Beer and Chocolate Pairing at Equal Exchange and a Giveaway
Hubby and I hopped on the train last week on a rainy afternoon and headed down to North Station. We were chatting along the way about what a beer and chocolate tasting would be like. Would it really be just beer and chocolate? Seemed too much like a wine and chocolate pairing, only weirder…
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| Equal Exchange Cafe, Boston, MA |
After getting off the train, we headed over to Equal Exchange Cafe to see what this beer and chocolate pairing was all about. The cafe was a cute little space that we agreed Hubby should check out some time when he needs a coffee in the North Station area. He usually grabs a DD coffee in North Station when he takes the train home, but it would be worth the one block detour to try some of their free trade coffees.
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| Equal Exchange Cafe, Boston, MA |
Once we arrived, we met a variety of people from Harpoon Brewery, Equal Exchange, and chatted with a handful of other bloggers. We had the whole cafe to ourselves for the evening and to kick things off, we were encouraged to grab a beer.
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| Chocolate and Beer Pairing Guide |
Once everyone arrived, they encouraged us to grab a seat so we could begin the tasting. For each beer and chocolate pairing we first tasted the chocolate, then the beer, then the chocolate and beer together. I’ve done chocolate tastings in the past and it’s similar to tasting wine. First you smell the chocolate. It’s recommended to smell it in a bowl so that any residual smells from you hands won’t interfere with the smell of the chocolate. After noticing the aroma of the chocolate, you take a small bite and chew it a few times. Then allow the chocolate to melt on your tongue. Be sure to take note how the taste of the chocolate changes as it melts.
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| Harpoon UFO White and Dark Chocolate with Almonds |
The beer tasting was similar. We were instructed to swirl the beer around in our cup with our hand over the top to capture all of the aroma in the cup. Then smell the beer prior to tasting it.
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| Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Catamount Maple Wheat and Milk Chocolate |
Lastly, we would taste some chocolate and once it started melting on your tongue, take a drink of the beer. It was interesting to see how the flavors danced around in your mouth. Some started with a strong taste of the beer and others finished that way. It was also interesting to see how the two together had such different flavors than each component on it’s own.
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| Harpoon Dark and Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt |
I am NOT a fan of IPAs and we tasted a Rye IPE that I could not drink on it’s own. However when the chocolate was added to the mix, it tasted like a completely different beer. This was a really unique experience that I’m glad I got to try out.
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| The aftermath of the tasting |
And now on to the giveaway! They gave us goodie bags on the way out the door and I’ve decided to pass my goodies along to you. I can’t ship beer, so I’ll be keeping the bottle of beer they gave me (sorry guys).
Package contains:
– One Harpoon Brewery bottle opener
– Two Harpoon Brewery beer coozies
– Two Equal Exchange coffee mugs
– Three bars of Equal Exchange organic, fair trade chocolate
– One Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate Pairing wheel
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| Giveaway Package |
Giveaway rules:
– Winner will be chosen using Random.org
– US shipping addresses only
– Giveaway is open until 12:00 PM (noon) EST on Thursday, May 17th
– Mandatory first entry: answer the following question: What is your favorite kind of beer or chocolate? Have you ever paired them together?
– For an additional (optional) entry, Tweet the following “RT @beantownbaker Beer and Chocolate?!? Who knew they could be so great together! @EEcafe @harpoon_brewery”
AND, Equal Exchange is also doing a giveaway on their Facebook page. Be sure to check it out here where you can download a pairing guide and enter to win their giveaway. The grand prize is a tasting event for 20 people at Harpoon Brewery!
This event was provided free of charge, but the opinions are 100% my own. Special thanks to Terry from Antler for inviting me to the event!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Dark chocolate truffles in cookie form? Um, YES!!! I’ll take a dozen for myself and another dozen for later, please.
Wow – these sound good! and I truly do not understand how people can just “not be into chocolate!” It is my favorite!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Yea, I really don’t get it either. Oh well, more for me!
Oh wow, chocolate truffle cookies sound divine! These look ridiculously good! Love that they’re salted too!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm
I have been sprinkling salt on all of my cookies recently. It makes them much more adult and less super-sweet.
Yum these look divine!
I’m always in need of a chocolate fix! I have several friends that claim they are not chocolate people, yet I find whenever I make something chocolate + salt, they are all over it!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:28 pm
I definitely find that people who claim they aren’t chocolate people rarely say no to any homemade baked goods. Chocolate or otherwise.
Oh my! These look divine 🙂 I’d love to make these babies soon!
these look amazing!! and how thick that batter is 🙂 love the sea salt!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:29 pm
The batter was basically ganache. You could have just made truffles from it directly.
I love any and all things dark chocolate. These look so decadent!
I’m curious to find out what blog platform you’re working with?
I’m having some minor security problems with my latest blog and I’d like to find something
more safeguarded. Do you have any suggestions?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm
I use WordPress
Wow! Those look so perfectly decadent! I’m practically drooling on my screen 😉
Just made these. Worried I didn’t bake them long enough… however they still tasted divine. Waiting to get the verdict from my husband on them.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
I think underbaking these sounds like a great idea. I might have to do that next time.
Since I’m trying this recipe for the first time, can I halve the entire recipe?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:12 pm
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I didn’t see this comment until now! I don’t see why you couldn’t make a half batch of these cookies. Did you try it? How did they turn out?
These are the most amazing chocolate cookies I have ever made. Everyone with whom I have shared them have gone absolutly nuts and want the recipe. I do not wet my hands when rolling the cookies into balls—too messy. I just let my hands get sticky and rinse and dry them after making several balls. This is one of the best recipes on Pinterest.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
Thanks for the kind words! So glad you enjoy these cookies. I was wondering if getting my hands wet actually helped with the messiness very much. Next time I’ll be sure to just go at it without dealing with the water.
Hey! I tried halving the recipe…but it melted while in the oven. Became runny & all of them just stuck together 🙁
I tried just one batch. Anything I can do to fix the remaining batter?
beantownbaker — June 18th, 2013 @ 4:01 pm
Interesting… How did you account for half of an egg? And is your baking powder past it’s expiration date?
Ohh! Looks like I’ve added a lil too much egg. Damn! Any way I can fix the batter? Add more flour perhaps? Plz help!
beantownbaker — June 19th, 2013 @ 7:12 am
I’d add a little more flour to see if you can balance out the extra amount of egg in there.
I added 1/4 cup more flour & a teensy bit of baking powder to my messed up batter & they came out wonderfully! They’re so gooey & yumm that my husband & son (who never eats chocolate!) finished six cookies at one go!
Amazing recipe!! Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it !
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:00 am
Oh GOOD! So glad you were able to make them work. Aren’t they divine?
U bet! They are sinfully delicious! Sent some in my son’s snack pack & I have mommies calling for these cookies!
I’m officially ur No.1 fan now! 🙂
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:18 am
Aww Thanks! 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I could put them in the freezer instead of the fridge for a shorter period of time? If so, how long should I put them in the freezer for instead of the fridge?
beantownbaker — June 27th, 2013 @ 8:06 am
Hm. You could definitely try it. I would think it’s still going to need an hour or so in the freezer since you want it to set up pretty well. Let me know how it turns out if you do.