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Choqoa Introduces Real Cacao Stories at TEDxFlanders / Youth 2012

By on October 25, 2012 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Tastings & Events

TED.com is a fantastic platform where people share there knowledge and experience in passionate ways. Drawing millions of viewers and fans across the world, I was no less than honored to be invited at the local TEDxFlanders / Youth event. The committee appears to be a big fan of Choqoa, the passion and  stories, and proposed to bring both a talk on stage and a workshop to top it off.

Educating some 130! kids from various nationalities and languages about the real taste of cacao & fine chocolate. It wasn’t an easy challenge, but fun! In less than 10 minutes I guided them through the origins of cacao, the difference between cacao and chocolate, a change of cultural habits and false assumptions on its health potentials. I could talk a lot more of course, but I decided to do something better: have all these kids taste fine origin chocolate!

It was my biggest tasting event ever… I distributed a truck load of samples to all of them; 2 chocolate chunks and a cacao bean. And then we performed a “Slow Chocolate” tasting, supporting the campaign from our friends at SeventyPercent.com. It was worth a movie to see all those faces turn into happiness.

The feedback I got from the TEDxFlanders team was more than flattering.

“It was so nice to work with you, and on behalf of our team we thank you so much for your efforts… When I talked to kids at the end of the day, a lot of them thought the chocolate workshop was the highlight of their day.”

Here is my presentation to share with you. Feel free to contact me for any idea or performance. Looking forward to open up the wonderful world of origin chocolate to many many more kids, children and their parents. Will you help?

The Wonders of Fine Chocolate & Premium Whisky Pairings

By on July 25, 2012 in On Chocolate & Cacao

Chocolate and wine is a popular pairing idea. However to my experience this pairing also symbolises the weakness of how we in general think of chocolate. Like we tend to grab a bottle of red with red meat, and put a white next to poultry and fish, a lot of depth, experience and novelty is lost when we start with these assumptions.

Chocolate and whisky have the richness to transcend these prejudices, when we allow ourselves to open up to a level of premium and artisan crafted products.

Our Principles of Pairing.

Below are some of the lessons I learned on our journey to pairings that work. Aromas, flavors, transitions and sensations. All molecules at play, but I am not down on some chemistry lessons. The following experience-driven statements may inspire you too.

Air & Aroma

From my personal experiences, whisky gains its strength on air and breath, chocolate develops its flavors on palate and mouth. These different sensations allow both of the pairing elements to have their own field of play. It makes them blend, fight, join, separate in the joint area of our overall senses. Aromas and flavors both play while chewing, melting, sipping and breathing.

Solid & Fluid

The beauty of this pairing exercise already lies in the fact we combine a fluid drink with a solid food. It allows both to fully cover our senses, palate and mind in order to seek harmony. I’ve learned that top chefs not only craft flavor combinations, but moreover are alert to harmony of textures. Think about how you might appreciate the feel of a fatty, thick, wholesome whisky. Or consider how a dark chocolate may swiftly melt down over your tongue before letting go. Now imagine having both at the same time.

Temperature & Fit

One of the most important aspects of the succes of whisky and chocolate is their matching temperature, though hardly ever mentioned. Chocolate needs to be appreciated through its melting flow. Any pairing that does not take this into account is bound to fail – imho. It does open possibilities for rum, gin?, but dilutes with cold-served champagnes and most fresh beers, I would argue. Whisky fits in perfectly, and the warm sensations it produces even increases the pleasing melt of cacao.

Length & Interaction

These levels of fine whisky and artisan chocolate are not only about flavors, but also about development and length. We have a nose, opening, mid and ending on both foods, at least. With various intriguing timings and transitions. No need to say it makes the successful pairing challenge all the more rewarding. You have reached your goal when there is creative play all over the curves of tastes and transitions in chocolate and whisky, and if the result is an elevating experience.
Taking it a little step further, Peter and I even cross-test the best order, wether to consume first a sip of whisky or start a bite from the cacao. The difference may sometimes be huge.

What’s next?

I hope you enjoy these thoughts, but since I’m all but a whisky expert nor sensorial behaviour analyst, I’m looking forward to your thoughts.
Should I maybe write a little book on it?

 

The New Wave of Chocolate Keeps Trending. Will You Ride It with Us?

By on July 24, 2012 in On Chocolate & Cacao

When I started to write about my passion on chocolate back in 2008, it was because I wanted to share with all my friends, and their friends, what chocolate could really taste like. But also because something new was knocking at the gates of cacao heaven.
Some new brands where showing up on selected shelves. It wasn’t new wrappers for an old story, but genuine new approaches to appreciating cacao flavors, production scale and technique, nourishing a new philosophy on chocolate. All this time later it has become much more tangible and palatable.

And I believe it’s only just starting. To date, as far as I would judge, there are two big trends that are currently at work reshaping a new world of cacao.

1. Small-scale artisan chocolate.

There is definitely a new class of chocolate makers. They are small scale, small batch, open for improving, and cherish an open relation towards the sourced cacao, ideally with the farmers beyond. They elaborate a process and fit the cacao into it.

I believe the vision was – somehow surprisingly, then again not really – ignited in the US, by the likes of Amano, Partric, Rogue Chocolatier, Theo, Askinosie, not to forget Steve Devries… who have been inspiring Fresco, Mast Brothers, Ritual, Dandelion, WoodBlock, Madre and some more.

These brands all with their own stories are spreading to inspire in turn new European brands,  in growing regions like Naive, Bojesen, Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé, and on the other sides of the world starters like Australian Bahen, Danta in Guetemale and even a Marou in Vietnam.

I have had the luck to share several days with some of these new chocolate makers on a cacao tour in Costa Rica. Their backgrounds are very different, from software engineers to winemakers, but one thing keeps them together: making great chocolate in the first place. Origins and limited editions come and go, led by availabilty and quality.

2. Locally produced origin chocolate.

On the other side we also see chocolate companies supporting local production, as a counter movement for the past century. A new way of putting sustainability into chocolate production. Chocolate has been typically a “disrupted product” from the view that stakeholders for growing cacao ‘there’ and those producing ‘here’, where having no relation at all.

Brands like Pacari, Amma, Madecasse, Daintree, Menakao, Sibu, Grenada Chocolate Co have been paving ways and are all contributing to this new philosophy. Providing work, knowledge and pride to the local community, it’s stands for a different approach on sustainable thinking in the world of cacao. Their position is more complex than those mentioned above, here people prevail.
They are less to focus on artisan scale and origins, but envision more human & community driven values, driven and supported with the fine production of top quality cacao.

What’s next?

New micro trends are rising already. However, the goal isn’t to provide and divide all available brands in this post, sorry if I haven’t mentioned your favorite brand. Please share your comments on this post if you like to.
But it’s absolutely a key thing to know that cacao and chocolate are moving forward, that the bars you taste are not one-day hit wonders, and that people are passionately putting their hearts and hands to work for sharing wonderful cacao tastes with us.
I hope you will support and encourage the new wave of cacao. Keep it rolling, by appreciating the wonderful chocolate bars that are coming your way.

 

 

Our Second Whisky & Chocolate tasting with Anverness.

By on July 17, 2012 in Tastings & Events

Anverness and Choqoa recently joined forces again to setup a fantastic Whisky and Chocolate tasting event. We accomodated a full house, people who were all very curious to join our journey of aroma’s, flavors and sensations.

The pairings we offer pass by far the idea of putting red wine with meat and white wine with fish. We take it a lot further, offering genuine one-to-one pairings where one specific whisky elevates one specific chocolate. With our previous experiences in mind, we raised the bar again approving our pairings. Should I first bite the chocolate, or rather begin with a sip from the whisky? Given the complexity of aromas in both, getting them together is truly a challenge.
Peter and I have been working hard to try and taste over 60 combinations of whisky and cacao. Some don’t result in anything special, others just walk together fine, few pairings really create a clash. the cream of pairings however yield wonderful and fine sensations that surpass the individual elements. And those are the ones we offer: world-class whisky and chocolate pairings.

Photo taken from our Whisky Import Belux tasting.

We came with a very challenging chocolate selection, that I would never run, unless it were with these fine accompanying whisky’s. We kicked off with the bold François Pralus Vanuatu, shaking our general idea on chocolate. Putting then 3 different bars of Pacari opened people’s eyes on origins and single region chocolate. But we also matched Original Beans ‘Beni Wild Harvest’ and a Rogue Chocolatier ‘Silvestre’, a unique opportunity to taste the results of different chocolate makers working with the same Bolivian beans.
The ‘Cru Virunga’ from Congo and the brand new Menakao from Madagascar closed the series of complex pleasures.

The exquisite whisky’s we offered included highly premium bottles from the likes of Bushmills, Glenn Garioch, Tullibardine, Glendronach, Benromach, Ledaig… to name a few. Along the pairings we shared background information on both food & drinks.

@Choqoa Heerlijke whiskey & chocolate tasting gisteren. Openbaring. Tot een volgende keer. *

Tx @Choqoa om je fascinerende chocolades te koppelen met wonderbaarlijke whiskeys #choqoa  *

No use trying to describe how it feels. Those who attended where at least impressed and very pleased with our pairings, proof their reactions. They were gladly sharing – if not bragging about – their experiences with their friends through Twitter and Facebook.
But above all, they had a great time discovering the wonderful sensations of origine chocolate. Will you be next?

 

Choqoa Video: Charley “Woodblock” Wheelock, on tour in Costa Rica.

By on August 31, 2011 in Interviews & Video, Trips

Meet Charley Wheelock, craft chocolate maker and owner of Woodblock Chocolate.
On the Costa Rica tour I shot tons of video. Finally here’s a first one to share with you!

I still remember the first night at the hotel bar in San José, Costa Rica. Charley just came in late from the airport when he shared some of his samples. His intriguing Rio Caribe was one of the strongest I ever had, well hello nice to meet you too.

Charley Wheelock only recently decided to become a craft chocolate maker. His designer background will surely help him to develop a personal take on the chocolate experience. We shared a lot of time together as two cacao comrades. On the tour he absorbed all knowledge and experience to strengthen his skills, so I’m very happy to see Woodblock came alive. And from what I tasted then, I hope the world gets more of it.

He was a great guy to share this amazing Costa Rica experience with, and I hope our chocolate trails may cross again one day soon. Enjoy the video!