterscotch, cooked milk. In milk chocolate this is very often a manufacturing process rather than a bean characteristic.

toffee, butterscotch, dulce de leche, cooked milk, malt, brown sugar

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during roasting; shaped by conching

Forest floor, mushroom, tobacco, leather. Legitimate character at one intensity and a mould defect at another.

forest floor, mushroom, tobacco, leather, damp earth, moss

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic; from where it grew

Cinnamon, clove, pepper. Almost always either an added ingredient or a fermentation product, and rarely varietal.

cinnamon, clove, black pepper, nutmeg, chilli warmth, anise

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during fermentation

Coffee, toast, dark cocoa. Entirely a roast product, and the family most often used to cover other problems.

coffee, toast, dark cocoa, burnt sugar, espresso

Comes from: created during roasting; a fault, not a characteristic

A structural component rather than a note, and the one most often confused with astringency — which is a different sensation entirely.

dark cocoa bitterness, coffee bitterness, drying, puckering, harsh

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; a fault, not a characteristic; created during roasting

Almost entirely added sugar, and the family whose perceived intensity depends most on what else is in the bar.

sugar, honeyed, syrup, vanilla-sweet

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during fermentation

Brightness at low levels, sourness at high ones. The line between the two is drawn in the drying shed.

bright, tart, sour, vinegary, citric, lactic

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

Raspberry, redcurrant, sour cherry. The most sought-after note in craft chocolate and the one most reliably produced by a short, bright fermentation.

raspberry, redcurrant, sour cherry, cranberry, pomegranate

Comes from: created during fermentation; from the bean's genetics; from where it grew

Blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry — the darker, deeper end of the fruit range, and generally a longer fermentation than red fruit.

blackcurrant, blackberry, blueberry, damson, cassis

Comes from: created during fermentation; from the bean's genetics

Orange, lemon, bergamot. The note most often confused with a fault, because citrus and sourness sit on the same axis.

orange peel, lemon, bergamot, grapefruit, lime zest

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

Banana, mango, passion fruit, lychee — and the one flavour family where the cacao pulp's own taste occasionally survives into the bar.

banana, mango, passion fruit, lychee, pineapple

Comes from: created during fermentation; from the bean's genetics

Raisin, fig, date, prune. Concentrated rather than bright, and generally a marker of a long fermentation done well.

raisin, fig, date, prune, dried apricot

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

Peach, apricot, plum. A middle register between bright red fruit and concentrated dried fruit, and comparatively uncommon.

peach, apricot, plum, nectarine

Comes from: created during fermentation; from the bean's genetics

Fermented-fruit character that has gone past ripeness. Almost always a defect, and the clearest sign of over-fermentation.

overripe fruit, sherry-like, alcoholic, fermented, hammy

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic

The signature Ecuadorian note, and the most fragile aromatic in chocolate — a heavy roast removes it entirely.

jasmine, orange blossom, white flowers, perfumed

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; created during roasting

Rounder and heavier than jasmine, and more often an added ingredient than a varietal characteristic.

rose, rosewater, turkish delight, geranium

Comes from: from an added ingredient; from the bean's genetics

Orange blossom, elderflower, honeysuckle — the lighter floral register, and the one cocoa butter itself contributes.

orange blossom, elderflower, honeysuckle, acacia

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; from an added ingredient

A floral sweetness distinct from sugar, and one of the few notes that reads as sweet without being sweetness.

honey, beeswax, nectar, malt syrup

Comes from: created during fermentation; created during roasting

The most commercially important nut note in chocolate, and usually an actual hazelnut rather than a roast product.

hazelnut, praline, gianduja, toasted nut

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during roasting

Marzipan and toasted almond, and one of the more reliable varietal markers for Criollo-descended material.

marzipan, toasted almond, amaretto, blanched almond

Comes from: from the bean's genetics; created during roasting; from an added ingredient

A drier, slightly tannic nut note that shades towards bitterness — and one that can indicate a roast pushed slightly too far.

walnut, pecan, walnut skin, dry nut

Comes from: created during roasting; from an added ingredient

Almost always an added ingredient. Where it appears without one, it is generally a marker of a heavy roast on bulk beans.

peanut, peanut butter, roasted groundnut

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during roasting

The most common addition to chocolate, and one of the clearest signals of what a maker is trying to hide or to show.

vanilla, vanillin, custard, sweet cream

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during fermentation

Dark, slightly bitter sweetness — the deepest register of the caramel family, and a marker of long fermentation or heavy roast.

molasses, treacle, brown sugar, dark caramel, toffee

Comes from: created during fermentation; created during roasting

Biscuity, cereal-like sweetness. In milk chocolate it is usually the milk-crumb process rather than the beans.

malt, biscuit, digestive, malted milk, cereal

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during roasting

Cream, butter and cooked milk. Almost entirely a formulation matter — and one of the few notes that can come from cocoa butter alone.

cream, butter, cooked milk, condensed milk, fresh dairy

Comes from: from an added ingredient

The oldest chocolate addition still in everyday use, and standard in Mexican and Spanish drinking chocolate.

cinnamon, cassia, warm spice, baking spice

Comes from: from an added ingredient; created during fermentation

A sharp, slightly numbing spice note that is more often a fermentation product than an addition.

black pepper, white pepper, peppercorn, sichuan tingle

Comes from: created during fermentation; from an added ingredient

Clove, nutmeg, allspice — the aromatic register that sits between cinnamon and pepper, and largely a fermentation signature.

clove, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, mulling spice

Comes from: created during fermentation; from an added ingredient

The original chocolate flavouring, predating sugar by centuries. Always an addition — cacao produces no capsaicin.

chilli, ancho, chipotle, cayenne, heat

Comes from: from an added ingredient

The closest chocolate comes to another food's flavour, and for a real reason — both are fermented seeds that are then roasted.

coffee, espresso, mocha, roasted bean

Comes from: created during roasting; from an added ingredient

Toast, bread crust and cereal — the early, gentler stage of roast development, before coffee and burnt notes arrive.

toast, bread crust, cereal, digestive biscuit, granola

Comes from: created during roasting

Almost always a drying artefact rather than an origin characteristic — and one that some makers now seek deliberately.

woodsmoke, campfire, smoked, bonfire, phenolic

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic; created during roasting

Acrid, ashy bitterness that does not clear. A roast fault, and one frequently used deliberately to mask worse ones.

burnt, acrid, ashy, scorched, carbonised

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic

Cedar, oak and dry timber. At low levels a characteristic; at higher levels it usually means shell left in the nib.

cedar, oak, dry wood, papery, cigar box

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

Dried leaf and cigar-box character. A marker of long, well-managed fermentation and generally a compliment.

tobacco, cigar box, dried leaf, pipe tobacco, hay

Comes from: created during fermentation

Wet stone, slate, iron. The least well understood note in chocolate, and the one most likely to be a projection.

wet stone, slate, flint, iron, chalk

Comes from: from where it grew; created during fermentation

Forest floor and damp earth. Sits directly on the boundary between a characteristic and a mould fault.

forest floor, mushroom, damp earth, moss, truffle

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

Mould. A storage and drying fault, and one of the few chocolate defects that is genuinely unrecoverable at every subsequent stage.

mould, damp cupboard, cellar, mildew, stale

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic

A drying, puckering sensation rather than a taste — and the single most reliable indicator of under-fermentation.

drying, puckering, chalky, tannic, green

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic; from the bean's genetics

Acidity past the point of brightness. Usually acetic acid trapped in the bean by drying that went too fast.

vinegar, sharp, sour, acetic, harsh

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic; shaped by conching

A gritty, sandy texture rather than a flavour. Under-refining, and the most common flaw in small-batch chocolate.

gritty, sandy, grainy, chalky, coarse

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic; from an added ingredient

A coating that does not clear from the palate. Almost always compound coating rather than chocolate.

waxy, greasy film, coating, palate-clinging

Comes from: from an added ingredient; a fault, not a characteristic

Grass, raw bean, unripe fruit. Almost always under-development — either fermentation or roast.

grassy, raw bean, unripe, vegetal, green

Comes from: a fault, not a characteristic; created during roasting

Soy, miso and broth-like depth. Uncommon, genuine, and a product of long fermentation.

soy, miso, broth, meaty, savoury

Comes from: created during fermentation; a fault, not a characteristic

The baseline note everything else sits on. Circular as a descriptor, and worth defining because it is what most people mean by chocolate.

cocoa, chocolatey, classic chocolate, cocoa powder

Comes from: created during roasting; created during fermentation

A sweet, slightly medicinal aromatic note that appears in some long-fermented material without any being added.

liquorice, anise, fennel, star anise

Comes from: created during fermentation; from an added ingredient