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Hello Chocolate Life Gang,I am looking for a another place to store one ton of chocolate couverture in South East Westchester County (Pelham, New Rochelle, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, Port Chester.)Of course temperature/moisture (lack of) conditions need to be right.Any locations, thoughts, etc. are appreciated.Thanks!,John.Rossini@TravelChocolate.com

..to design a couple of simple chocolates. In the meantime, I also managed to taste some covourture milk chocolate (hope I spelled it right) for the first time. The difference in taste between it and compound is remarkable. I can now never buy or eat any other chocolate, cadbury especially. Absolute bliss...

Okay, it's 102 degrees out in southern California and I'm melting. So what do you do with a chunky bar of dark chocolate? I like to stick it in the fridge just long enough to get firm...or if I really want it crunchy hard it'll go in the freezer for a bit.I'd skip the drinking hot tea with it, though. And I actually find that hard to do without. So what could be a better substitute? How about Thai iced tea or iced coffee?Course those drinks are a bit on the sweet side for my taste, but they're a nice contrast and complement to the bitter dark I go for.One can never be too rich or too poor to go without chocolate. Even on a hot day. Money is no object when it comes to this necessity...or obsession, as others would put it. heheh...

Aloha chocolate ohana,Garden Island Chocolate was recently in the annual Hawaii Healing Garden Festival on Kauai, we won best dessert and the people's choice award for best local food item, a coconut butter truffle. We just started making our own fresh coconut butter and it is amazing, very very rich, creamy and extremely decadent.we even got some press from the local newspaper...http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2009/08/23/news/kauai_news/doc4a90f9fc3c645842377532.txt#rate

Founded in 1800, Debauve & Gallais is the oldest chocolatier in Paris. Sulpice Debauve, a pharmacist by training, opened the boutique after the Revolution and gradually built a reputation across the continent for exquisite chocolates. By 1818, he was appointed King Louis XVIIIs chocolate supplier, and then Charles Xs and then Louis Philippes. And now me.Its a beautiful old shop, which had me worried that the chocolates, too, were going to taste outdated. Silly girl. The half moon counter is a genius way of displaying all the bonbons, bouches and tablettesyoure practically surrounded by chocolate, and its just a matter of closing your eyes, pointing your finger and discovering which rich treat youre going home with. I kept my eyes open, indecisively (as always) going back and forth, back and forth. I couldnt decide if I wanted milk or dark chocolate, something filled with Cointreau or Calvados, covered in nuts or dusted with cocoa Sensing my panic, the patient dame behind the counter steered me towards the almond pralin, for which Ill forever be grateful. This pralin heart is one of the best sweets Ive had in a long time. Creamy, nutty and rich, not to mention generously proportioned, it gave me 1, 2, 3, 4. I dragged it out to 12 bites of blissful pleasure. It was the kind of treat that made me really savor each mouthfulsomething I couldnt imagine King Louis doing after all his years of exile.30 rue des Saints-Pers7eme

Hi, I'm new here at the Chocolate Life. Just wondering how home chefs/chocolatiers store their couverture? I know it has to be stored at around 50-62 degrees Fahrenheit, I guess a wine cooler or cellar is my best bet. Does anyone have a wine cooler they use to store couverture or chocolate at home that they can recommend? Something not too huge or too tiny. Thanks!

I have been looking for the good chocolate schoolaround world that i can go and learn about basic knowlege of chocolate and leran how to making chocolate ,chocolate drink,etc... But it is very diffcult for me to looking for it , I am not in good english , I am really hope any friend can give me advise that where i can go for my short study like 3 months , I am expecting that i can meet good teacher from (The chocolate Life ) who can arranging my short term of study in his place. I will be most appreciated for it !Please kindly let me know if you are interesting or any information.God Blessing you !David Park

Oolong tea from Taiwan infused milk chocolate from Belgium. Dark chocolate from Venezuela drank up black tea from Ceylon. And Napa Valley red wine seeped into organic chocolate from Hawaii. Such exotic flavor and terroir matchups were among the many found at the 55th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City in June. What inspired these new combinations? Large amounts of flavonols, the antioxidant-powered chemicals that occur naturally in wine, tea and chocolate. Industry watchers predict that health benefits, flavor infusions and global influences will drive a chocolate explosion through 2014. A record number of new chocolate products launched at this trade show reflects an overall increase of 76% since 2006. This means more tasty twists than ever can be found at your gourmet chocolate counter.When we launched Box of Bubbly last year, we were surprised by its instant success, says Ed Engoron, owner and head chocolatier of Choclatique, an online boutique in Los Angeles, about his line of champagne truffles ($20 for a box of eight.) We had to work for the balance that allows you to experience a hint of effervescence. Choclatiques new Napa Valley Collection features fruity reds and bittersweet darks. The chocolate, sourced from beans around the world and refined in its Los Angeles studio, encases a chocolate ganache infused with red wines carefully chosen from the grape-growing region of Californias Napa Valley. We wanted to introduce something special for the crush season of our favorite wines, says Joan Vieweger, Choclatiques co-owner and marketing specialist.Wine Lover's Chocolate Collection, from Bridge Brands in San Francisco, is a selection of dark chocolates to pair with wine, a way for people to experience the subtleties of wine and chocolate together without a lot of guesswork, says the companys website. In the heart of Napa Valley, Anette's Chocolate Factory offers Winter Cabernet Truffle Bar and Merlot Fudge Sauce among its many wine-inspired confections.Studies from medical institutions (Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins among them) confirm that wine, tea and chocolate contribute to heart health, and sales for each have shot up. Good news drives sales, sales drives marketing, and marketing supports new products. Chocolate generates an estimated $80 billion per year for international companies such as Cadbury, Cargill, Nestl, Hersheys and Mars, with dark chocolate sales increasing 49% between 2003 and 2006.Tea, a complex, storied and antioxidant-laden alkaloid, figures in more chocolate bars than ever before. Chicago-based Vosges Haut Chocolat, long a leader in the flavored chocolates trend, now offers an Earl Grey tea and sweet dark chocolate bar. Theo from Portland, Ore., has a chai tea dark chocolate bar. In a further twist, tea makers and vintners are putting chocolate into their drinks, no easy feat given chocolates high fat content (about 50%) and the inherent difficulty in emulsifying with liquids.All this brewing and crazy chemistry result in products ranging from the sublime to the silly. One chocolate drop I tasted gave me such a mouthful of raw green tea powder that I had to delicately remove it and desperately splash down the residue at a nearby passion fruit juice stand. (My palate thanks you, Ceres Fruit Juices!) One confectioner described a product as cabernet-flavored pectin jelly drenched in chocolate, which hints at neither deliciousness nor healthfulness, and tasted like a grape gummy bear dipped in reluctant chocolate.But even in this melee of fusion and confusion, quality products emerge. Harney & Sons, purveyors of fine tea in upstate New York, created a chocolate mint tea that hits the best notes of both. The Tea Room, another chocolate specialist from Californias Napa Valley, won a silver Sofi Award, the Fancy Food Shows award for excellence, for its Green Earl Grey Dark Chocolate bar.Despite the grim economy, the Fancy Food Show drew a record crowd of more than 24,000 buyers and specialty food industry professionals from around the world. Chocolate is a robust category, says Louise Kramer of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, which produces the Fancy Food Show. While not recession-proof, gourmet chocolate is considered an affordable luxury, and many companies continue to post gains. Attendance at the show was up 4 percent from last year and higher than at any Fancy Food Show in the past decade.VISIT THE NEW SITE "ZESTER DAILY" AT WWW.ZESTERDAILY.COM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CULTURE OF WINE AND FOOD.

A good friend sent me the following note that I thought worth sharing: "Never again will I buy decorations for my all girl chocolate martini parties! I was thrilled to find this chocolate ruffle making tool by Albert Uster Imports. I was going to be hosting one of my infamous soirees and really wanted to try my hand at making decorations because it adds more of a personal touch. I usually have pre-made decorations on hand, but they always seemed a little impersonal to me. So I went ahead and did a quick search and found the Professional Swiss Ruffle Maker La Girolle on their online store, along with one of the chocolate ruffle rolls . I wasnt sure how difficult it would be to actually make these decorations, and was a little apprehensive when I saw that the item shipped!Interestingly, in the meantime, I did a little research on this wacky wheel and discovered that the Girolle was originally used for cheese. The Girolle was conceived to simplify the scratching of the Swiss cheese in form of beautiful "rosettes," also called "Girolles". Since its invention in 1982 by Nicolas Crevoisier of Swiss Jura, more than 2 million users in households and restaurants have been enjoying the authentic method of how to create these amazing shapes with cheese. Imagine the brilliant person who parlayed this into chocolate!I was able to create 100 unique and innovative decoration creations with one roll. They were a total hit with the gals. They looked absolutely fabulous my brand new martini glasses and tasted heavenly. I have to admit I went a little overboard with the chocolate-eating that night. I even got some of my sisters to try working the Girolle, and they loved it. It was easy and fun to operate! Plus, the chocolate roll which I purchased, the white and milk chocolate marbeled one, looked as good as it tasted. They do have a total of 8 rolls, some marbeled, some solid and one with a spherical design on the inside in all different flavors. The picture included is from their website, showing how it works on the wheell, and that is exactly how it worked at home. One decoration took me about 5 seconds to make and it looked gorgeous. How to make the ruffles from the roll, you might ask yourself ?I am going to play with more ideas as I keep using the rolls, and get back to you with anything new that I learn. It felt good to be able to actually use a professional chefs tool at home and have the results be fantastic.They have La Girolle on sale right now, marked down from $81.84 to $49.00, which was a good deal for me."So have you used a La Grirolle to make decorative ruffles? If so, let us know your reaction to this piece.You can see an action series demonstrating the use of this wild tool by clicking here .Best,John

Acuturally i do not have any experience in chocolate but i like chocolate , Chocolate already been part of my life, So i am just asking myself that why don't make a good chocolate shop in china while china chocolate market is going to more demand since chinese getting accept chocolate ,and they would like to buy chocolate as gift to send their friend ,parents etc .. Running a shop is not eazy and need to plan well before u open, I am happy to met chocolate life which i benifit from this website alot , Here i really would like to give my best wishes to The Chocolate Life. Thanks alot for your service.I will really appreciated if i can get one partner who can plan and exchange idea each other and he/she also interesting in do chocolate buiness in china , i am would like to open few chocolate shop in few differrents city in china . I hope i will meet right person soon.God blessing u all.David park