Marc Chinchole x Edwin Yansané, from barrel to shelf

With the desire to push back the limits of their know-how and creativity, chocolatiers Marc Chinchole (L'Instant cacao) and Edwin Yansané (Edwart Chocolatier)have come up with a brand-new collection, "Du fût à la tablette", revealing the aromas of spirits, but without alcohol, in association with Grands Crus chocolates. After launching a buckwheat whisky bar from Distillerie Naguelann and a Calvados bar from Distillerie Coquerel, it's now the turn of Armagnac from Domaine de Laballe.

How did you come up with the idea of reintroducing spirits to chocolate?

Marc Chinchole: The story began in 2019. I had the idea of marrying liqueur and chocolate in a bar that wouldn't contain alcohol. So I started by testing a 5-liter barrel of Calvados into which I put Madagascar cocoa beans. Knowing that Edwin is very knowledgeable on the subject of spirits, we decided to work together on this project.

Edwin Yansané: We approached the subject in parallel four years ago. I had just released a spirits box and was wondering how to apply my approach to cocoa without the ethanol aspect. To achieve this, I was inspired by the fat wash technique used in cocktail making. This involves combining a fatty substance with an alcohol to capture its aromas. The mixture is then placed in the freezer to allow the fat to rise to the surface. It'salso a method used in perfumery, known as enfleurage.

How did you come up with the idea for these tablets ?

M.C.: The idea of the tablet came to me quite naturally. I've always designed my molds. The design of the barrel-shaped shelf came very naturally. I sent my sketch to Edwin and then we had the molds made to measure.

How did you work together?

M.C.: We shared the tasks. I identified the cocoa beans - a Grand Cru from Congo and a Grand Cru from Mexico - and Edwin identified the distilleries. The beans were then placed in empty barrels that had previously contained Whisky, Calvados and now Armagnac. We let them soak up the aromas for eight months, then I roasted them to make chocolate. We then tasted each recipe, adjusting the quantities of sugar and cocoa butter to bring out the full aroma of the spirits.

E.Y.The project was exciting for both of us. But it wasn't so easy to implement, because the beans take a long time to impregnate, and then each recipe had to be perfected, adapted and then produced. So these are quite unique and exclusive tablets, extremely different in terms of taste. Each one reveals the aromas of the spirits with great nuance and finesse.

What have you brought to each other?

M.C.: We get on very well and set no limits on each other's creativity. So it was natural for us to share our respective expertise, tasting both spirits and chocolates to come up with this new kind of bar .

E.Y.We shared our thoughts on fat and sugar levels, and on the balance of the recipes. Marc is very excited by new things, so he carried out a multitude of tests that we tasted together, sharing our feelings to get the best final result. We enriched our taste and smell libraries by tasting both spirits and chocolate. Today,the Armagnac bar, launched at the beginning of April, has rich, sequenced aromas of Darjeeling black tea at the start, followed by notes of white peach and a subtle floral touch, before returning to black tea in the finish.

Gault&Millau reviews on :

• L'instant Cacao
• Edwart Chocolatier