Is there a Tasting Adventure near you? 1207NL continued on page 8... Just in case you’re not familiar with Chocolate Tasting Adventures, they are exclusive events specially created for chocolate lovers to take their appreciation of chocolate a step further. Through approximately two hours of expertly guided chocolate tasting, guests can add to their knowledge of cocoa and chocolate, but before you start imagining some sort of classroom affair, think again – this is learning through lots of hands-on tasting. If you love chocolate, then why not embark on an adventure? Hotel Chocolat’s Tasting Adventures have previously only been available in the flagship Covent Garden store in London. But now they’ve gone on an adventure themselves and could well be appearing in a town near you! MAKE MINE A DOUBLE! The most recent edition of our infamous Fortified Selection is ready to order and it’s brimming with exciting recipes. See page 5 CAN YOU DIG IT? What’s the latest exciting news from Ghana? There’s only one way to find out… Turn to page 7 SCORE DRAW Now that we have the All Milk Selection scores to fit in – there’s a whole new look for the scores pages! See pages 10-11 Issue 1207 NEWS Club The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club scores No. Chocolate Name Choc 1 Raspberry Mousse G Pe 2 Flower Power E D 3 Calypso Coffee E D 4 4Caramel Soufflé E D 5 Cognac & Raisin E CLASSIC SELECTION – D147 No. Chocolate Name 1 Cognac & Raisin rry Mousse DARK SELECTION – K80
Transcript
Is there a Tasting Adventure
near you?1207N
L continued on page 8...
Just in case you’re not familiar with Chocolate Tasting Adventures, they are exclusive events specially created for chocolate lovers to take their appreciation of chocolate a step further. Through approximately two hours of expertly guided chocolate tasting, guests can add to their knowledge of cocoa and chocolate, but before you start imagining some sort of classroom affair, think again – this is learning through lots of hands-on tasting.
If you love chocolate, then why not embark on an adventure?
Hotel Chocolat’s Tasting Adventures have previously only been available in the flagship Covent Garden store in London. But now they’ve gone on an adventure themselves and could well be appearing in a town near you!
MAKE MINE A DOUBLE!The most recent edition of our infamous Fortified Selection is ready to order and it’s brimming with exciting recipes.
See page 5
CAN YOU DIG IT?What’s the latest exciting news from Ghana? There’s only one way to find out…
Turn to page 7
sCOre DrAwNow that we have the All Milk Selection scores to fit in – there’s a whole new look for the scores pages!
See pages 10-11
Issue 1207
NEwsClubThe monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club
feedback
scores
Dear Simon
We were so pleased to read in the latest
club magazine about the chocolate
cooperative farms along the Napo River.
We sailed from Coca, a town on the Napo
River, up to an ecological settlement
about 52km about 18 months ago and
passed many of these small farms with
only the river to connect them. There
are many people working in this area to
persuade the indigenous people not to
sell out to the oil prospectors but to keep
the forest intact and it was lovely to read
about yet another example of this with
the cocoa growing. We had a marvellous,
albeit strenuous, few days viewing the
ecology and wild life and, as you said,
many marvellous birds from the top of
the canopy. We will certainly never forget
this experience. We are both in our early
seventies but feel it is never too late for
new experiences though we needed a
week to recover.
Maureen & Bob Wood
RaspbeRRy Mousse – ClassiC
WoW yuM WoW yuM WoW yuM. This is my new favourite.
blueberry bombe who??? Jayne McSparron, Ashington
Calypso Coffee – DaRk
i normally pass over coffee filled chocolates, but mixing it with
hazelnut made it complex and compelling. Katrina Voysey, Surrey
blaCkCuRRaNT Milk TasTiNg baToNs – all Milk
These actually made me giggle. i was expecting a fruity note, but
this was more of a symphony. Clare Hockley, Stockton-On-Tees
floWeR poWeR – ClassiC
Too sweet for me but very pretty!
Maureen, Devon
CRaCkle & CRisp – eleMeNTs
The crunchiness compliments the smoothness of the choc, and the
popping candy feels like a party in my mouth! Sean Bailey, Lincoln
yoghuRT & hoNey – DaRk
Weird - i like honey and yogurt but they don’t go with chocolate.
Have you reserved your out of this world Planets Collection yet? Hurry
– last chance on page 4.
The last time I went to a Tasting Adventure I had a great time. There were quite a few Tasting Club members present that evening and all was going swimmingly well until we were all asked to taste
three chocolates and guess which was the one from rabot estate. I got it wrong. Much to the delight of our tasting host for the evening! I did hear subsequently that the chocolates had been mixed up by mistake ‘backstage’ and so I had in fact guessed correctly – but that would sound like sour grapes now, so I won’t mention it…
If you would like to learn a little more about chocolate, cocoa and how to taste it in a fun, hands-on 2 hours, then I would highly recommend a Tasting Adventure, despite my embarrassment that evening.
Also in this edition, you’ll see that with your help we have sunk another borehole in Ghana as part of our engaged ethics programme. As you’ll see on page 6, this one is right by one of our most successful satellite nurseries and could even double its output!
And finally, turn to pages 10-11 for our brand new scores pages, completely redesigned to accommodate the All Milk scores, which join us for the first time this month.
Until next month, happy tasting!
simon ThirlwellClub News editor
All was going swimmingly well until we were all asked to taste three chocolates
and guess which was the one from Rabot Estate. I got it wrong.
“ “
MODerN ChOCOlATe MAkING INvOlves the use of state-of-the-art machines as well as more
traditional methods. And making these iconic chocolate slabs involves both ends of the chocolate making spectrum. First comes the high tech bit, whereby chocolate moulds, which have incidentally been designed by hand but recreated through computer aided design (CAD), are filled with the chosen chocolate, or chocolates – because the
machine is capable of filling the moulds with several different types of chocolate if necessary (in stripes for example). They are filled to a pre-determined level depending on what will happen next… And what happens in this case is that they take a more conventional route, with one of our chocolate finishers pouring a good strip of white chocolate into the middle of the still unset slab, while another swirls the chocolate by hand to create the pattern. each slab is, therefore, a one-off masterpiece!
How do we...GET THE swIrLs
IN CHOCOLATE sLABs
4
DON’T fOrGET – score by post or online at www.chocs.co.uk and you’ll be automatically entered into this prize draw.
winnersThis month’s Prize Draw
Elements Selectionprize draw winner is Mrs M Bell from Cleveland who wins a Mississippi Mud Pie Giant Slab.Next month’s prize is an Eton Mess Giant Slab.
Classic Selection prize draw winner is Mrs C McCafferty from Newport Pagnell who wins a Taste of Summer Sleekster Selection.Next month’s prize is a White & Light Sleekster Selection.
Dark Selectionprize draw winner is Ms L Barnes from Steyning who wins a selection of 85% & 70% Dark Batons. Next month’s prize is a Dark Signature Collection.
Purist Selectionprize draw winner is Mrs C Beer from Nottingham who wins a Rare Collection.Next month’s prize is a Super Boosters Desk Pot.
LAST CALL…
THE PLANETsCOLLECTION
It’s a collection that is boldly going where no chocolatier has gone before – featuring 18 chocolates,
2 hefty chocolate slabs, a limited edition CD of holst’s The Planets and a guide to the heavenly bodies in our solar system.
As a Tasting Club member you already know that we’re not averse to doing things a little bit differently. This time, however, we think we might well have outdone ourselves with something completely out of this world!
The Planets Collection is an amazing one-off special edition in the Tasting Club’s inimitable style.
So if you’d like to join us for this unique trip to the final chocolate frontier – please reserve yours now for just £22 (plus £4.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/PLANETS or call 08444 727 070.
All Milk Selection prize draw winner is Mrs M Edwards from Hailsham, who wins Classic Milky Liquid Chocolat.Next month’s prize is a Milk Oblivion Sleekster Selection.
THE PLANETsCOLLECTION
Join the Fortified Club now to make sure you get the next box for £16.00 (plus £3.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/FORTIFIED or call 08444 933 933.
The leGeNDArY FOrTIFIeD seleCTION Is NOW IN ITs sIxTh YeAr and more popular than ever – featuring 28 exclusive recipes and a set
of four unique Provenance Cards.
Don’t miss the next delicious instalment of our quarterly Club – including fine Cognac & Raisin, Champagne &
Cranberry, Glenmorangie Whisky, Lychee Martini and more!
THE fOrTIfIED sELECTION
6
EAsTEr COLLECTION sCOrEs
Easter may well have been and gone, but hopefully these results will bring back some delicious memories.
some fantastic eggs in this selection – only problem was we had to cut each of them in half so we could both taste them! An excuse to buy an egg each next year, I think. Sonia Hobson, Holmfirth
The whole egg was delicious, and the Tiddly Chicks went to an unexpected visitor, who was delighted. Sarah Freedman, Swansea
Presentation faultless, delivery the same – the chocolates are, as always, superlative. Richard Tidey, Brigg
I don’t think I’ve ever had a selection where everything got 9 or 10 before. More like this please! Isabel Stainsby, Glasgow
Above – digging boreholes is best done in the rainy season, which makes it a very muddy job. Right – the finished borehole, pristine and ready to use.
7
Last year, you might recall, we sank a borehole to support a brand new seedling nursery. That was our second in Ghana, but now there’s a third!
sUNK! NEw BOrEHOLE
ith the last of the funds from the Tasting Club ‘Farmers’ Account’, which is money
donated directly by members, plus a little top up from our own account, there’s now a third borehole to tell you about. This latest one is situated in the small village of kofi Dede, right next to one of our largest and busiest satellite nurseries.
Nursery Manager, Moses Apah, not only grows 10,000 seedlings every year, he also regularly takes unsold seedlings from quieter satellite nurseries in the region because he is so busy – which can be as many as 8,000 more. Isaac, who heads up The Green Tropic Group, our partners in Ghana, told us that Moses had the capacity to grow and distribute 20,000 seedlings in his nursery, he just didn’t have the water to do so.
When we met Moses a couple of years ago during a visit to his nursery, he told us that the village was unhappy about him using the community borehole to water his seedlings, despite the fact that they were being raised for the good of the community. It later emerged that the village had started to charge him to use the borehole, which was not a sustainable situation.
We’re delighted that Moses now has his own supply of water so he and his four volunteers can now get on and reach their full potential. Thank you once again for your kind donations, some of which have gone to make this new borehole possible – we look forward to telling you how he is getting along in future editions.
now in operation
w
Is there a Tasting Adventurenear you?
9
Now, as well as at the aforementioned Covent Garden store, these Tasting Adventures are now available in Bristol, Manchester, edinburgh, Cheltenham and York. Unfortunately, not all hotel Chocolat stores have the requisite space or facilities to host Tasting Adventures – hopefully there’s one within striking distance.
so what happens at these evening events? Well, guests are welcomed with a chilled glass of prosecco, which itself has impeccable provenance credentials, being from a boutique winery in the Dolomite foothills. But this is about chocolate, so it is merely the prelude to an exciting evening of comparative tasting, which includes 12 different chocolates and a taste of some signature filled chocolate recipes too.
This comparative tasting format has been specially created to be a fun and enjoyable way of discovering fine cocoa and chocolate. Angus Thirlwell, hotel Chocolat CeO and Tasting Club Founder told us, “I know that I am preaching to the converted here, but it bears reiterating that we firmly believe that tasting chocolate should be open to all, not just an activity for those experts ‘in the know’. Which is precisely why we have created these Tasting Adventures – to cut through the mystery and secrecy that often surrounds such foodie areas, so anyone can further their knowledge of chocolate. Just like our Tasting Club, these Tasting Adventures are aimed at democratising access to this exciting world because, as we all know, chocolate tasting isn’t just fascinating, it is also hugely enjoyable”
As Tasting Club members we certainly do know all about that! But what of the chocolates themselves that are tasted and how does the comparative tasting work? Without giving too much away, there are a series of comparative tastings throughout the Tasting Adventure, in which interesting grades of dark and milk chocolates are tasted – including single estate and origin chocolates as well as some exciting blends and chocolates with inclusions.
each comparison is designed to reveal something different about chocolate – be it regional variances, the flavours of different types of cocoa, the influence of terroir, conching times and much more. For example (and here we must issue a spoiler Alert if you’re attending a Tasting Adventure soon), guests compare a 66% Rabot Estate Chocolate and a single estate 66% Madagascan Chocolate – this helps to highlight what are the major influences on flavour, like fermentation, roasting time, length of conching and the nuances of terroir. Guests also nibble their way through an Island Growers 50% chocolate from saint lucia and Hotel Chocolat’s house 50% milk chocolate to illustrate the differences in flavours between an origin chocolate and a blended chocolate – by which time they are all experts of course!
so if you fancy a spot of chocolate tasting adventure, don’t forget you’ll get a 5% discount with your Tasting Club membership card.
We firmly believe that tasting chocolate should be open to all, not just an activity for those experts ‘in the know’, which is precisely
why we have created these Tasting Adventures.“
”
cover story – continued
Left – scenes from the most recent Tasting Adventure held at Hotel Chocolat’s Roast+Conch in Covent Garden
The 2-hour Tasting Adventure evenings are £45 and can be booked online at www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/TASTiNGAdvENTuRES or by calling 08444 93 10 10
scores
No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average
1 Raspberry Mousse G Pereira 43% 8.9
2 Flower Power e Desmet 41% 8.5
3 Calypso Coffee e Desmet 37% 8.6
4 Caramel Soufflé e Desmet 37% 8.5
5 Cognac & Raisin e Desmet 36% 8.5
CLAssIC seleCTION – D147
No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average
1 Cognac & Raisin e Desmet 40% 8.7
2 Raspberry Mousse G Pereira 39% 8.5
3 Calypso Coffee e Desmet 36% 8.6
4 Flower Power e Desmet 32% 8.1
5 Caramel Soufflé e Desmet 29% 8.3
DArK seleCTION – k80
No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average
1 Raspberry Mousse G Pereira 39% 8.3
2 Crackle & Crisp k kalenko 39% 8.2
3 Strawberry & Coconut Cup O Coppeneur 37% 7.8
4 Flower Power e Desmet 36% 8.4
5 Vanilla Custard Slab The Tasting Club 34% 8.1
ELEMENTs seleCTION – s58
No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average
1 Smooth Chuao O Nicod 42% 9.6
2 Soft Coffee Caramel r Macfadyen 37% 8.5
3 Salted Caramel Praline k kalenko 36% 8.4
4 66% Sambirano Dark with Cranberries e Desmet 34% 7.9
5 Hazelnut & Ginger Bûche The Tasting Club 31% 6.7
PUrIsT seleCTION – P12
No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average
1 Flower Power e Desmet 39% 8.8
2 Calypso Coffee e Desmet 30% 8.1
3 Camaretto A Gittings & G Pereira 26% 8.0
4 Blackcurrant Milk Chocolate Batons G Pereira 22% 8.0
5 Hazelnut Kiss r Macfadyen 17% 8.0
ALL MILK seleCTION – M02
Flower Power
Raspberry Mousse
Raspberry Mousse
Smooth Chuao
Cognac & Raisin
10
feedback
Dear Simon
We were so pleased to read in the latest club magazine about the chocolate cooperative farms along the Napo river. We sailed from Coca, a town on the Napo river, up to an ecological settlement about 52km about 18 months ago and passed many of these small farms with only the river to connect them. There are many people working in this area to persuade the indigenous people not to sell out to the oil prospectors but to keep the forest intact and it was lovely to read
about yet another example of this with the cocoa growing. We had a marvellous, albeit strenuous, few days viewing the ecology and wildlife and, as you said, many marvellous birds from the top of the canopy. We will certainly never forget this experience. We are both in our early seventies but feel it is never too late for new experiences though we needed a week to recover.
Maureen & Bob Wood
rAsPBerrY MOUsse – ClAssIC WOW YUM WOW YUM WOW YUM. This is my new favourite. Blueberry Bombe who??? Jayne McSparron, Ashington
CAlYPsO COFFee – DArk I normally pass over coffee filled chocolates, but mixing it with hazelnut made it complex and compelling. Katrina Voysey, Surrey
BlACkCUrrANT MIlk TAsTING BATONs – All MIlk These actually made me giggle. I was expecting a fruity note, but this was more of a symphony. Clare Hockley, Stockton-On-Tees
FlOWer POWer – ClAssIC Too sweet for me but very pretty! Maureen, Devon
CrACkle & CrIsP – eleMeNTs The crunchiness compliments the smoothness of the choc, and the popping candy feels like a party in my mouth! Sean Bailey, Lincoln
YOGhUrT & hONeY – DArk Weird – I like honey and yoghurt but they don’t go with chocolate. Alison Dale, Folkstone
YOUr TAsTING COMMENTs!
IN THE POsTBAG…
Bouquet
Bouquet
Bouquet
Bouquet
Brickbat
Brickbat
11
Excellence is our annual collection that brings together the very best of the best from the last year of tasting, covering a
whole array of categories and genres.
IT’s COMING!
BUT WhIle YOU MAY hAve eNJOYeD AN exCelleNCe COlleCTION Or TWO AlreADY, you might not know how we go about choosing which chocolates make it into this exclusive box. The first tranche of ‘work’ is done by you, our Tasting Club members. And by ‘work’ we mean that arduous task of tasting the chocolates in your monthly boxes. Using your scores and comments, we are able to identify the highest performing chocolates of the year and pull together a shortlist of contenders.
Next, we embark on what can only be described as a series of ‘frank discussions’… This involves Club Founder, Angus, and his tasting team looking at each chocolate in turn to determine which of these contenders will make it through to be a chocolate superstar. This ensures that there’s a good balance of recipes from every genre in each Collection. Did your favourites make it into the final box? There’s only one way to find out… don’t miss the chocolate event of the season!
13
update
CAMBrIDGE UNIvErsITY EntrepreneursCambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) was founded in 1999 and has evolved into a key support and hotbed of entrepreneurship and innovation.
CUe is one of the most successful student-run business creation competitions in the world.
since 1999, CUe has awarded over £500,000 in prize money to more than 40 start-ups and has seen many of them develop into successful companies. These companies have contributed greatly to the local region and beyond, producing over 110 full time jobs. Collectively, CUe alumni companies have gone on to secure over £42 million pounds of investment.
CUe runs several competitions each year in different categories and hotel Chocolat Co-Founder, Peter harris, has been a judge for the social enterprise category for the past three years. Peter said, “It is amazing to see the breadth of ideas that are presented and the ways that the entrants are endeavouring to solve social problems through creating good sustainable businesses.” Peter has also lectured to the Cambridge University MBA undergraduates.
1. White Lady by O Coppeneur 43% scored 10/10 (8.6)
2. Kraken Rum by R Macfadyen 38% scored 10/10 (8.7)
3. Molotov Cocktail by R Macfadyen 36% scored 10/10 (8.8)
4. Manhattan by O Nicod 35% scored 10/10 (8.6)
5. Chartreuse Truffle by K Kalenko 33% scored 10/10 (8.4)
6. Tropical Dream by K Kalenko 32% scored 10/10 (8.6)
7. Brandy Marzipan by O Coppeneur 31% scored 10/10 (7.8)
8. Grand Marnier Cup by E Desmet 30% scored 10/10 (8.5)
9. Prince Charles Coffee by O Nicod 29% scored 10/10 (8.4)
10. Raspberry & Prosecco by M Meier 28% scored 10/10 (8.2)
Our latest quarterly Fortified Selection included a good mix of all-time classics
and exciting new recipes – featuring comforting notes of Madeira, Bowmore single malt whisky and warming bourbon in the classic Manhattan cocktail. That’s as well as fresh and frisky raspberry & Prosecco, a Tropical Dream with plenty of rum and coconut, the potentially incendiary Molotov Cocktail and the refreshing cocktail, White lady, which also turned out to be our winner.
THE fOrTIfIED selection F08
RESuLTS
1st White Lady
2nd Kraken Rum
3rd Molotov Cocktail
news
14
CUTHBErT’s organic pesticideIf you visit Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia and take the Tree-to-Bar Experience, then you’re bound to meet Cuthbert Monroque.
He’s the knowledgeable and characterful Nursery Overseer and what he doesn’t
know about cocoa really isn’t worth knowing! rabot estate is run on organic principles, although for technical reasons it cannot be ‘certified’ organic and this is something that Cuthbert is passionate about. so much so, that he has invented his own recipes for a highly effective pesticide and fertiliser.
For the fertiliser he cultivates special weeds, which he mulches down to an
Cuthbert shows us how his organic pesticide is brewed
extremely fertile looking green gloop. But it’s his pesticide that is perhaps the most inventive – for this he concocts a mixture of chives, wild garlic and water, with a drop or two of lemon washing up liquid to finish it off. It will probably also work as insect repellent, we just need a willing volunteer to try it…
This time he’ll be going without Club News editor, simon, who for the first time in six years cannot make this trip. Instead, he’ll be joined by hotel Chocolat head of Quality and Development, Adam Geileskey, who cannot wait to get there! he told us, “There’s nothing quite like breaking open a fresh cocoa pod and talking to the farmer that grew it – I find it truly inspirational and it helps give the chocolates we make real soul.”
These visits to Ghana are invaluable for two
TO GHANA!
Pleasant and not so pleasant occurrences during Terry’s last trip to Ghana
Regular visits to Ghana are an integral part of our Engaged Ethics Programme and Club Director, Terry Waters, is busy planning his next trip.
main reasons. The first is that we can see our projects in action and see the results. The second is that we can see for ourselves the problems that cocoa farmers face and hear direct from the farmers themselves. This gives us unique insight into what our next projects should be. Terry is hoping to finalise plans for an extremely exciting project while he is there this time – but we’ll have to wait for his return to hear how he got on!
We’re off
15
feature
eACh BOx INClUDes A seT OF FOUr BrAND NeW CArDs that lay bare all the must-know facts about four different alcohols. For instance, did you know… that the cider apples used in making Normandy’s famous apple brandy, Calvados, originally came from the Biscay region in the 13th century… legend has it that one of sicily’s best known exports, Marsala wine, was really a British invention… That the secret of Hendrick’s Gin lies in the blending of two strikingly
PrOvENANCE CArDs
The spirits, liqueurs and fortified wines that we all know and enjoy more often than not have fascinating stories attached to them. And that is exactly what our Provenance Cards that accompany every Fortified Selection are all about.
different gins made using two extremely rare stills… And that Chambord liqueur was inspired by a wild raspberry liqueur enjoyed by king louis xIv on a visit to Château de Chambord in 1685…?
All of these facts and much, much more have already been revealed in past Provenance Cards. And with the next Fortified Selection being readied for despatch in september, there are four more fascinating cards to discover – Cointreau, Grey Goose Vodka, Pimm’s and St Remy Brandy.
so if you’d like to know who created Cointreau, what makes Grey Goose different, why Pimm’s was invented and where St Remy is made, then don’t
miss the next Fortified Selection!
PIMMsst rEMYGrEY GOOsECOINTrEAU
hotelchocolat.co.uk Tel: 08444 93 13 13
Cool, Cool, SUMMER
Bright and sunny summer chocolates to make everyone’s day – with zippy fruit recipes, melt-away pralines,
