Wine and Chocolate Pairing with a Top 10 Chocolate Purveyor
A Premium Wine Wanderings Newsletter - Interview with Brook Johnson, Yahara Chocolate
Interview with Brook Johnson, Yahara Chocolate – Chocolate and Wine Pairing
See Transcription Below
Introducing Brook Johnson, Purveyor/Owner, Yahara Chocolate
I was pleased to interview recently Brook Johnson, the owner of Yahara Chocolate, Stoughton, Wisconsin. He is a purveyor of one of the “Top Ten” shops with selections of chocolate bars in the United States.
“In my search to taste the widest variety of dark chocolate I could find, I had been spending hundreds of dollars a year buying chocolate to enjoy myself. Along the way there were some chocolates I wanted to taste but couldn’t find until I came across a chocolate importer who carried just what I was looking for. The only way I could buy from this importer was to be a chocolate seller myself.And Yahara Chocolate came to be.” – Brook Johnson, Owner, Yahara Chocolate
Brook’s other passion is pottery. Most days you’ll find him creating and teaching in the studio, Green Road Pottery, where Yahara Chocolate now shares space.They are located just 40 feet from the Yahara River which runs through the arts and entertainment district in downtown Stoughton, Wisconsin.
Let’s Pair the Chocolate with Wine/Spirits
I received two gifts of Yahara chocolate bars from a friend (Linda Spina) who vacations in Wisconsin. One gift was a “White Wine” pack of chocolate bars, and one was a “Red Wine” pack of chocolate bars. I decided a Chocolate and Wine/Spirits pairing exercise was in order. Wine and chocolate have many characteristics in common. They both contain antioxidants (flavonoids). They both are considered aphrodisiacs! Why not pair them?
Chocolate and Wine/Spirit Pairing Guidelines
When pairing wine and chocolate, consider:
· How sweet is the chocolate? If there is considerable dark, bitter chocolate, then a powerful dry red with tannins will work.
· Match similar intensities – lighter bodied white chocolate with lighter-bodied wines – dark and rich to dark and rich wines.
· Consider the ingredients – e.g., sea salt goes naturally with white wines or Champagne; dried cranberries would match with fruit-forward berry undertones. Caramel works with milk chocolate. For citrus ingredients, consider Gin or Vodka with citrus or tonic water.
· Sweetness? Wine should be slightly sweeter than the chocolate.
· Sampling Order. When doing a sampling, start with the lighter chocolates and go to the heavy chocolates later.
· Guidelines are just that. Not rules. Pair what tastes good to you and enjoy!
6 Chocolate and Wine/Spirits Pairing Suggestions with Yahara Chocolate
Note on how long to keep wines after opening: The great thing about Madeira is that it will keep 3+ years after opening. An old Tawny Port will be great even after 10-12 weeks of opening. Sweet dessert wines should last 3-5 days after opening.
Chocolate: Fruition Vanilla Bean Toasted White Chocolate 38% - A vanilla couverture reminiscent of dulce de leche and brown butter. Find this Chocolate. $11
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Blandy’s Malmsey Madeira, $49, Wine Enthusiast 91 points. Find this Wine. $49
Chocolate: Sjolinds Wisconsin Butter Chocolate 57%: a creamy cocoa beans, milk, and butter concoction from Southwest Wisconsin. $6 Find this Chocolate.
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Chateau Ste. Michelle Dessert Riesling. $11, Wine Enthusiast 90 points. Find this Wine.
Chocolate: Cacao Sampaka Barcelona, Gin & Tonic. The chocolate has hints of lemon peel. $8, Find this Chocolate.
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Find Empress Gin. 750ml, $40 (serve with Tonic water, like Fever Tree) and a lime. The Gin is such a deep, impressive indigo color. When you add citrus to it, it will turn more pink.
Chocolate: Belu Cacao Chocolate Artisans Dark, 80% cacao. El Salvador. $8, Find this Chocolate.
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Warre’s Optima 10 Year Towny Port (500ml). $25,
Wine Spectator 91 Points. Find this Wine.
Chocolate: Ritual Madagascar Sambirano, 75% cacao. $7, Find this Chocolate.
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Blandy’s 10 Year Madeira Rich Malmsey,
500 ML. $33, Wine Enthusiast 91 Points. Find this Wine.
Chocolate: Wm Chocolate Nicaragua Tenor, 85% cacao, Dark. Find this Chocolate.
Perfect Wine/Spirits Pairings: Warre’s Otima 10 Year Towny Port (500ml). $25,
Wine Spectator 91 Points. Find this Wine.
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Brook Johnsons, Yahara Chocolate, and Tricia Conover, Wine Wanderings. March 9, 2021 Interview Transcript from Video
Tricia Conover, DipWSET, Editor, Wine Wanderings (Tricia): Well, today we have Brooke Johnson with us of Yahara Chocolates. Welcome to Wine Wanderings, Brooke.
Brook Johnson, Owner, Yahara Chocolates (Brook): Thank you very much. I'm so happy to be here.
(Tricia): I 'm so glad you're here. And I'm enjoying my Yahara Chocolates. We're going to talk about pairing them with wine in a little bit. Can you tell me about your business? Yahara Chocolate is a purveyor of fine chocolate bars from around the world?
(Brook): Yes, I started my business about three years ago. It started with really wanting to share what I had loved for the last 20 years, which was buying chocolate bars from all over the world. What I realized when I started selling a few of these is that no one had any idea really where the chocolate came from. They always thought chocolate was a chocolate candy. So I decided, instead, to explore the world and create this educational experience by curating a selection of chocolate bars. And over the last three years, sort of by accident, I've ended up with one of the largest collections of chocolate that you can find in any store in the United States. And so that's what I do. I try and teach people about the world of chocolate, the supply chain, the % cacao of the chocolate bars, and the high quality of chocolate bars.
(Tricia): How do you find your new chocolates? How do you decide, as you said, how to curate them? How do you decide what to keep? What to find? How do you know about them?
(Brook): Sure. At the beginning, I just took the ideas of what people suggested. But after that, I started refining what I was looking for. I started seeing lots of duplication. So what I do now is if I see a chocolate maker, and I'm interested, either I see them online, or sometimes now they contact me. I request samples, and ask them to tell me what's unique about their brand. They send me what I need to know about the brand, I will taste them at that point. But not just me. I take the samples and share them with my customers. Anyone can come to my shop and try this new chocolate. Tell me what you think. Tell me if you'd order it. And if that all goes well, and they have a transparent supply chain, that is, I know who their farmers are, then I order a test batch. And if that goes well, then they become a provider, and they can become [a brand that] I carry. And that's how I sort of develop what [selection of] chocolate bars I have in my shop.
(Tricia): That's interesting. So you're located in Stoughton, Wisconsin, on the Yahara River. That's how you selected your name? I understand its not far from Madison, Wisconsin. So who are your customers? Are they local? Are they tourists? Are they online? How would you describe your customers?
(Brook): I would say right now, my most frequent customers are local customers. Because of convenience. Many customers come from Madison, WI. But it's amazing in a town of only 10,000 people, how many people are so interested in chocolate and what we offer. What I've been working on is trying to get more national customers and more mail or online customers. And I do know what's interesting about that. Many of my mailer customers are influential chocolate bloggers. These are people who are trying to find a unique selection of chocolate. And they are the people who told me “Hey, you know, your shop is the top 10 shops anywhere in the country.”
(Tricia): Congratulations on that. Now I understand during the pandemic and perhaps before that you held some virtual events. Can you describe those? And will you be carrying those [virtual events] forward?
(Brook): I used to do in-person events every month, which would be an educational event like a tour of the world in chocolate with different themes. Then when the pandemic hit, I couldn't do those anymore. I switched them to virtual events. I would promote the packs (like the ones you received as gifts). And I would sell a tasting pack of some sort, again, around some historical themes or a pairing theme or a chocolate-maker theme. I would hold those Zoom online events and they were often with a guest chocolate-maker. I did that in 2020 for March, April, May. I just got so busy. It was really a lot of work to put these together online. And it wasn't giving me the payback that I needed to continue doing it compared to the renovations that I was doing in my shop. So I'm just starting off again. Coming up next weekend, I'm going to do my first online tasting again, which will be a Spring Celebration. My favorite bars of 2020 is going to be an online tasting theme. I'll start doing the [virtual tastings] again, every month or every couple of weeks. I'll have a different theme each time.
(Tricia): The {Spring Celebration} --that sounds like a very cool event. I'm going to have to dial in for sure. One of the things that I received as a gift from a friend was one of your “white wine” pairing packs. I just received the “red wine” pack as well. So as you know, I'm a level four sommelier and I've actually taken each of those and paired them with what I think would be the best pairing. So, I told you with a couple of them, I'm using a Madeira and a Port. One of them has very unusual pairing [ingredients] that I paired with a Gin and tonic. It’s very cool chocolate that you sent. But how do you decide to put those packs together? Do you have other packs that you put together? And how do you know the ingredients of that chocolate which is drive your pairing?
(Brook): Yes, absolutely. So I have the white wine pack and the red wine pack. And those change depending on the season, and depending on what bars I have in stock. Some of the other pairings that I do: a coffee pairing pack and a tea pairing pack. I'm working with a local company, a grocer, to get a cheese and a salami or cured meat pairing pack so you can make your own your own [cheese and meat] board. And, then instead of just being a salami and cheese board, you can also add chocolate. I take the essence of whatever the opposite pairing is from the chocolate and figure out what I offer that will match, for example, coffee. Coffee is very strong. So you need to pair a chocolate that can withstand almost the coffee flavor. And for the thicker bar, right, I'm looking for different textures. So that if you have a little bit of chocolate, you have a little bit of coffee, the chocolate is not gone when you're done with your coffee. The same thing applies for the tea pairing. Tea often matches darker bars, because the tea really opens up the chocolate. It lightens the chocolate, almost like adding a drop of water to your whiskey. Right? It just really opens it up. It really allows you to explore the darker chocolates better by a tea pairing. So I worked out what I like. Then I bring in people [to taste] because I want to get feedback from customers on what they really like. Especially you. I am so excited to hear about your pairings with the line because that will really help me further refine and further educate people.
(Tricia): We'll have to do a virtual tasting sometime together. I understand you're also a potter and that your shop shop started with the pottery items that you make. What do you make most frequently as a potter?
(Brook): Most frequently I make mugs. That’s not because I want to [only make mugs], but that's what people like to buy. So I make lots of mugs. My main focus for pottery is actually tea-ware. So I make tea pots; I make tea cups. I make lots of different styles of tea pots and tea-ware because one thing I'm transitioning into is my favorite pairing for tea. Honestly, I hate to say my favorite pairing is not with wine. It honestly is with tea. I love pairing chocolate with tea; that's by far my number one favorite pairing. I'm working on creating a tea shop associated with my chocolate shop. That way, I can really share this thing that I love so much with customers.
(Tricia): Lots of great ideas. I love tea as well. Tea is perfect for different occasions and time of day… tea for going to sleep… tea for waking up. There are all sorts of different flavors available. I have a chai tea that doesn't have the heavy cream in it. I really appreciate those, and they would be wonderful with with chocolates, right?
(Brook): I'm just getting in a new chai tea [chocolate] bar from from Chile. That [should be] a really popular one to have.
(Tricia): I will have to try that when it comes. How what is the best way other than from my newsletter article for people to find you?
(Brook): You can follow all the events on Facebook, under Yahara Chocolate, Instagram under Yahara Chocolate. You can do a hashtag of #craft-chocolate or #chocolateshop and you'll see all these crazy things from all over the world that people are doing in chocolate. You can walk by my shop and see my sign sitting on the sidewalk. Honestly, most of my customers are word-of-mouth customers. I do everything online as well. My entire shop is online. So go to Facebook, go to Instagram, or just search Yahara Chocolate. I will come up. Sign up for my for my newsletter to get all the info for what's new every week.
(Tricia): Great, Brooke. Thanks so much for joining us on Wine Wanderings and look for the newsletter to come out this month.
(Brook): Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. I look forward to working together in the future.
LOVED it! The video was great and such a wonderful addition to your offering. It really makes the story come alive.