In addition to shopping, art and quaint downtown, Benicia has a new category to enhance its solid reputation as a great town—one that is sure to grab the attention of residents and tourists alike: Chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but the finest of chocolates with a high percentage of Cacao, to be found in the area.
In order to explore this sudden explosion of sweet (and salty) offerings, we at the magazine felt it was only fitting to investigate. As a confirmed chocoholic, I will personally sacrifice oral health and clothes that actually fit in pursuit of the latest flavors. Like pig to trough, I follow my nose to the chocolate section of any specialty boutique or gift store that carries the stuff and indulge in the many types and flavor combinations available. Happily, there are at least six such places in Benicia.
On a frigid day in January, we conducted our first of what will become an annual official Benicia Magazine Chocolate Tasting Contest. We invited a slate of world-class chocolate-eating judges. Co-sponsored by Christina S Fashion Destination, celebrating their fifth anniversary in business, we were treated to soft jazz by local saxophonist Kevin Frazier and a warm tasting area inside the store. Judges rated chocolate from six stores in six important categories in a blind tasting. First noting the aroma of each type, then appearance, they commenced to determine taste, mouthfeel and different flavorings. Palates were cleansed between bites with plain crackers and water. Each category was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest.
City Manager Brad Kilger
Mayor Elizabeth Patterson
Vice-Mayor Alan Schwartzman
City Councilmen Mark Hughes, Tom Campbell & Mike Ioakimedes
Mario Giuliani, Acting Economic Development Manager
Beth Steinmann, Office Manager, Snow Lotus Aromatherapy
Helaine Bowles, Library board member & City Staffer
The tasting itself led to some very interesting insights on the personal style and methodology of our civic leaders, which I won’t go into here. Suffice it to say that it’s no doubt a good thing to have such diversity in approach. Mayor Patterson and Councilmen Hughes and loakimedes did their tasting in absentia, due to prior commitments during the public event.
The conversation was mostly hushed as the judges got to it. They took the task very seriously, some taking copious notes (Mario) while others adopted a lighthearted approach (Tom Campbell), laughing and joking throughout, while Brad Kilger, who hit the ground running to learn all about our town, was intent on the task at hand. Mario’s comments included pairing ideas (ice cream and red wine), Beth and Brad caught the raspberry notes in one of the samples (it was the See’s truffle) and Elizabeth caught the complexities of the flavors in several samples, noting spices and fruit elements.
Benicia Bay Company: Dark Salted Truffle
Benicia Main Street: See’s Dark Chocolate Truffle
Bookshop Benicia: Dark Chocolate Bar with Coffee & Vanilla
Double Rainbow: Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie
Steve’s Hallmark: Black Forest Truffle
Studio 41: Dark Chocolate with French Grey Sea Salt
The goal of the tasting was to explore the variety of flavors and styles of chocolate; it wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. Therefore, we didn’t rank them in a “best” list. Instead, scores were tallied and averaged and those with the highest average scores within each category are noted below. They all scored highly, and there’s no particular order within categories. What’s clear from the scores is that all six samples were delicious and worthy of a special trip. And the highest scores go to…
Taste: Dark Chocolate
Studio 41
Taste: Flavored Chocolate
Benicia Main Street
Bookshop Benicia
Taste: Sweet/Salt Combo
Studio 41
Benicia Bay Company
Benicia Main Street
Studio 41
Bookshop Benicia
Double Rainbow
Steve’s Hallmark
Double Rainbow
Benicia Main Street
Benicia Bay Company
Steve’s Hallmark
