Wow, can you believe that I’ve finally come to the end of this round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet; it’s been MORE than a year since my “A is for Absinthe” entry! Sadly, I didn’t find a “Z” alcohol chocolate, so this is the last post of the series. Don’t feel cheated that I left out letters in this round – I’ve written about 33 different bars this series – that’s 7 more than the alphabet!
Also, (though maybe I shouldn’t really be surprised), almost 3 years ago I wrote about this unique “Y” letter ingredient as part of my inclusion series. Here’s the link to that post.
The South American Andes meets the Scottish Highlands in this Austrian Zotter bar called: YaconBier and Whisky
As always, I love the wrapper sleeve illustration by artist Andreas H. Gratze. The picture makes me think of a flamenco guitarist, though this musician is probably playing a charango if it is representing Peru and Bolivia in honor of the origin of the yacon root/tuber.
As mentioned, I’ve been waiting to taste this bar for quite some time + the “best by” date elapsed about a year ago, so forgive the chalky white blemishes on the outside of the bar showing the wavy pattern of the 70% noble (dark) chocolate couverture of this “hand scooped” bar. There is no one to blame but myself.
This outer coating was a little crumbly when cut with a knife, but that just made it easier to isolate and taste the chocolate on its own. To me, it was a little smoky (like a mezcal), but I’m guessing it is really the peaty notes from the Scottish Single Malt Whisky.
The ganache looks like a toasted white chocolate and has a slightly crystallized honey or soft/granulated caramel mouthfeel/texture. Based on the inner wrapper, the yacon beer used for this bar was brewed in the volcanic region of Austria by Milli’s Bio-Oasis. If you visit Milli’s website and scroll down, you will see a photo of a yacon root, which looks a lot like a yam or sweet potato.
Typically yacon is used as a natural, alternative sweetener with a low glycemic index; but, in the case of this chocolate bar, raw cane sugar is the first ingredient, so it’s fairly sweet. Honestly, if I didn’t know there was alcohol, I would not have been able to tell. I imagine that a fresh bar would be vibrant! If you’ve tried either the beer or the chocolate, please let me know your thoughts!
Zotter is based in Austria, but they also have a US presence in Florida! For those in Europe, check out: https://www.zotter.at/en/ and for those in the US, visit: https://www.zotterusa.com/
Yes, I have a theme for “Round 5” of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet; however, I’ll be taking a break during the hot summer months since SoCal weather and shipping chocolate don’t mix. For the next round, I plan to feature California-based chocolates A through Z. Bonbons, chocolate shops, confections and bean-to-bar are all fair game, so if there’s a particular place you think I should write about, leave me a note in the comments section. Bonus points if it’s a “double word score” like Andy’s Apothecary!
Salud & Slàinte on this Thirsty Thursday!
