We just loaded some new updates to the site. These have been a long time coming as they have been sitting on my laptop for since the middle of the summer.
Most of the updates are to the site backend and will allow some new features we will be working on in the next few months.
The one new visable feature is our new 1-5 "cocoa pod" rating images. Here is a sample of the new rating images.
I am visiting Colorado for the first time since moving to Florida last year. As you would expect, things have change. Fort Collins is a bustling college town and residents, however sometimes skittish, like a bit of change.
Chocolate has changed here too. Since leaving here and closing down our chocolate company P.S. I Love You Fine Chocolates, one of my competitors and customers, Simply Chocolate, has stepped up their game. They pursued a lot of our wholesale accounts and moved from just a simple storefront to a city wide name. Good for them!
Also it seems that some of the bars that we could never find to try her are now popping up at the Whole Foods Market. Michael Cluizel and Theo Chocolates are a couple you used to never see.
Someone once told me the only constant is change, I am glad to see is still holds true.
On yesterday's Martha Stewart show, she picked Jacques Torres Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies as her #1 cookie for National Chocolate Chip Day.
Today, Stephanie whipped up a batch of these not so little treats while I was at work. They are much thicker and chewier and all around better than the traditional Toll House Cookie recipe.
Since we do not have a ready supply of Jacques' Blend chocolate on hand she used Ghiradelli 60% Bittersweet Chips with great success.
Our first weekly review is of Scharffenberger's limited edition Kumasi Sambirano bar.
The Kumasi Sambirano bar is blend of Forastero and Trinitario beans from Ghana and Madagascar. The bar has a great snap and incredible earthy aroma that hits you as you open the deep green wrapper. The earthiness transforms in your mouth with flavors including citrus and a hint of red fruit after the initial acidic tang on the sides of your tongue.
I really enjoyed this bar and would recommend picking one or two up for your tasting pleasure. Give it a try and add you thoughts at MyChocolateJournal.com on the Kumasi Sambirano review page.
I read an interesting topic over at http://www.egullet.com/ today (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=101043).
The FDA is talking about changing the definition for "chocolate" to include "confectionery coatings" where the manufacture replaces up to 100% of the cocoa butter with other fats including vegetable oils.
This scares me. Without cocoa butter, chocolate just isn't chocolate! Cocoa butter is responsible for that smooth melt right as a great piece of couverture hits your tongue. Vegetable oil formulas just don't have that and should not be called chocolate!
Visit http://dontmesswithourchocolate.guittard.com/whatsthisabout.asp to tell the FDA not to mess with our chocolate!
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