Tasting with Colour with Hazel Lee (Ep. 44)

“My approach to tasting is to try to make it as approachable and accessible to as many people as possible.”

In this episode we talk with Hazel Lee, an international chocolate judge and the creator of Taste with Colour: The Chocolate Tasting Flavor Map. We talk about how Hazel got into chocolate, what led to the development of her flavor map, and how it’s used to deepen and inform the experience of tasting chocolate for both newcomers and experienced tasters.

A few months back we asked artist Katie Clark Gabbard to put paint to canvas in response to tasting beers and chocolates without knowing what they were. The results were illuminating, and today Hazel will share with us how she uses the connection between flavor and color to help people better understand what they’re tasting in their favorite chocolate.

Chocolate and chocolate makers mentioned in this episode include La Iguana Chocolate, Mission Cupuaçu 70%, Hotel Chocolat, and Karuna Chocolate.

In this episode we discussed Bean to Barstool Episode 01: Personal Flavor Vocabularies, Episode 16: Cultural Beer Language with Dr. J., and Episode 36: Painting Flavor with Artist Katie Clark Gabbard.

The music for this episode is from the song “Umbrella” by my dear friend, indie folk musician Anna ps. You can find out more about Anna’s music in the show notes or at her website annapsmusic.com, where you can also get in touch to book her to play at your brewery, cafe, or other establishment.

Guests:

Hazel Lee is the Creator of Taste With Colour®: The Chocolate Tasting Flavour Map, an international chocolate judge, home bean to bar chocolate maker and cocoa adventurer. She studied Food Science at Leeds University and currently works full time as a Liquid Development Manager for Fever-Tree. Hazel spends her free time judging chocolate awards, painting cacao pods, taking part in chocolate events across the world and, of course, eating plenty of fine chocolate!