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Battle of Bonnat: ‘Manufaktum’ Madagascar 100% vs. Cacao Real del Xoconuzco

By on September 3, 2009 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Reviews

Maison Bonnat has 2 special treasures in its single origin bar collection, both of which I discovered in a particular way.
On one of my trips to Dusseldorf in Germany, I often jumped into the Manufaktum (=’made by hand’) store, a high luxury design & gift concept, which also hosts a delicatessen corner. Bonnat is al spread over the main counter, a view that makes you easily drooling… To my surprise Manufaktum must be such a good reseller that they co-launched an exclusive limited edition ‘house-bar’ made by Bonnat. It’s an inspiring 100% Criollo Madagascar bar, only available at Manufaktum.

Battle of Bonnat: 'Manufaktum' Madagascar 100% vs. Cacao Real del Xoconuzco

The other novelty is the “Cacao Real del Xoconuzco”, an exotic name for a truly ‘original’ bar. I kindly got the bar gifted as a ‘secret extra’ from the Bonnat Team on the 2008 Salon du Chocolat in Paris, after I bought bags full of bars at their booth first off course.
It is actually produced from the cacao variety that was the first ever cacao bean cultivated by people, i.e. the Mayans some 3000 years ago. It was equally this Criollo variety that travelled across the ocean to Europe to be the first cacao savourated by kings and emperors centuries ago… Master chocolatier Bonnat now claims to re-launch the first bar with the “Cacao Real del Xoconuzco” since its last use in 1850.

Tasting the bars

The Xoconuzco smells wonderfully chocolaty and has subtle smoky tones.  The Criollo typically has more floral and a strong fruity palate. Both of them offer a nice tasting sensation in time, one that doesn’t shake too much, but softly swells along your mouth and releases its specific notes. The Criollo bar releases its taste pretty quick though, whereas the Real bar only at the end comes to full exploration.
It’s nice to see the difference in color too here, I enhanced the photo a little though to make it more clear. The Criollo typically is more red-toned, the Real bean maintains the darker cacao color, it’s just as like wines. :)

Battle of Bonnat: 'Manufaktum' Madagascar 100% vs. Cacao Real del Xoconuzco

If I had to make a choice I’d choose the Real as winner. Though the “Manufaktum Madagascar 100% Criollo” has a more upfront taste, the “Cacao Real del Xoconuzco” makes you rediscover an original bean, and has a more darker, woody, chocolaty body. After all it’s all about the fun of discovering single origin cacao!
(More pictures on my Flickr album)

One month of Choqoa.com

By on October 24, 2008 in Marketing

So it’s been one month at Choqoa.com and what happened? At first I’m really happy myself to finally have created a place to share my passion. I really should have started this earlier, but speaking with hindsight is always easy. Blogging takes time and energy, though passion fuels the fire, so let’s rock on to make the story pay off. It’s a great after all to synthesize my addiction in words that I can easily share with you.

At present the site is gaining visitors from all continents, which very nice to spot and also the main reason for me to blog in English. In the map below you see where visitors come from and I indicated for fun the growing zone of cacao, which is about 20° up and down the equator. See for yourself:

Next to direct traffic and already some interesting Google search results, I also get a good amount of visits through my Cacao Aficionado photos on Flickr. It’s encouraging to see that both hobbies strengthen each other. The Choqoa on Twitter account also helps a little to drive int’l traffic. It’s pleasant to spot some people here that are equally into (digital) marketing and share the curiosity and passion for chocolate (jacksonbr, jomarbr, timwillems, Emakina). Stats are picking up slowly, there definitely is still work to do for building more extensive traffic, so I also created a Choqoa Facebook FanPage to which I invite all of you to join too!

And also off line in real life, a lot of encouraging things happened. On my chocolate safari in Düsseldorf I discovered new brands like Hussel, Coppeneur and Maglio, and also the Neuhaus bars bought later on in Antwerp seem interesting. I went behind the scenes at chocolatier Goossens, and all of the people whom I had taste from ‘my’ chocolate reacted exactly as I hoped, though most of the time I was rather nervous awaiting their first impressions. :-)
I went networking on the Max Havelaar FairTrade Colloquium and was very enthusiast meeting the people from Callebaut over there. They were charmed by my story and invited me to share more about our passion. In return I learned a lot from them too, and above all they were really helpful in providing a lot of new information on the cacao market. Their Account Manager was even so friendly to provide me with the origin samples for that other great offline experience: my first wine & chocolate pairing.

As for actual business resulting from this blog, I’m excited by getting a freelance job for one of the world’s most famous chocolatier brands, and I’ll be helping to develop their online & digital strategy. Next to that, it’s still about exploring various opportunities for how we eventually really may get into cacao business: whether it is venturing in a self-owned project or by joining the industry at a marketing related position, that is still open. Next milestone will be the Salon du Chocolat, next week in Paris!

Gut & Gerne chocolate bar in Dusseldorf

By on September 29, 2008 in Trips

Interesting things are happening on dark chocolate in Dusseldorf, and as ar far I would be able to tell in Germany in general. With brands like Hussel and Coppeneur it seems Germany is fighting with success for a place in the high level cacao markets, mostly dominated by master chocolatiers like Cluizel and Bonnat in France, and Amedei and Domori in Italy.

Gut & Gerne. Chocolate bar in Dusseldorf

A particular spot I found admirable is the “Gut & Gerne” Chocolate bar and shop in the heart of Dusseldorf’s old town, on Burgplatz 3. Bettina Dahl is running the spot for some years now with passion, and as the manager of the shop she really helps customers through discovering the vaste collection of the more than one hundred! different bars, she claims to offer in her collection. Though Gut & Gerne also offers sweets and chocolates, the focus definitely is on exclusive, high-end origin cacao bars. Next to the classic top brands like Amedei, Domori, Cluizel, Valrhona and alike, she also offers less known chocolatiers like Dolfin and Maglio in many variaties. Bettina also offers great info cards on the brands you buy from her, so you can learn about the specific chocolatiers, beans, plantations, roastings etc that define the many different aromas. Share this info with your peers and you’ll sound like an expert.

Next to the shop, she also has a chocolate bar next door where you can relax for a while from your wanderings through town, and taste from her sweets, chocolates and cacao, to be accompanied by a delicious hot chocolate prepared on the spot. Just as in the store, the atmosphere is very warm and cosy with a lot of wooden tables and cupboards, making this a place with a charming German touch. From the menu you can pick from a great selection of hot drinks ranging from hot white chocolate, over a selection of different percentages of cacao including a 100% cacao hot chocolate.

This one was absolutely gorgeous, and the cups come in huge portions so you have to take the time to relax and enjoy. This was definitely one of the yummiest hot chocolates I ever had.
Here are some more pictures from Gut & Gerne, if you’re in Dusseldorf, put this spot definitely on your list!

The Dusseldorf Collection

By on September 23, 2008 in Trips

Here is a quick shot of the brands and bars I found in some shops on my cacao safari in Dusseldorf from last week. Expect more postings on this collection soon as I’ll munch bar by bar…. It was really fun to spend my money on some of the most exclusive bars that I had never found in a store before!

The Dusseldorf Collection

Especially the exquisite golden Domori tablets, including the famous Porcelana, are a great acquisition. I could just not resist buying the whole range at once, including the Blend series. I’m also looking forward to taste the Coppeneur bars, which are also new to me. The Tsachila bag may be interesting too, since it is made by wild cacao beans collected in nature by local indians as opposed to farm cultivated beans.