Pure Chocolate pairs flavours with rum for National Chocolate Day celebration
Published:Thursday | October 31, 2024 | 12:07 AMAshley Anguin/Gleaner Writer
Monday evening’s intimate chocolate and rum pairing event at Breathless Montego Bay Resort and Spa in St James had guests trying a special treat: jerk seasoning chocolate, one of four rich and unique flavours showcased by Pure Chocolate Jamaica.
The late-evening session, held as part of celebrations for National Chocolate Day, saw Pure Chocolate Jamaica’s jerk seasoning, Jamaican sorrel and cranberries, ginger and speculaas spice and dark chocolate paired with various mixes. The resort’s mixologist Keino McIntosh poured Kingston 62 Gold Rum, Wray & Nephew Coco Mania Coconut Rum, Captain Morgan Jamaica Rum (spice rum) and Appleton Estate 12 Year Old.
The jerk seasoning flavour, a best-seller in Europe, was paired with the Captain Morgan Jamaica Rum spice rum, and patrons could taste the 70 per cent dark chocolate and the unexpected yet delightful savoury flavour, developed with a balance of seasoning, salt, thyme, pimento, smoked wood, Scotch bonnet pepper and spices.
“My jerk [seasoning flavour] is one of those bars, you either love it or you hate it. The group tonight was really split in the middle,” Wouter Tjeertes, co-founder of Pure Chocolate Jamaica, declared while getting feedback from the guests. “What makes it special is that it is a beautiful business card for Jamaica; and, you know, that bar does really well overseas in our export and keeps winning international awards overseas. Overseas people are not really familiar with jerk seasoning, so it is a beautiful introduction.”
Tjeertes and his wife and fellow Pure Chocolate co-founder Rennae Johnson were pastry chefs in the hospitality industry. In 2017, they created Pure Chocolate and have attended tasting events for the last five years.
The second most talked-about pairing of the night was the Jamaican sorrel with a sweet burst of cranberries, paired with Wray & Nephew Coco Mania Coconut Rum, which invoked the flavour of smooth, dreamy white chocolate that melts in the mouth.
“I liked the pairing of the chocolate. The sweetness and the rum were very smooth [together]. The fruity and floral taste with the chocolate was lovely,” said Jean Clergy, a guest from Wisconsin.
Claudia Brown, from Maryland, a first-time visitor to Jamaica, said her least favourite was the jerk seasoning, because “I don’t normally eat jerk, so to have jerk in a chocolate was a little odd. The flavour does build as the chocolate melts, but it is just a preference of taste.”
Brown did, however, have a favourite. “My favourite is ginger and speculaas spice, which is the sweetest. I can taste the [fruit flavour] and nuttiness, and I love the pairing with the rum because it boosted the flavour palates,” she added.
This holiday season, Pure Chocolate Jamaica is launching a box named Taste of Jamaica, which has six international award-winning flavours with half-size bars in each box that are all locally inspired flavours.