Great culinary innovations are always the result of imaginative minds, and often take the form of the craziest combinations. One of the most recent of these is the marrying of chocolate and beer – a much-debated duo comparable to that of pineapple and pizza.
Whether this is the next Japan foodie fad remains to be seen, but there are already two brands here worth talking about. In our Febuary magazine we introduced you to Sankt Gallen’s chocolate-flavored stouts, and now a new collaboration between Saitama-based craft brewery COEDO and bean-to-bar chocolatier Dandelion brings you Chocolate Dunkel, launched in Tokyo on January 31.
Don’t be fooled by its simple presentation. The unique concoction, born from the mix of organic chocolate and dunkel beer, brings out the best qualities of its two creators – both of whom are dedicated to creating high quality products. And the taste? Ambitious yet sophisticated.
Dunkel beer is a type of dark German lager characterized by its malty flavor. Malt has often been paired with chocolate and other desserts in many forms, but with chocolate it usually comes as a bar or treat. Chocolate Dunkel brings an element of surprise in the form of its glass bottle, refreshing bubbles and an alcohol percentage of 5.5%.
Keeping the presentation clean despite the beer’s creative taste was important to the makers as it reflects the simple ingredients used by both COEDO and Dandelion Chocolate in all of their products, whether it’s exquisite beers or true-to-taste chocolate bars. Setting aside the Instagrammable factor, they claim to rather want to concentrate their efforts on working with direct trade farms and incorporating local ingredients.
The downside (or silver lining) is that their selection is often very limited, and production is steadily slow-paced. Dandelion Chocolate produces only 50 bars per day but, in their words, each one is made with love. As for the number of bottles of Chocolate Dunkel, it’s been capped at only 8,000 – so all you chocolate lovers, beer enthusiasts and Valentine’s Day shoppers, head over to Gyre in Omotesando to make sure you get a taste of the trend.
