Portland Chocolates (Part 3): Alma, Art of Chocolate, DePaula, Hot Chefs, Pix, Sahagun, Wingnut, Vosges

Alma Chocolate is the latest of several confetioners to make the jump from farmers market to brick and mortar. Their store, less than a month old, is on the culinary stretch of NE 28th just north of Burnside.

Alma’s eye-catching solid chocolates with spiritual themes, such as Buddhas and Virgin Marys “painted” in gold, are undeniably dazzling, but their ganache-filled chocolates and truffles are darned good, too, and for more than their looks.

Shells are relatively thin for molded chocolates, yielding to a creamy ganache that does need to be room temperature to avoid feeling dense. Designs are elegant and often dusted with gold. Flavors are well-balanced. Some, such as the rosemary, arguably overwhelm the chocolate, but most, such as the cardamon with burnt sugar and sesame, are perfect enhancements for the quality cacao while still being unique. The cocoa powder coating on the Alma’s plain truffle and a chile infused truffle is light, allowing the ganache to be the focus.

The only chocolate or candy of theirs that I think needs to be reworked is the mango-white chocolate, which could use more mango intensity. Their ginger almond toffee, on the other hand, is terrific — the ginger adding a bite to counter the toffee’s sweetness.

I know little about Art of Chocolate except that you can find several of their chocolates at Curds & Whey. Their bagged truffles, while cheap, are mediocre. Better are their chocolates with creamy fillings, though with shells that are too thick and waxy.

Even the dark chocolate is a bit sweet and mild. The chocolate used for their ganaches could be more interesting and intense. Fillings are ho-hum, but may be more enticing to those who like alcohol in their candies. The best of theirs I’ve tried is probably the Grand Marnier which tastes more of orange than orange liqueur. Others, such as the cherry truffle are balanced in favor of the alcohol. The Irish Coffee probably has the strongest alcohol flavor of any I’ve tried.

Decent chocolates, though, with nice textures. They’re better than most from last year’s tasting, but clearly the worst in this report. I would probably choose Moonstruck first.

PO Box 220343, Milwaukie, OR
503.652.5916

John DePaula is a NOLA transplant creating elegant chocolates in his SW Portland home. Flavors and designs are among the most interesting in town. His lavendar-vanilla, for example, looks like a cloud — a white dome with whisps of violet. The pomegranate has a swirly crimson design on a white rectangle. The champagne has a similar white rectangle topped with golden stars.

His pandan is one of my favorites, using coconut milk instead of dairy — the subtle and unique herb flavor building as the chocolate melts in your mouth. Perhaps his best, though, doesn’t use chocolate at all: the Bananas Foster. Instead it combines rum, bananas, butter, and pecans for the exquisite taste of DePaula’s native home.

There are areas for improvement. Most noticeably, the shells, especially the bottoms of the shells, are among the thickest in this survey. The chocolates have wonderfully creamy ganaches which should be allowed to shine. I also don’t like the matching of oolong with chocolate in his Butterfly of Taiwan. Other tea flavors seem to work better. (Though this may be an issue with my palate.) His chipotle has a subtle spiciness which is pleasant, but the unique chipotle flavor doesn’t come through; it may as well be cayenne.

But these are very good chocolates, among the best in this report. DePaula is looking at offering his confections at the Hillsdale Farmers Market and I hope he does. He’d deservedly make a killing. Until then, they’re by appointment or mail order, primarily. Curds & Whey also carries his caramels and six piece samplers. It’s worth noting that he uses gorgeous boxes at no additional charge.

Hot Chefs, like Pix, Sahagun, and Alma, introduced their “cool confections” to local foodies at the Portland Farmers Market. Started by five WCI graduates, their chocolates have relatively standard flavors in attractive molds. The chocolates need to be improved to truly challenge the best in town, but all make an attractive gift and a couple pieces are exceptional.

Their best items are actually made without chocolate. The spherical ginger-coconut perfectly blends the two tastes of the tropics. The white pineapple uses the tangy sweetness to balance the normally overyly rich and cloying white chocolate. I usually hate white chocolate, but loved this.

The big problem is that their products have a tendency to taste more like candies than chocolates. The infusions are so strong, so overpowering, the chocolate becomes unnecessary. The dark lavendar, coffee express, and creme de menthe all suffer from this problem. The creme de menthe tastes so strongly of mint, it’s almost like an Andes. Taking good chocolate and overpowering it with mint or any other infusion is like taking Copper River salmon and smothering it in a berry sauce. Might as well use farmed fish. A couple others, like the mocha maple and Oregon hazelnut, both of which use milk chocolate, are too sweet.

I don’t want to overstate my displeasure. These are still very good chocolates. Textures are creamy and shells are usually thin. Flavors are good, just not sophisticatedly balanced. And their best pieces are among the very best confections in this report.

The new North Portland store

Pix has not only added a new North Portland store, but also quite a few chocolates to their repetoire. The approach with these new confections focuses more on the chocolate, using the flavors as a supporting element rather than as the star. More attention is paid to textures and balance, although arguably the seasonings could still be subtler.

Pix now has three single variety chocolates, the Madagascar (Palet d’Or), Trinidad (Palet d’Argent), and Java (Palet de Rouge). Each has a creamy, uniquely flavored ganache inside a delicate box-shaped shell. They’ve added an Earl Grey chocolate as well which is one of their best balanced pieces. The tea enhances the chocolate rather than overpowering it. Even though relatively aggressively flavored with grapefruit, the Pink Flamingo is one of their best tasting bites, even for those who normally disdain the astringent citrus (like myself).

One of the more interesting additions is their blue cheese truffle. Formerly, they served a dark chocolate truffle dusted in cocoa powder (too heavily) with a side of blue cheese at Bar Pastiche. Here, the blue cheese flavor is in the ganache. And it works. Blue cheese often works well with sweets and here two pungent flavors, the chocolate and the cheese, are both enhanced by the minimal sugar.

It’s worth noting, too, that Pix’s chocolates, despite being among the very best, are also among the very cheapest. They generally run $1.25 to $1.50 per piece. Truffles are a bit more.

3402 SE Division
Portland, OR
503.232.4407

3901 N Williams
Portland, OR
503.282.6539

All the morning’s caffeine in one small chocolatey bite

As I’ve said elsewhere: finally, Sahagun has a chocolate shop. Actually, they’ve had it for several months now, and if you haven’t visited it yet you cannot consider yourself a chocoholic. It’s like being a booze hound, living in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and never having toured the Jack Daniel’s distillery.

The only problem is that chocolatier-owner Elizabeth has reduced the number of the ganache-filled chocolates (the ones I love) in favor of focusing on her Arriba truffles and many candy-like items — along with hot chocolate. Okay, I can understand that last part. Her hot chocolate is like drinking eight ounces of liquid truffle. But I do miss the palets. No chocolates before or since have had such perfect subtle balance — flavorings not screaming out at you as soon as you start to chew, but rather gradually increasing their volume as the chocolate melts on your tongue. Wonderful.

The Arriba truffles, made from a single variety Ecuadorian chocolate, are very good, though. Excellent, in fact. They have thin shells and the chocolate has a unique natural sweetness with a slight tanginess and almost no bitterness. Even the raw Arriba beans Sahagun sells are nearly edible as is.

Sahagun’s other regular ganache-filled chocolate is the Morning Mega Pill, a Stumpown coffee infused wake-me-up that is anything but subtle. At one-dollar each, though, you can get two morning highs in one bite on the cheap. Truffles and palets (if she has them) are two dollars each.

Wingnut Confections is a vegan chocolatier that I unfortunately missed in my chocolate survey last year. They use palm oil and it shows in the textures of their truffles, which are more smooth than creamy, if that distinction makes sense.

Wingnut only makes five truffle flavors: Earl Grey, Peppermint, Silknog, Thai Chili, and Oregon Hazelnut-Frangelico. Infusions can obscure the chocolate flavor, but even the peppermint is not overly sweet. The Thai Chili is more like Thai curry. Not only does it contain heat from chiles, but it contains coconut milk, kaffir lime, and even galangal. Truly unique.

Their chocolates can be found at the People’s Farmers Market, the refrigerator section of the People’s Co-Op, Food Fight, and Whole Foods. (Sahagun sells their coated hazelnuts.) I have no reservations in recommending their chocolates, especially for vegans who want a competent alternative without dairy.

I first tasted Vosges several years ago in their hometown of Chicago just as they were gaining prominence. Their gimmick, if you want to call it that, was (and still is) exotic and unusual flavors. To some extent, they can be credited (or blamed) for that current popular trend. Since my wife got me a box of their truffles as an early Valentine’s, I decided to toss them into the survey as a control.

They have a clever presentation that makes the truffles look more interesting, but that also serves a useful function. An element of the flavoring is included on the outside top of each truffle. For example, the Poivre has cracked Telicherry pepper on the outside. The Budapest has sprinkled Hungarian paprika. They recommend that you taste these toppings to get a “tease” of the flavor within. But they also add a clue for distinguising truffles.

The truffles are small and expensive. But they still lead the way in unusual flavors. Besides the Poivre and the Budapest, exotic flavors include: viola (candied violet flower), black pearl (ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds), naga (sweet Indian curry, coconut), balsamico (balsamic vinegar, hazelnuts), absinthe (Chinese star anise, fennel), and finnochio (fennel pollen). We tasted several of these before we knew what they were, trying to make a guess. The finnochio tasted like salami-flavored chocolate to both me and my wife.

Some of their chocolates are more successful than others. The balsamico doesn’t taste like balsamic. The Budapest just tastes a little musty. The naga, however, is a terrific combination of flavors, as is the absinthe. Although, both are more candy than chocolate. I find the chocolate in Vosges’s truffles rather bland and unremarkable. Perhaps they want it that way so that the infusions do not compete for dominance. But if that’s so, why are the truffles almost three dollars each in a box of nine (before shipping)? They’re not even that creamy. They’d fall somewhere in the middle of this report. Gourmet chocolatiers like Recchiuti make Vosges’s truffles seem grainy and stiff by comparison. They do have some fun flavors that make great gifts, but for the serious chocolate-lover several of the local chocolatiers make a superior product.

More and more gourmet shops around town are carrying Vosges’s chocolate bars (minimum six dollars each, and more likely eight dollars or more). Foster and Dobbs is also carrying a small selection of their chocolates.