i like the idea of seventypercent.com, sharing ideas and information about great chocolate, but i’ve got to say, a majority of posters here are by and large enamored with themselves and the lingo that they learned watching the food network. you people cannot be satisfied with anything, there seems to be very little real appreciation for chocolate here. a lot of what i’m reading is people who have very little-to-no actual chocolate experience (i.e. manufacturing, selling, importing) they are merely inexperienced individuals who think that they are “supertasters”. i would love it if people like claudio corallo, steve devries, john scharffenberger or auguste pralus or chloe doutre-roussel would comment in these forums because their ACTUAL knowledge of chocolate would put you to shame. before you go tearing apart someone with years of experience in the field because when you opened up your chocolate bar your saw bubbles, try growing some cacao and making your own chocolate bars. heck, you can even be lazy about it and buy some cacao beans and make chocolate. it is NOT easy. chocolate production is quite possibly one of the hardest food related endavors.

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Originally posted by martinc

Not sure where you’re coming from pablo or what your agenda is, but some of the people you mention ARE actually members here and have only ever made positive comments about the forum.

If you think posters are ignorant or misguided and you want to change that, better contribute in a positive way than just moan – I really don’t know what that achieves.

With so much ‘imitation’ fine chocolate around, we need debate, discussion and an attempt to understand what is good and what is bad in chocolate. Consumers need this, not just ‘experts’. We’ve all made mistakes along our chocolate journey, we are all learning.

Still, thanks for your contribution – I am sure it will generate some debate!

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

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martin, the only agenda that i have is to promote thoughtful chocolate conversations, not just a bunch of people kvetching about air bubbles on the back of a chocolate bar or not having enough “snap” for their preference. real evaluation and debate is my goal. yes, i do moan in my own way, but at least it is intended to cause thought amongst the posters of seventypercent.com and not just to tear people down.

Pablo, we observe the bubbling and make note of it. Why not? Does the company get points taken off? Maybe half a point, but come on, this is only to give credit to those who can pull off a marvelous appearance. I don’t understand why you’re so strung up on this bubbling issue.

And the snap? Which reviews mention this, and how frequently does it appear? Honestly, pablo….

i’m not trying to be a big meanie, goin’ around pickin’ on the seventy-percenters, i’m just saying that FINE chocolate should be looked at with more consideration to the flavor of the chocolate and less about the bubbles or marks where the bar was poured or the packaging that it was contained in. and for martin, “food network” is an american reference which is obviously lost across the pond, there is a television network called The Food Network and it seems to be home to people who like to use flowery speech and cute catch phrases.
i’m not trying to “insult and deride” and i’ve used a great deal of caution and consideration, which is why i used phrases like “a lot” or “most” as to not be generalizing EVERYONE on seventypercent. people here (and in the world in general) need to take themselves just a little less seriously and besides, how fun would a debate be if everyone participating was just parroting the same keywords as the previous poster. i’m what they call a “keen mixer”

Entertaining post once again, pablo. It’s clear you failed to read the reviews in their entirety. Do you see in any of the reviews that a bar was trashed and totally rejected on the basis of appearance alone? I don’t. Try reading beyond the first paragraph of a review and consider the passage in its full context, not in your limited fashion. This is really becoming quite frivolous.

As inferred by Eshra, appearance is only but a minor fraction of the total score a bar receives. There are several reviews that say something to the extent of: “Despite the appearance, the aroma is phenomenal…” then the flavor is described as glorious and superb. Again, did you read the reviews? I get the impression you didn’t [:o)]

Pablo,

Perhaps if you could cite something specific, instead of making broad generalizations, we could better address your point.

Nonetheless, refrain from insulting people. “dollar romance novels” is just asking for a fight.

wow… where’s the light-heartedness there??? seems to me, again, this is obviously only my viewpoint, that perhaps my words hit a little close to home. referring to some writing as being reminiscent of “dollar romance novels” isn’t asking for a fight nor does my unwillingness to read such flowery and needlessly verbose posts does not, repeat, does not make my points moot and invalid any more than dollar store romance novel writing styles make someone else’s point moot and invalid, it just makes for obnoxious reading. not once have i stated that someone’s opinion was invalid. i have stated, however, that i felt that peoples opinions of the chocolate relied to heavily on the appearance. so… take a bit of your own advice and lighten up.

Specific examples, Pablo………………….?

Oh Paoblo, lighten up. We are talking about chocolate. Not a war. Chocolate is a romance, like fine wine. And deserves discussion and enjoyment. Be sweet like chocolate, but not so sweet that we miss the point. We are just trying to share our passion for one of the finest foods of the Gods. Maybe, you got confussed and picked the wrong forum. Anger management is a different forum on a different site. Now back to the joy of chocolate and the wonderful discussions it can evoke.

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Originally posted by pablo_xocalatl

the only reason that i might not read a review in its entireity is that i’m not fond of the dollar romance novel style of writing that is often typical of many (not all) reviews. i’ve read reviews where the entire post was commentary about he appearance of a chocolate, granted, i don’t spend all day, every day on the site, so i can’t come back and start quoting specifics.

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