Not sure how good your chocolate taste buds are?

Are you a beginner chocolate-taster?  Want a good chocolate-tasting tip to get you started?

If you want to learn the difference between fine chocolate that uses real ingredients and commercial chocolate that uses not-so-real ingredients, go out and buy four different chocolate bars with the same percentage (%) of cocoa solids.  For instance, buy four chocolate bars made by different manufacturers, but be sure that they all have 70% cocoa solids. Buy two that have artificial flavouring, one with real vanilla extract and one with ground vanilla beans.  The chocolate bars should have no flavours other than real or artificial “vanilla” (i.e. no raspberry, coffee or other flavour). Then break two or three pieces off of each bar and taste them.  Start with the chocolate containing artificial flavours, and then move to the chocolate with vanilla extract and finally, taste the stuff with real vanilla.  You will very quickly learn the difference between artificial flavouring and real vanilla just by taste.

A great way to do this with white chocolate is to taste Chipits white chocolate chips from the grocery store, and compare them to a Green & Blacks white chocolate bar with organic ingredients and real vanilla.  Then tell me which one you will buy again...