38 percent cacao: “This is a very lactic chocolate, rich like buttermilk. It should be accompanied by a rum that will cut through the sweetness.”
70 percent cacao: “This high-cocoa chocolate is famously piquant and complex, partially as a result of the beans being fermented [in Tuscany] for twenty days. Chocolate production isn’t indigenous to Italy, but they do it really well.”
85 percent cacao: “This kind of austere, bitter chocolate is great for showing off the clean sweetness and roundness of rum.”
“This is a cane rum, on the sweeter side, typical of Martinique — very pointed, with high acid. We pair the darkest chocolate with it.”
“This is a darker, richer style of rum, with a lot of viscosity and softness on the palate; it’s a natural with dark chocolate.”
“Classic old style, [with a note of] sweet French oak. It’s very adaptable and great with either milk chocolate or dark chocolate.”