Buttermilk White Chocolate
by Olive & Sinclair
Impact
The artisan mentality & the failure to respect the necessity of reciprocity in gift exchange always causes problems. This acccording to the historians at Ft. Ticonderoga who have written on chocolate hospitality & diplomacy.
Many a new era chocolate barsmith view themselves as master of the craft, if not the universe. Chocolate has inflationary FXs like that. Unique one-of-a-kind creatives likened to great painters.
They splatter the walls in different shades of brown as a Jackson Pollack studio with the manic monomania purloined from Van Gogh & an eye for publicity to rival Damien Hirst.
No wonder then that both inscribe palates / palettes. Alternatively moody, difficult, pleasing, insightful & demanding -- & sometimes all simultaneously. in other words, a pain where the sun never shines.
Take this Buttermilk White Chocolate from Olive & Sinclair (O&S). Its website leads customers to believe that one of the Buttermilk White Chocolate bars -- No. 9 -- contains salt & pepper while another Buttermilk White -- No. 8 -- does not (click image upper right to enlarge; NOTE: no mention on the wrapper of salt & pepper in the 45% bar).
Such distinctions turn out to be a superstitious belief for both contain salt & pepper.
When called out on this, that the Tennessee chocolate maker O&S shipped a misleading product to the C-spot® in NYC, this reply came back:
No reply came back from O&S on this.
To break the silence, O&S was prompted once more & finally returned with the following:
Who could resist such an offer so the C-spot® reciprocated:
While we agree about the vanilla, we differ on how to resolve this considering you're asking us to eat (literally & figuratively) what we neither intended to order nor ever wanted. If you wish to gift it -- as you so generously offer for us to do in your latest reply -- it'd be uncharitable of us if we didn't make a reciprocal offer for you to do likewise on your own time & dime.
This report covering the union North vs. the rebel South in a chocolate civil war (emphasis civil) is being filed straight from the front lines of the most generous nation on Earth: the donation.
Many a new era chocolate barsmith view themselves as master of the craft, if not the universe. Chocolate has inflationary FXs like that. Unique one-of-a-kind creatives likened to great painters.
They splatter the walls in different shades of brown as a Jackson Pollack studio with the manic monomania purloined from Van Gogh & an eye for publicity to rival Damien Hirst.
No wonder then that both inscribe palates / palettes. Alternatively moody, difficult, pleasing, insightful & demanding -- & sometimes all simultaneously. in other words, a pain where the sun never shines.
Take this Buttermilk White Chocolate from Olive & Sinclair (O&S). Its website leads customers to believe that one of the Buttermilk White Chocolate bars -- No. 9 -- contains salt & pepper while another Buttermilk White -- No. 8 -- does not (click image upper right to enlarge; NOTE: no mention on the wrapper of salt & pepper in the 45% bar).
Such distinctions turn out to be a superstitious belief for both contain salt & pepper.
When called out on this, that the Tennessee chocolate maker O&S shipped a misleading product to the C-spot® in NYC, this reply came back:
Is your bar the one that says Salt & Pepper or 45% on the front? I only ask that since i have had 1 or 2 people ask that question since Salt & Pepper are ingredients on both bars. But just let us know and i am happy to explain and replace your bars if we messed up and sent you the wrong ones!Yes, Nashville we got a problem because a) you don't know what you shipped?; b) no one here wanted Buttermilk with salt & pepper. The next response from O&S:
Yes, both are a part of the recipe but additional Salt & Pepper is added to the salt & pepper bar. I apologize that we have not been able to put in the description for the bars on-line, but will make it priority and will surely list ingredients and an explanation of the bar. In the meantime I am happy to send you a Salt & Pepper version if you like for the miscommunication.Uhh, but again, no one here wants salt & pepper in the bar. So you're going to correct the problem with more of the problem? The No. 8 was ordered on the presumption that it had no salt & pepper; & to compare how buttermilk acts on cocoa butter versus regular baseline cow's milk (or in a few cases goat's milk) without any additional elements like salt 'n pepper (although, granted, those others usually include vanilla).
No reply came back from O&S on this.
To break the silence, O&S was prompted once more & finally returned with the following:
While we can guarantee quality on our products, and always want to make it right if/when we have issues to this nature, we do not guarantee (nore [sic] would we expect) 100% of people to like 100% of our product. In my opinion the S&P makes a HUGE difference in the recipe and is completely different in the inclusion. Again, it isn't a typical white chocolate, which is what we were trying to do, but i also do not think that there is any single defining voice that can say that vanilla is or should be the only acceptable flavor additive or enhancer in white chocolate. Sorry Again for the inconvenience but i hope you are able to enjoy it or possibly give as a gift for someone else to enjoy!Apparently 'the-customer-is-king' and 'Southern hospitality' are just a motto nowadays rather than an M.O.
Who could resist such an offer so the C-spot® reciprocated:
This report covering the union North vs. the rebel South in a chocolate civil war (emphasis civil) is being filed straight from the front lines of the most generous nation on Earth: the donation.
Appearance 4.2 / 5
| Color: | lemon-ivory (supposedly non-deodorized) |
| Surface: | speckled pepper flecks |
| Temper: | translucent |
| Snap: | quiet tile |
Aroma 8 / 10
funk-de-trunk: an oddly roasted / gassed excretion -> expels peanuts up against pressed particle board... all in all a good if different sign for a White, especially when some true cocoa butter wafts up in due time
Mouthfeel 11.3 / 15
| Texture: | powder dry |
| Melt: | irrigates remarkably well |
Flavor 43.9 / 50
solid cocoa butter hit, follwed by the yoghurt-like tang of buttermilk on its heels (reminiscent of Chocovic's Jaina) -> shifts toward lemon custard -> mite salt heightens the zest & holds it for the longest til the dissolve
Quality 16.4 / 20
Very easy-handed on the pepper, virtually undetectable (too stale / dry?) save for its ability to ever-so-subtley darken an otherwise bright countenance, the buttermilk almost blaring & ultimately overbearing on the cocoa butter solids which make the entire profile quite off-center. In this respect buttermilk intrudes, though no more than standard Whites that apply a heavy vanilla vice grip onto deodorized cocoa butter stripped of its aromatic compounds (RE: Guittard). (For a clearer window on plain cocoa butter White, check Danta)
With this strength of buttermilk, greater pepper presence might be warranted frankly.
A welcome innovation nonetheless to the White repertoire. Given the negative shopping experience, which might prejudice the impression & outcome of this bar's rating, no such bias exists here for every bar must be evaluated on its own merits rather than any ancillary ones.
All's forgiven.
Peace.
Now, about that offer to send a No. 9 Buttermilk White with more salt & pepper in it...
INGREDIENTS: sugar, cocoa butter, buttermilk powder, milk powder, salt, pepper
Reviewed September 19, 2012
With this strength of buttermilk, greater pepper presence might be warranted frankly.
A welcome innovation nonetheless to the White repertoire. Given the negative shopping experience, which might prejudice the impression & outcome of this bar's rating, no such bias exists here for every bar must be evaluated on its own merits rather than any ancillary ones.
All's forgiven.
Peace.
Now, about that offer to send a No. 9 Buttermilk White with more salt & pepper in it...
INGREDIENTS: sugar, cocoa butter, buttermilk powder, milk powder, salt, pepper
Reviewed September 19, 2012