Bissinger’s Chocolates

I was recently invited to a gourmet chocolate tasting by Bissinger’s.  I was incredibly disapointed to not be able to attend, so I asked my fellow HS alum & friend, Gary Wong, to cover the event for me instead.  Below are his thoughts and wonderful photos! 

Bissinger’s, a gourmet chocolate company, recently held a tasting event in midtown Manhattan to promote their entry in the New York City market.  Bissinger’s hails from Saint Louis (yes, they made it very clear that it was Saint Louis, not St. Louis, if that makes any sense) and have been around since 1927.  Now available in Food Emporium and, soon, Bloomingdale’s, the event was an introduction to some of their wares.

Well, we’d eventually get the chance to sample their chocolates – first we had to listen to a representative explain the company’s history.  Then it was time for Terry Wakefield, their Chief Chocolatier (awesome title, by the way), to hold court.  The man has a heck of a story as to how he got in and out and then back in to the chocolate business; how often do you hear that a chocolatier came over from working in nuclear engineering?

Finally, it was time for some chocolate!

Tiny discs of milk chocolate followed quickly by dark chocolate.  As far as milk chocolate goes, it was better than most but it couldn’t compare to stronger chocolate taste of the dark chocolate.

The porcini mushroom truffle – a fungus within the chocolate treat named after a fungus! Humor aside, this, along with their olive oil truffle (not pictured – sorry!), represented Bissinger’s bent toward sweet and savory treats.  You could taste the porcini but it wasn’t so strong a flavor that it overwhelmed the chocolate.  The olive oil truffle may seem to have a bit too much salt on the surface but it totally works with the richness of the olive oil.

The Courvoisier truffle was a lot stronger than expected.  The burn of the alcohol hit the stomach well before the chocolate could counter it.  This might have been a better option for later in the tasting.

Thankfully, the folks at Bissinger’s knew how much of a palate killer the Courvoisier truffle would be and served up some grapefruit gummy pandas.  This may have cleansed the palate but it did nothing for the alcoholic burn.

Next up were a chocolate-covered cherry and a fig truffle.  This was one of the best chocolate-cherry confections you’ll ever have.  Unlike a lot of chocolate-covered cherries you may have grown up with, this one was solid, not goopy and oozing.  Maybe that has to do with the fondant  dip they subject their cherries to?  Who knows – they’re good.

Confession time – I hit the wall with the chocolate-covered cherry.  The fig truffle was okay and not unlike eating a Fig Newton with a chocolate coating instead of cake.  I’m sure that’s not what it should have tasted like but the ability to discern any delicate tastes were shot by this point.

The next few offerings pictured above included a chocolate malt ball, pumpkin bark, a bear claw, and a sugar plum truffle.  Nothing of note for the first three but I can honestly say that the sugar plum truffle was terrible.  Maybe it’s a product of having already had too much at the tasting but the amount of spice in it just overpowered and killed the chocolate.

Not pictured but included in the latter stages of the day was a chocolate covered espresso bean – easily the highlight as the tasting drew to a close.

Thanks to Bissinger’s for hosting the event and many thanks to Feisty Foodie for sending me there.

Thanks for sharing with us your photos and thoughts!  After reading this, I really wish I could have gone… Just as well!