Making Scents of Chocolate

When I heard that a chic new Boston chocolate shop was selling chocolate perfume, I was fascinated. It’s chocolate – what could be bad?  But who wants to walk around smelling like cocoa butter?  I had to sniff for myself.

By Jeri Quinzio

Temper Chocolates is a small, elegant shop located in the lobby of the large, imposing Commonwealth Hotel in Boston’s Kenmore Square. When I asked the owner, Caroline Yeh, about the perfumes, she reassured me. “These are chocolate perfumes that are designed to not smell like chocolate,” she said. The perfumes, three in all, have cocoa as one of their ingredients; but each one is a complex blend of aromas.

 Three exclusive fragrances

Yeh and a friend, well-known San Francisco perfumer Yosh Han, worked together to create the scents. First they talked about Yeh’s favorite fragrances and taste preferences. Then they sniffed all sorts of scents. Han came up with nine different perfumes, which they whittled down to three. The perfumes, exclusive to Temper Chocolates, are called Temperare 01, 02, and 03.

The names, Yeh explains, come from the Latin verb, temperare, meaning to mix or blend. In contemporary Italian, it means to temper chocolate. Tempering is the heating and cooling process chocolate has to be put through to set properly, melt correctly, and taste fabulous. She chose the names because of the chocolate connotations, and because each perfume is such a special blend.

Temperare 01, has a fresh, light citrusy fragrance. I rub a little on my arm, and think it would be perfect to put on first thing in the morning. Yeh calls it a “summer dress” fragrance.

Temperare 02 is floral, with jasmine and fresh green notes. It could go anywhere anytime, from the office to a garden party. To build on Yeh’s fashion metaphor, this is your best silk scarf or cashmere sweater.

Temperare 03 is lush and complex. Notes of vanilla, fig, and sage blend with the chocolate. It’s seductive and sophisticated, a slinky black velvet dress.

Since the fragrances are so different from one another, many customers opt to buy a sampler with one small bottle of each. Then, after they decide on a favorite (or two or three) they can come back for full-size bottles.

Taste tests

Of course, you can’t visit a chocolate shop without tasting the chocolate. Yeh selects four samples of “origin” chocolates for me to try. These are chocolates from specific regions, and even specific beans within a region. First, I taste a rich, earthy Ecuadorian chocolate; then, a smoother, fruitier chocolate from Venezuela. Next up is another Venezuelan. This one is made from Chuao cocoa by Italy’s Amedei company. It has the most intense, pure chocolate flavor I’ve ever experienced. Finally, I taste an Amedei chocolate made from the rare Porcelana bean. One of the world’s most expensive chocolates, it’s so rich that after one tiny bite my body feels infused with chocolate.

As I sample the chocolates, Yeh describes them with the passion of a vintner describing wines. I’m not surprised when she tells me that she holds tasting classes to teach people how to select and appreciate fine chocolate.

A former pastry cook, Yeh decided to open her shop after she moved to Boston from New York and discovered a dearth of great chocolate. She spent a year and a half traveling, tasting, and selecting the best from small-scale chocolate makers before opening Temper Chocolates.

In addition to the origin chocolates, she carries bonbons with unusual flavors such as habanero pepper, lemongrass, and salted espresso. They’re all made in small quantities by artisanal chocolatiers, and Yeh buys only limited amounts so they are always fresh. Just for fun, she also carries chocolates shaped like miniature handbags. Aliya Waly, a chocolatier based in Somerville, Massachusetts, makes them.

Yeh, who is just 25, says she plans to open more shops in the not-too-distant future. But her eyes really light up when she talks about having the facilities to make her own chocolates one day.  As she talks about the future, I catch another fragrance in the air -- the sweet smell of success.

Temper Chocolates

In the Hotel Commonwealth

500 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, MA 02215

617-375-2255

www.temperchocolates.com

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