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译者：Qidi 校对：Grace Zhou, CB叉
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Why does dark chocolate taste so nasty to some people?
为什么一些人觉得黑巧克力很难吃？
It tastes nasty to you, because your palate requires a high level of sweetness to go with the chocolate flavor.
如果你觉得黑巧克力难吃，那是因为你的味觉需要更甜的巧克力的刺激。
It’s common for people who eat a lot of sugar, junk food, or processed food to need a lot of sugar or salt to enjoy food. In other words, it’s the norm for most Americans, and it’s the reason people from other countries often find our food too sweet. The good news is that by eating natural foods, the tastebuds can slowly be awakened to a whole array of real flavors, and everything begins to taste much sweeter naturally without all the added sugar.
这个现象在某些人群中很普遍，这些人会吃大量的糖，垃圾食品，或是在摄取食物时，需要更多的糖或盐以达到更好的口感。其实，这正是美国人的日常，也是其他国家的人觉得美国食物太甜的原因。好的消息是，吃一些天然食物后，味蕾会逐渐苏醒，进而感受到一系列食物的原始味道。这时所有的食物不用加糖也会自然变得很甜。
Dark chocolate is available in a huge range of sweetness levels, which can be defined inversely by its cacao content. I’ve seen chocolate with as little as 50% cacao called “dark chocolate”, but it ranges from 50% to 100% cacao. (By comparison, milk chocolate typically contains about 30% cacao, in addition to its characteristic milk, of course.)
黑巧克力的甜度等级很宽泛。甜度等级和可可含量成反比。我见过一些可可含量仅为50%的巧克力被叫做“黑巧克力”，事实上，黑巧克力的可可含量百分比在50%-100%不等。（相比之下，牛奶巧克力，顾名思义，除了含牛奶，通常含30%的可可。）
When I was a kid, I liked milk chocolate, but started to develop a preference for the delicious rich chocolateyness of dark chocolate. As dark chocolate became more popular in recent years, it also became available in a wider range of strengths. I soon went from preferring 65% cacao to 72% cacao.
当我还是个小孩子的时候，我喜欢牛奶巧克力，但后来逐渐爱上了香醇可口的黑巧克力。随着黑巧克力在近几年更加流行，其可可含量有了更多的选择。我很快从喜欢可可含量为65%的黑巧克力，变为喜欢可可含量为72%的黑巧克力。
My preference remained at 72% cacao until I tried eating all natural food, as part of our Crossfit gym’s paleo challenge. When I switched to all natural foods, my preference for cacao content went up and up, as foods started tasting naturally sweeter and sweeter. I started preferring 78% cacao, then 85% cacao.
我曾一直喜欢可可含量为72%的黑巧克力，直到我尝试吃所有的天然食物，这是我全面强健健身课程的一项挑战。当我习惯于吃所有的天然食物时，我对可可含量的喜好不断上升，日常的食物对我来说也自然不断变甜。我开始喜欢可可含量为78%的黑巧克力，之后喜欢可可含量为85%的黑巧克力。
I now like 90% cacao the best, and sometimes I even enjoy 100% cacao chocolate. 100% cacao chocolate, when paired with fresh macadamia nuts, tastes to me like extra-chocolatey chocolate chip cookies. Milk chocolate tastes almost like cotton candy to me now, it’s so cloyingly sweet.
我现在最喜欢可可含量为90%的黑巧克力，甚至有些时候很享受纯可可巧克力。纯可可巧克力，搭配新鲜的夏威夷果仁，那滋味对我来说像是特浓的巧克力曲奇，而牛奶巧克力则像是棉花糖，甜得发腻。
So, what tastes “nasty” to you, is truly the most delicious dessert in the world to me.
所以，对于你来说难吃的黑巧克力，可是我在这个世界上觉得最可口的甜点。
If you ever decide to give dark chocolate another try, I’d recommend starting with a fresh, good quality dark chocolate from Madagascar, something in the lower ranges of cacao content. The beans from Madagascar are rich in flavor due to the volcanic soils. It gives the chocolate a very subtle berry flavor.
如果你在某时决定重新给黑巧克力一次机会，我建议你先选择新鲜优质的马达加斯加低可可含量的黑巧克力。马达加斯加的可可豆味道浓郁，因为它生长在火山土里，那会赋予巧克力一种奇妙的莓果风味。
Fresh dark chocolate has a slight sheen to it, a velvety texture, and melts slowly in your mouth when it’s at room temperature. If it doesn’t have a slight sheen, if it has a slight white coating, and/or it doesn’t melt in your mouth with a velvety smooth texture, it’s probably stale. Stores that don’t sell much dark chocolate often have stale chocolate, so don’t buy it there.
新鲜的黑巧克力有轻微的光泽，天鹅绒般的口感，室温下慢慢在你的口中融化，如果巧克力外有一层白霜，或者巧克力的口感并不丝滑柔软，那么它可能变质了。不要在非巧克力专卖店买巧克力，因为那些地方常常卖变质的巧克力。
High end chocolate specialty stores will awaken you to a whole new world of chocolate that you never knew existed.
高端的巧克力专卖店会在你面前展现你从未发觉的巧克力新世界。
I discovered this magical world when I lived and worked in downtown San Francisco for a summer (for those of you in SF: Fog City News, 455 Market St). They had free taste tests every Tuesday.
某个暑假，我在旧金山市区居住时发现了这个神奇的世界（这是地址：Fog City News, 455 Market St），这家店每周二会有免费的巧克力味觉测试。
That was when I discovered the complex and delicious flavor profiles that chocolate from various processes and cacao beans from around the world can have, created by an endless variety of independent chocolatiers from around the country and even around the world.
是各种无数美国甚至全世界的独立巧克力生产商让我发现，多种多样的巧克力加工过程和来自世界各地的可可豆可以创造出这么多纷繁美味的巧克力口味。
When we went in for our free taste tests, we’d list all the flavor notes we could taste in each blind chocolate sample. The store manager who administered the blind chocolate taste tests also noticed that most people need a couple of “warm-up” bites of chocolate before they can detect the subtle flavor notes, and because of that, they usually preferred the samples that they didn’t taste first.
当参加免费的味觉测试时，我们需要在品尝完每种巧克力样本后，写出所有能尝出的口味。管理巧克力样本味觉测试的经理发现，多数人需要先吃几口巧克力“热热身”才能更好地察觉出巧克力口味之间的细微差别，所以他通常不会让顾客先品尝样本巧克力。
Unfortunately, these chocolate shops are not common, and therefore not convenient for most people. Not to worry, you can also find high quality chocolate online. The best dark chocolates are made entirely from the cacao bean and don’t contain the ingredient soy lecithin (eg. chocolate by la Maison du Chocolat).
很遗憾，这种巧克力店并不常见，所以多数人无法以此方式品尝巧克力。不过别担心，你还可以在网上找到高品质的巧克力。最优质的巧克力是完全用可可豆制成的，成分中不含大豆卵磷脂。（如，la Maison du Chocolat（乐美颂）巧克力）
However, you can still get reasonably good inexpensive dark chocolate, most of which does contain soy lecithin.
你也可以找到一些物美价廉的黑巧克力，只不过它们多数含大豆卵磷脂。
Good, inexpensive, and easy to find dark chocolate bars are made in a wide range of cacao contents by Lindt and Ghirardelli. Anything with sugar as the first ingredient is obviously less than 50% cacao. Stronger chocolates will have their percentages displayed on the front.
瑞士莲（Lindt）和吉尔德利（Ghirardelli）生产的巧克力不仅物美价廉，便于找到，而且可可含量还有众多选择。成分表上第一个写糖的巧克力可可含量普遍低于50%，而可可含量高的巧克力会把可可含量的百分数写在最前面。
PS - We have an entire section of our fridge dedicated to a variety of dark chocolate. ^^ (Yes, that’s all chocolate in the back, too.)
补充下，我有一整个冰箱架子供我收集各种黑巧克力。^^（没错，所有的巧克力包装也是黑色的。）
PS again - Ideally, chocolate should be stored and eaten at standard room temperature. However, we live in LA and don’t have air conditioning, so the fridge is the next best place for our chocolate. If it gets too warm or too cold, it can “bloom”, which means the fat or the sugar separates from the chocolate. This makes it look funny (slight white coating) and sometimes makes it taste stale or changes its texture. Chocolate is also made to be eaten at room temperature. Tastebuds react more intensely to warmer temperatures, therefore enhancing all flavors. (Thanks for the reminder, Martijn Sjoorda and Joshua Engel!)
再补充下，巧克力还是在标准室温下储存和品尝最好。但是，我住在洛杉矶，却没有空调，所以只好把我的巧克力放进冰箱里。如果巧克力过热或过冷，都会出现反霜现象，即从巧克力中结晶出糖晶或脂肪，巧克力会变得很怪异（裹上了层白色的衣服），有时会变味，甚至改变口感。巧克力的最佳尝味温度是室温，味蕾对相对高温的食物反应更剧烈，以此提高整体的味觉感知。（谢谢Martijin和Joshua的提醒！）
一些简单粗暴的生活小技能：有哪些技能是我可以在1分钟内学会但却受用一生的？
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