So searching around the internet and came across this interesting quote on Francois' website:

Franois Pralusgives away one of his little secrets to give us a more precise idea of how he obtains the right flavour before he starts to manufacture:
"I brew the cocoa in water, rather like making herbal tea and sweeten it slightly with sugar, then I leave it to settle. This gives me a precise idea of what the flavour will be like before I launch the manufacturing process."

Has anyone ever heard of this or tried this?

updated by @ian-horvath: 04/12/15 03:13:32

It's incredibly difficult to make a tea out of something that's encapsulated with a total fat content of over 50%, as it is to reach roasting temperatures in tea, as it is to simulate process (grinding, conching).

updated by @sebastian: 01/29/15 00:28:34

The extraction of flavor via hot or cold H2O, or with neutral spirit (via maceration) will not provide you with a good predictor of what the true flavor of the chocolate will be given a cocoa type. Perhaps, he found a way to make it work for him given the limitations. From experience, I've discovered these methods to render poor results for that purpose.

Interesting. Just wondering what he was talking about. Much appreciated.

I would say that he has done this technique for many years and knows how the taste of his brewed tea translates into finished chocolate. I have a similar method where i taste the beans as they are roasting every 5 mins after about 15 min roasting to see when i should end the roast. I taste two shelled beans with half a teaspoon of sugar and munch it for a while. This gives me a precise idea of how that will translate into finished chocolate, not because it tastes exactly like the finished chcooate will but because of many years of experience in translation from this to finished chocolate. I know that certain flavours and aromas will not translate into the finished chooclate and i know how others will change and develop. Translation is the key here, i think