#SexyGood x 3: Coffee + Chocolate + Music Pairing

Abhijit Pradhan
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read

Guatemala Origin x 3 !

Two Players from the Trio. Specialty Coffee + Bean to Bar Chocolate from Guatemala
Completing the Trio. DJ Santiago Niño

This Tasting + Pairing became a Venn diagram moment for me. Serendipity and a little patient planning created a unique tasting experience where I could try Specialty Coffee and Bean to Bar from Guatemala together ! I added electronic music (House) from the same Origin for ultimate effect !

The Trio

  1. El Durazno Single Origin Specialty Coffee Guatemala roasted by The Barn, Berlin ( had picked this up during our Paris+Berlin trip) https://www.instagram.com/thebarnberlin/
  2. Guatemala Alta Verapaz Single Origin Cacao beans crafted into Chocolate by Dormouse Chocolates, Manchester, UK https://www.instagram.com/dormousechocs/
  3. Music by Electronic Music DJ Santiago Nino who does music projects in Guatemala city. Track : Tribu Polar

The tasting

The Tasting

Stage 1 : Only Coffee

Like I did with the Madagascar Chocolate pairing, the first stage was to experience the Coffee and gets its flavour benchmark. Normally with every single new brew, I like to change ONE VARIABLE ( usually the grind size) to see the impact on flavour basis the last brew. This time, I didn’t change anything and continued brewing with the Cloth filter Hario Woodneck.

The experience was as awesome as the previous brew. Brilliant intensity of flavours, clarity/ separation of the Peach and Caramel, strong Aroma etc.

The sipping happened as always with the 3 different Figgjo Norway cups with their different shapes ( to enable a different flavour experience)

Stage 2 : Coffee + Chocolate

Then, after doing one round of tasting only Coffee, I moved to Round 2 which began with the usual sip of the Coffee followed by a bite of the Chocolate. This was then repeated across those same 3 cups, alternating between Coffee and Chocolate.

With the Menakao Madagascar + coffee pairing, I had noticed the following effect on Chocolate and Coffee

Chocolate : The sweetness became more rounded with a more pleasing finish

Coffee : I detected a NEW Flavour. Not the Peach. Not the Caramel but a sweet sugar cany kind of flavour !

With this tasting (Guatemala Coffee + Chocolate), I noticed the following effect

Chocolate. Original flavours : Nutty, Salty. Tangy. After Coffee Pairing, I noticed a very smooth body

Coffee : After having a bite, I noticed a clear and strong NEW flavour ( totally different from the Menakao experience). This was a RED WINE flavour !

I was astounded as I remembered seeing the flavour notes on the Dormouse Chocolate website for the Guatemala 100 % Cacao bar and it described the flavours as

“100% dark chocolate, intense but smooth with notes of oak, walnuts and red wine” I realised that the pairing had unlocked a flavour I had not been able to experience when I had done the chocolate only tasting the day before !

Wow. This was a super magical moment for me.

I realised that the two had combined to create something really special !

I will repeat this pairing twice after this one to compare what I picked up and I will change the coffee variable one at a time to see the potential impact ( will grind the coffee a bit coarser)

Thanks to the encouragement and clear steps+ pathway provided by Chocolatier Michael Houlden ( from Tucson, Arizona https://www.instagram.com/meanderthalchocolate/), Alice has found yet another Rabbit Hole to begin a new journey. My mind is now swimming with “possibilities, permutations, combinations” for future pairing experiences !

I hope this will inspire one more person to join me down that Flavour Rabbit hole ! Cheers !

Abhijit Pradhan

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