Douglas Blyde on the perfect tipples to pair with ruby chocolate

Curious to find alcoholic matches, I ventured to the department store which, until the 1920s, produced its chocolate from a miniature factory on site. I met drinks buyer Jamie Waugh and chocolate expert Sophie Young in The Wine Bar.

‘Ruby takes us to a bolder place, being unapologetically berry-fruit led,’ said Young while we tried the 47 per cent cocoa, gourmet-grade bar with dark London porter. Surprisingly, given its robustness, the beer’s malty character never overwhelmed the meltingly tender bar. ‘The match allows both chocolate and beer to be themselves,’ said Young.

Despite sharing a pigment, pink champagne proved disagreeably drying alongside a fulsome Marc de Champagne ‘demi sphere’ enrobed in ruby. Though according to Waugh, sweeter demi-sec champagne was very satisfying to the sweeter-toothed consumers of the 19th century.

Next came a cute tear drop truffle flavoured with pink gin, ingeniously dusted with dried Angostura bitters. With this, we rated the complementary bright fruit notes of Julian Temperley’s Somerset apple and Morello cherry liqueur. ‘In the 17th century, England was famous for its apple brandy — destroyed by the gin boom of the 18th century,’ Waugh lamented.

Finally, with my favourite truffle of red fruit-scented Himalayan salted caramel, Bodega Tradicion’s cream sherry mirrored the salty tang and caramel richness of the indulgent bite. And incidentally, ruby may also be discovered year-round as a cream-topped hot chocolate at F&M’s The Parlour.