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Origin Chocolate Event, a New World of Chocolate in Amsterdam.

By on October 23, 2012 in On Chocolate & Cacao, Tastings & Events

Origin chocolate still needs to be put at the right place when it comes down to appreciating what fine cacao really is about. Many people still are not aware of the wonderful world out there, to be explored and tasted. We still need a lot of initiatives to gain some traction and broader awareness, surely in our regions (Belgium, Netherlands). Lately the Origin Chocolate Event in Amsterdam did just that. Looking at an impressive program featuring plenty of the world top of origin chocolate evangelists, for sure I was there to share and grab some passion vibes.

The program welcomed leading supporters like Clay Gordon, Martin Christy, Maricel Presilla and crafted chocolate makers Santiago Peralta (Pacari), Philipp Kauffmann (Original Beans), Mott Green (The Grenada Chocolate company) and Madagascar expert Bertil Akessons, with several more. The first day was working with hosted sessions, here are some personal highlights from those I could attend.

Philipp Kauffmann (Original Beans)

Original Beans is a chocolate brand that controls its cacao, and goes far beyond the classic ideas of sustainability. Though I’m often too sceptic on that matter, Philipp brought an inspiring visionary context and also showcased how his company is delivering on those ambitions. Planting a new tree for every bar sold, biodegradable packing are just 2 of many more.

Martin Christy (Seventy %)

In the early days of Choqoa, I travelled to London to meet Martin Christy and participate in a small tasting event. It really was an extra push to start sharing my chocolate passion. He now is the founder of the International Chocolate Awards, you definitely should check the winners list here. With his 70% team he is now running a little campaign, that we will fully support. “Slow Chocolate” is a fun pitch to increase our appreciation for fine origin chocolate, so here’s our advice: “Melt, don’t Bite!”

Santiago Peralta (Pacari)

Pacari is a unique project from Ecuador, to bring fine flavour cacao from various local regions and varieties. Several of his bars won awards on the latest Internation Chocolate Awards. Santiago had us taste some of his finest and latest creations, all of which are true cacao explorations to enjoy. During this session he shared a lot of background information, making his bars all the more interesting and tastefull.

Panel Discussion

One of the more intense moments was the panel discusion. The first topic unfortunately dropped the Fair Trade idea on the table. This is a very complex topic, immediately hijacked the discussion. A topic too complex and in several ways not even relevant to fine cacao. I was glad to speak up with my two cents: the best way to win that battle is to educate people how chocolate craftsmen really make their wonderful bars, and how close they work together with cacao farmers. Consumers need to know what they eat, and how it is made to fully appreciate it and be able to compare real stories beyond labels. A comment that was appreciated by many, it brought Maricel Presilla and me to some closer thoughts.

And off course I care to mention some other people I saw or met again that day: Sepp SchönBächler (Flechlin), Maricel Presilla (culinary historian), Erik Sauer, Geert Vercruysse and so on. There is surely a lot more to tell about my learnings this day, it was an inspiring event that should be repeated for sure. The tight schedule made me not go to Clay Gordon and Mott Green’s talk, but there will be a next time.

For instance the upcoming Salon du Chocolat in Paris, a yearly highlight for Choqoa so we will be there!

 

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 opens its new chocolate season with taste!

By on October 4, 2010 in Tastings & Events

Thursday last week, it was ‘officially’ the moment to reopen the chocolate rediscovery season with Choqoa’s Tasting Events. From the very first time I organized such a chocolate tasting with a group of people, I realized it is a great setting for curious minds to join their senses, and enjoy sharing their experiences and sensations.

From all the past tastings, I gathered the constructive feedback and spontaneous suggestions that were given by enthusiasts aficionado’s. So I reworked the tasting concept a little bit to give it another vibe. Next to that, a lot of people subscribed, we were actually heading for a full house, first time! And amongst them, we had both a lot of totally new people joining Choqoa and some first-hour superfans who returned again for another Choqoa discovery. That felt absolutely awesome, thanks to all of you!
There were also some students from the C-MD project, twitter folks who got to Choqoa via my “1000th Tweet” contest, and even a young researcher from the CacaoLab at the Ghent University, how cool is that? So although it wasn’t the first time, I was a bit nervous though, really.

Choqoa
(foto by Choqoa fan Peter Pvw04 – Nettooor)

Lucky all those who were there, since my recent trip to the USA (a post on that soon) made me return with a lot of exclusive offerings from great chocolate makers like Amano, Taza, Patric, the Mast Brothers (who I met in person) and Rogue Chocolatier, my current “editor’s choice“. I put a lot of those fantastic american bars in the line-up, sure enough it made the whole evening a fun time to rediscover chocolate.
For extra fun I even opened the world’s infamous “Mo’s Bacon Bar” from Vosges chocolate. And yes: for those who dared, there was eventually on popular demand a piece of Cote d’Or “Noir de Noir” available. For those who were a bit skeptical on the differences… it convinced all that we are on a new level with Choqoa, oyé!

And that’s precisely what we all enjoyed: a great evening rediscovering chocolate, the wonderful world of premium cacao, a bit of its production, a touch of history and a twist of culture. And off course, all these wonderful aromas and flavors that you would never have believed to find in pure cacao. It was great to find all your positive reactions so swiftly on Twitter and Facebook, keep sharing the passion for Choqoa and help everybody to rediscover chocolate!

Every last Thursday of the month, that’s the day that I mostly try to schedule my tasting events on. So keep an eye on the events on the Choqoa Facebook FanPage or our event listing on EventBrite.

Here is the list of bars we had this time: (after the break)

  1. Bonnat “Trinité” 75%
    deep chocolatey bar, the brand that started it for me
  2. Pacari “Esmeraldas” 60%
    surprises you with its fresh, floral tones but also the dextrose feeling
  3. Patric “Madagascar – Sambirano” 67%
    chewy and citric, great development
  4. El Ceibo 71%
    the bar from Chloé, not too bad at all, a very nice discovery with a typical Bolivian touch
  5. François Pralus “Djakarta”
    very unexpected, and therefore very good
  6. Taza Stone Ground 70%
    almost everybody was in awe, and appreciated the unique taste beyond the typical ground grittiness
  7. Cote d’Or Noir de Noir (54% – what’s in a name)
    yeah yeah, finally I am sure and (re)assured that eveybody tastes the difference!
  8. Mast Brothers “Ocumare de la Costa”
    waw this is top-notch liquorice experience
  9. Rogue Chocolatier “Piura”
    I love Colin’s bars and this very very exclusive Piura proves his passion and craftsmanship again. Wonderful.
  10. Amano “Dos Rios”
    the Dos Rios is far beyond chocolate, the aromas you experience with this cacao change everything you think about chocolate
  11. Vosges “Mo’s Bacon Bar”
    hilarious, food innovation awarded, just for fun!
  12. François Pralus “Le 100%”
    the ultimate cacao experience; it was, is and will always be the last bar I will serve at my tasting events

Pairing Chocolate & Whisky at the Choqoa & WIB Masterclass

By on July 7, 2010 in Tastings & Events

Since Choqoa and WIB found each other, we recently had a third Whisky & Chocolate Masterclass, which was initiated ‘due to popular demand’. At regular Choqoa tasting events people are often inspired trying out the rich tasting chocolate they just discovered with other premium foods and drinks, and if I mention the whisky option, well it boosts the interest let’s say!
After the first Masterclass at The House of Marketing, we also had a private one for a global company Agile as the cherry on the cake for an intimate VIP event with their top clients and preferred partners. Our latest one welcomed both new people and those who even already attended a Choqoa tasting.

Choqoa & WIB: Chocolate & Whisky Masterclass

With Whisky Import Benelux we have an excellent offering that specifically works with pairings of the Carn Mór Vintage Collection. More than just putting some whisky and chocolate together, we have been specializing and having fun in taking the idea of whisky and chocolate a step further with carefully selected one-on-one pairings. Bart from WIB is a truly passionate whisky ambassador and has an excellent nose for matching aromas. We have been working on a list of wonderful whiskies that create an exciting combination with special selected origin chocolates.

On the list are chocolate from François Pralus, Bonnat, Michel Cluizel and even a superb Pacari pairing. So far my two favorite combinations are the fruity Pralus Papouasie with a single cask Balmenach 2001 and the iconic and incredibly sour “Le 100%” with a very wholesome Caol Ila 1983. It’s just wonderful to feel how both build upon each other in new dimensions.
The whiskies have enough power to give balance to these upfront tasting origin chocolates, and blending something edible with something aromatic fluid must be a key to give a delightful experience on the palate.

Though taste is always personal, it’s encouraging to surprise people to change their mind with this level of both chocolate and whisky. So you could never believe dark chocolate can taste like this? I didn’t know whisky can be so fine either :) . We learned from our first tasting, and now people really where enthusiast about the idea, the combinations and the way we present them. After all, great taste is something to share anytime!

If you ‘re inspired, we’ll continue our tastings after the summer break, so stay in touch with our blog, websites, and both our Facebook Fanpages (Choqoa – WIB)!