To All Members of TheChocolateLife:

I was thinking this morning about the ways in which the ChocolateLife community might be able to aid in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. And not just aid ChocolateLife members who make their livings making chocolate, but also people whose lives have been been tossed upside down and inside out who are in need of assistance.

After all, I know that there are ChocolateLife members up and down the East Coast that were within the path of the storm and many of them had to be affected one way or another - and right during the busiest time of the year. While I was not too terribly affected by Sandy, many people in my community were: I am right on Long Island Sound near the New York/Connecticut border. I have neighbors and friends who have suffered damage and bodily harm and who are still without power and other basic services.

I was happy, then, to be contacted by Renee Rohrbach and Ricky Sanders of Madison West Chocolatiers, in New Jersey, who let me know that they have started an on-line fundraiser (don't forget to "like" this page if you have a Facebook account) and they will donate all of the proceeds from sales to two beneficiaries near them in New Jersey: The Salvation Army and to a local fiery food producer (Ed Buchholtz of Born to Hula Hot Sauce) who suffered significant damage to home and business in the storm. Renee let me know that they did not survive the hurricane unscathed, but want to do something to help.

Here's how it works:

1) Go to the Madison West Chocolatiers Facebook store on or before November 16th.

2) Purchase any one or more of the following three items at the wholesale price ( the listed price is the wholesale price and each of the bars serves 6-10 people, usually) on or before November 16th for delivery by Thanksgiving:

-- Pumpkin Spice Bar
-- Raspberry Truffle Bar
-- Shooting Star Bar (ganache is made with a hybrid Ghost/Scorpion pepper - very hot!)

There is no direct link to each product on the catalog page. Scroll down to the bottom of the store where the items are listed, or search using your browser's in-page text search feature.

3) 95% of the proceeds of each sale (which Renee tells me is the difference between cost of manufacture and wholesale price) will be donated to the designated recipients . The proceeds from the Pumpkin Spice and Raspberry bars will go to the Salvation Army and the proceeds from the Shooting Star bar will go to Ed Bucholtz.

4) Tweet the following link to this page, along with your own message using the #chocolate hashtag and @DiscoverChoc handle to spread the message far and wide: http://goo.gl/7qEtn

Note) Purchases do not count as tax-deductible contributions.

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO

A) If you, or someone you know, is offering a chocolate-related Hurricane Sandy relief special, please add the details as a comment to this page. (That's why I want you to tweet the link to this page, so people can be informed of special offers members of the chocolate community, not just the ChocolateLife community, are making to aid Sandy relief efforts.

B) Don't just buy for yourself, buy early holiday gifts for friends and family.

C) Add Hurricane Sandy chocolate to your Thanksgiving menu and reflect on the gift of chocolate and the gift of community on Thanksgiving day.

Thank you all,
:: Clay

Check out the album of photos .

Traveling to Amsterdam

I have only ever been to the airport in Amsterdam before - Schipol - changing planes 'twixt here and there. So I was looking forward to spending a few days to learn and explore.

I know why I took the early train from London (8:05am out of St Pancras) - cost. The next train was more than double the price, even though the Brussels/Amsterdam leg was a local train. Taking the express from Brussels cut an hour off the travel time at a cost of more than 100 Euros more. And, at an exchange rate of US$1.45 to 1.00 - it adds up quickly.

I like to take trains in Europe to see the countryside, and the views from my seat between Brussels and Amsterdam did not disappoint. Canals, canal boats, windmills, carefully tended fields, all fit my idea of what the country would look like. Even the tram ride from the station to the hotel looked like I imagined it should.

A good thing I got to sightsee when I did, because that was basically all I got to see of Amsterdam - the rest of the time was spent in the hotel, at the venue located right next door to the hotel, or in-between, dodging rain drops.

I did get to do a little socializing with new Amsterdam friends Leslie and Erik Spande, owners of a local chocolate shop specializing in fine chocolate brands including many craft bar brands from the US. Erik and I share a connection to Portland, OR and craft beers as well as to chocolate, so we got along famously, and he met me in my hotel and we walked over to a local craft brewery (see the photo album) where we tried three of the excellent brews. Along the way we were joined by Erik's wife Leslie before heading out to a tapas restaurant - Pata Negra - right across from the hotel for a number of small plates and a pitcher of surprisingly good Sangria. I could not indulge too much or stay out too late as I learned I had been scheduled for an early morning video interview. So, I did not go out to explore the infamous Amsterdam nightlife.

The Conference

The conference was organized in an unusual way, over the course of two days. The first day was open to chocolate professionals and the second day was open to the general public. There was a small number of tabletop exhibitors sampling and selling products, and an identical conference speaker program twice each day. One program ran from 1pm to 5pm, the other program ran from 7pm to 11pm. There were four pairs of speakers in each of two rooms. In the first half of the section I was in, Sepp Schnbchler, the head of R&D for Felchlin and Philipp Kaufmann of Original Beans spoke. The second half of the section saw me paired with Mott Green of the Grenada Chocolate Company. Other speakers in other sections included Santiago Peralta (Pacari), Bertil Akesson (Akesson's Organics), Maricel Presilla, and Martin Christy (seventypercent.com), plus two others from the local chocolate community and the host organization, the Tropical Institute.

From a participant perspective, I can see how this arrangement works, especially adding a discrete evening session after the work day. This is a very young conference (this is the second year), and this (Amsterdam) is a location with a very passionate and concerned audience interested in learning about fine foods and chocolate - and is a city that has a long historical connection with cacao in a country that is the still the largest processor of cacao (grindings). From a speaker perspective, it was not as interesting as it could have been and I would have appreciated the opportunity to hear some of the other presenters. That said, however, there is value in seeing the same presentation over and over as the presenter is forced to make it new and interesting each time for themselves.Listening to several of the speakers crystallized in me a new writing project idea, which I am still working on outlining. As it becomes clearer in my head and closer to happening, I will let everyone know.

And each time the speakers revealed something different, and responded to different questions, so I learned something new each time I sat through each presentation.I know I was forced to alter my presentation slightly each time I gave it, to make it new and interesting for me each time. My presentation was a 30-minute version of the talk I gave earlier this year to the Experimental Cuisine Collective in NYC, How Chocolate Gets Its Taste . That talk was originally 90 minutes, so cutting it down to 30 while still presenting the essence was a challenge. By the time I gave it the fourth time I felt extremely comfortable with it. I did have another agenda for giving the talk as I am working on turning it into an eBook that I hope to have available for sale by the end of the year or in early 2013 at the latest.

Given the conference schedule and ancillary responsibilities (interviews), the days were very long and exhausting. I very much appreciated being asked to participate and I hope to be asked back next year. Not content to rest (on my laurels or anything), after the program ended on Wednesday, I assisted the Vercruysses in loading out and traveled with them to Kortrijk, where they live and where there shop is. I would be spending the night (or, more correctly, what was left of it), then catching a train to Brussels the next morning to visit Pierre Marcolini and Laurent Gerbaud.

Here's to Living The Chocolate Life,
:: Clay

PS.I did have an idea for chocolate tourism in Holland and Belgium that I look to be partnering up in, so stay tuned for that!

Check out the photo album from the weekend. [ Note: I am working on a new approach to blogging, which is to put all the photos in an album and to write detailed notes for each photo. Blog entries cover topics not shown in the photos. ]

Featuring well over 50 exhibitors this year from all over the world and representing a wide variety of styles of chocolate and confectionery, Chocolate Unwrapped is the ultimate event on the Chocolate Week calendar each year.

Chocolate Week itself this year comprised over 350 different events that took place all over the UK, making it the most extensive and inclusive chocolate festival in the world. Rather than focusing on getting a small number of exhibitors into a hall and charging people for the privilege of tasting, Chocolate Week showcases the variety of work being done in chocolate in the UK - in their places of business - making it unique among chocolate festivals.

In addition to featuring over 50 exhibitors, there are both demo and tasting programs, and I was in London not only to speak to the Academy of Chocolate on Friday but to give a presentation in the tasting room on Sunday.

Admission to Chocolate Unwrapped is a modest 10 with a widely available discount coupon, ensuring a steady stream of visitors that - fortunately - did not at any time feel overwhelming. The location, the new home of the London Film Museum, is right around the corner from Covent Garden and a short walk from the Savoy Hotel.

One of the things that impressed me about Chocolate Unwrapped - which has matured immensely from it's start in 2008 - is its diversity an inclusiveness. There are chocolatiers and chocolate makers from all over Europe and beyond not just the UK and they range from established mainstream companies (both national and international) to small startups. This year included a trio of companies from Italy, one from Spain, two from the Caribbean, one from Denmark, one from Nigeria, one from Madagascar, and even one from the US and the speaker roster in the demo and tasting program is also diverse.

What's also amazing is the quality brands that are attracted with stand that are not just managed by sales staff but by the chocolatiers and confectioners themselves. So not only is there the opportunity to sample and purchase chocolate, but also to talk directly to the people who make what you're tasting, gaining some pretty deep insight into the passion that drives them to do what they do.

I have said before that I think London has the most dynamic chocolate scene on the planet: it certainly overshadows anything New York has to offer. I was impressed with what I saw at the NW Chocolate Festival and I think that the show might grow to rival Chocolate Unwrapped eventually , especially because of its focus on putting together an extensive and very high-quality educational program. But Seattle does not have easy access to the broad spectrum of producers that London has.

I think, in part, that Chocolate Week has played an important part of this perception of the London chocolate scene, along with the commitment of some key companies and people, which include members of the Academy of Chocolate.

I definitely enjoyed my four days here in London and the two days at Chocolate Unwrapped, and on one hand I will be sad to leave in the morning, though I am very much looking forward to traveling to Amsterdam tomorrow - my first time there - and participating in the Origin Chocolate conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. Many of the people I spent time with here in London will be in Amsterdam (and at least three of them were in Seattle, too!), and I am looking forward to meeting in person people I have known of for some time but have never met in person.

My next blog entry will be from Amsterdam. My luggage is getting heavier, not lighter, each day. I now have about 2.5 kilos more chocolate than I started out my trip with.

Friday dawned just as many days do in London, chill and damp.

Still, I am in London where it is warmer than New York, and by the time I make my way from the Sloane Square tube stop to Piccadilly and make my way to the Royal Automobile Club (venue for the Second Academy of Chocolate conference) the sun is shining and I am very much looking forward to the day even though I was too rushed to have coffee before leaving my hotel

The first thing you'll notice when walking into the RAC is that it's not like walking into a AAA office in the States! There is history here and the building shows this history in a very British way. Not only that, but we were informed the previous night that proper attire (jacket and tie, no sneakers) would be required in order to gain entry. I wavered at the last minute about bringing a tie and ended up not bringing one. In the end, however, it turned out to be a non-issue and I was admitted without being questioned about my attire.

There is no equivalent to the Academy of Chocolate in the US. The AoC is a small non-profit organization founded with the mission of promoting fine chocolate. And it has a patron, Michel Roux, OBE.

The conference was well attended - I estimate that there were over 100 people in the room, including a large number of students. Attendance was international, drawing people from Europe, the US, Caribbean, and Central and South America. What excited me most was the company I was in. Tony Lass and Robin Dand were on the panel starting the day off, the speaker roster did not diminish in quality as the day went on, and there were notable attendees who were not speakers. The group at my table included Duffy Sheardown (of Duffy's Chocolate) and Chantal Coady, founder of Rococo.

Issues Facing the Industry

The first session was on the topic of issues facing the industry, and featured Robin Dand and Tony Lass (representing the International Cocoa Initiative), with Freek van der Knaap of Barry Callebaut. The session set a framework for the rest of the day.

As the author of The International Cocoa Trade , Robin talked about the divide between the producer (who for the most part does not consume chocolate) and the consumer (who does not produce chocolate), as well as the market mechanisms underlying pricing, in particularly the difference between the formal market (which encompasses most of the bulk cocoa and is the basis of the commodity price) and informal market (which encompasses all direct trade, is private, and for which the participants, prices, and volumes are not known). I have a copy of the first edition of Dand's book, and I found his presentation to provide some insight into areas that I still had an incomplete understanding of, particularly how and where prices get set.

Tony Lass then followed by presenting an official Powerpoint produced by ICI on the subject of child labor and forced labor in West Africa, which he prefaced in a way that suggested that he did not agree with all of what was contained in the presentation. It was a very diplomatic presentation which included one of the best and most nuanced discussions of what constitutes child labor and what does not that I have heard. There is a tendency to focus on the most sensationalist aspects of child labor in cocoa, ignoring the fact that the problem is not solely found in the cocoa and chocolate industries. While any form of forced and dangerous labor is a bad thing, the underlying causes are not as simplistic as many would make them out to be, and the solutions are even more complex ... and not limited to cocoa and chocolate. The industry has a hand in perpetuating the problem by not addressing it in a meaningful way, but they can only be a partner in the solution, not the sole cause or cure.

Frank van der Kneep then followed with a presentation on key market drivers and trends, including some news about Barry Callebaut's efforts in creating high-flavanol chocolate and getting EFSA (European Food Safety Agency) approval to make a health benefit claim for same. Certainly, the health benefits of cacao and chocolate are key drivers and trends for chocolate makers and consumers, but I don't know that it's an issue of the same import as child labor.

Cocoa, Cocoa Genetics, and Cocoa Growing

The second panel was on the topics of cocoa genetics and cocoa growing, and featured Craig Sams (founder of Green and Black's), Frank Homann (founder of Xoco), and Santiago Peralta (founder of Pacari). Craig did not speak about cocoa genetics directly, but about the history of Green and Black's, about some of the chemical composition of cocoa, and about compounds called vallinoids, which are found in chocolate and play a role in our perception of chocolate (and other) flavors. Frank Homann talked about Xoco's work in identifying, propagating, and processing interesting strains of "heirloom" beans. The main points of the talk were that science has not identified the genes or gene complexes associated with flavor, and that even minor variations in cacao phenotypes (the visual characteristics of a pod, for example) can signal huge differences in chemical makeup which would lead to very different post-harvest processing requirements. The corollary is that when a fermentation pile includes a broad mix of pod phenotypes, sub-optimal fermentation for the majority of means will occur. Santiago Peralta talked about Pacari's work in Ecuador, most specifically about their experiences with biodynamic farming, which has resulted in dramatic increases in production and yield as well as improvements in the flavor of the beans being grown. There was also group discussion about the influences of the environmental aspects of terroir on taste, with surprising disagreement among the panel about the contribution of terroir to taste.

Traceability

After a break to fortify ourselves with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, the next panel tackled the issue of traceability in the supply chain. Panelists were Tony Lass, Bertil Akesson (Akesson's), and Mott Green (Grenada Chocolate Company). Tony's presentation covered the complexities of the modern supply chain for large multinational companies, as well as revealing some absurdities that exist that are not well known. For example, in Ghana, the cocoa board has a system in place for identifying the specific origin (down to the farm) of beans that includes sealing sacks under the watch of an examiner and uniquely identifying each sack, a process that buyers pay for. However, at the port, the bags are opened and commingled in containers of multiple tons thereby losing their traceability to the farm. Mott Green operates what might be the shortest supply chain in the world, operating a chocolate company in-country where the growers contribute beans to the cooperative, are paid for the beans, and receive a share in the profits of the sale of the chocolate made from those beans. GCC's 2012 Fair Transport experience shortened the supply chain to the consumer by delivering finished chocolate, by sailboat, directly to GCC's distributor in London, and every bar on that boat was identified with a sticker so that consumers can immediately identify those products. Bertil straddles the middle ground, as a plantation owner (in the lower Sambirano valley in Madagascar) who sells beans to many fine chocolate makers as well as having chocolate made for his own brand by Pralus. For fine chocolate makers, a purchase through Akesson means they have a short, traceable, supply chain because of the lack of intermediaries who might adulterate the supply.

Sensory Session and Tasting

The panel on tasting was moderated by Sarah Jane Evans (one of the very small number of people who hold the Master of Wine certification) and including Damian Allsop, William Curley, and Claire Clarke. A plate of four different chocolates was set at each table - all made with beans from Madagascar. The format was for everyone in the room to taste one of the chocolates, with the panelists providing their impressions followed by feedback from the room. The four chocolates cames from Cluizel, Valrhona (Manjari), Felchlin, and Amedei. Not surprisingly, all were complete different and some did not have the "typical" profile of Madagascan beans. (Bertil expanded on the genetics/terroir discussion from the earlier panel saying that there were major differences in taste - from the same rough genotypes - between beans grown in the upper Sambirano Valley and beans grown in the lower Sambirano Valley, in his experience, which accounts for part of the difference in taste -- beans from the lower Sambirano Valley exhibit more of the bright citrus/tropical fruit acidity typically associated with Madagascan beans.) For me, Damian Allsop's description of the Manjari was most evocative, speaking to his deep familiarity with the chocolate. For other chocolates that he was not as familiar with, the length and detail in the description paled in comparison. It's quite interesting the role memory plays in our perception - and articulation - of a chocolate (or indeed any other food or beverage).

The end of this panel signaled time for lunch, also a time to mingle and network.

Growing Pains: Scaling Up

The first panel after lunch was composed of a quintet of confectioners, Amelia Rope, Claire Burnet, Paul A Young, Claire Gallagher, and Angus Thirwell, on the topic of growing pains and scaling up. This panel ended up talking more about the core elements of brand identity of each company and how they contribute to the kinds of decisions that need to get made as growth occurs and less about specifics of scaling. All of the panelists agreed that money, space, and staffing issues are key to managing growth successfully, and that the particulars of location and other factors will influence the problems that crop up as well as the solutions to those problems.

The Future of The Chocolate Market

The topic for the final panel of the day was the future of the chocolate market. Moderated by Chantal Coady, the panel consisted of Chloe Doutre-Roussel, Yolande Stanley (an educator at Westminster Kingsway college), and myself. Chantal started off by providing a framework for thinking about the future. Chloe's topic was Brasil, and she covered the recent history of Brasil (it's change from being a major producer in the 1980s to just beginning to recover now, 30 years later) as well painting a picture of the current cacao culture in Brasil, which might be one of the most dynamic in the world. There is a great deal of work on the farm level (much of it done by people who are losing money on the cocoa and are being supported by other business interests), as well as in the design and manufacturing of small-scale machinery, and a can-do attitude towards improving production. While not at former levels, Brasil is now one of the top five producers in the world, and determined to grow. Yolande Stanley talked about education, and more specifically the program at Westminster Kingsway, working to train the next generation of chocolatiers and pastry chefs. In addition to having a formal program working in chocolate (and not just working with chocolate as a part of pastry, which is more common), they are also installing a bean-to-bar chocolate lab and will be teaching the processes involved to interested students as a foundation for their more conventional course of study in chocolate. This is a move I think other programs should follow, as knowledge of ingredients is key to using them. Working only with finished chocolate actually does pastry and baking students a disservice and does not treat the ingredient with the same level of interest as, say, flour, eggs, or many dairy ingredients.

I was in the enviable position of being the last speaker of the day, with the topic, "The future of chocolate on a global scale" (no small topic). I worried about this topic a lot in the week running up to the conference, and made a series of sets of talking points with which to deliver my talk. When I realized I was going last, I stuffed my notes in my bag and concentrated on what the rest of the presenters had to say, determined to create a closing narrative that tied together key points made throughout the day by the other speakers, followed by a call to action to the participants.

Robin Dand started out the day by talking about the two worlds of producers and consumers. I extended that analogy to other gourmet foods; that the divide between the two worlds was a result, in part, of the physical distance separating them. In most other gourmet foods, the finished product is made within a few miles of where the major ingredient is grown, whereas most fine chocolate is made thousands of miles away from where the cacao is grown. By extension, the concept of terroir must be extended to include post-harvest processing techniques unique to each producing region.

The second point I made was to talk about the fundamental conflict of interest that public corporations have. Their primary purpose is to maximize shareholder return. One way to do that is to make sure that raw materials prices are as low as possible. Thus the chocolate and cocoa industry is not truly interested in helping farmers as that would increase the cost of raw materials. They use NGOs cynically to show that they are addressing the problem (i.e., making consumers pay to "fix" the problem they created and perpetuate) while at the same time engaging in practices that ensure that no substantive changes occur.

The third point I made is that the pricing dynamics of chocolate are different from other gourmet foods, in part because chocolate does not improve with age, there is no collector market for chocolate, and that chocolate is too cheap, on average, to support "serious" education and criticism by people who can earn a good living solely by educating people about chocolate and rating and reviewing chocolate like wine, beer, and other gourmet foods.

After making these observations, I issued a series of calls to action to the group, challenging us to actually do something when we left the room and not let the energy dissipate. In other words, how was the information shared during the course of the day going to be used to effect change in the cocoa and chocolate markets.

The first call to action was to work on expanding the PDO (protected designation of origin) system (aka, AOC, DOC) to cacao. Every cocoa producing country should develop a working system of naming to identify growing areas and protecting the use of those names. At the moment, there are only a small handful of protected names, the most famous of which is Chuao.

The second call to action was the creation of a formal training program in chocolate connoisseurship and education, perhaps not as extensive as a Master of Wine, but leading to an internationally-recognized certificate. This should be accompanied by a standard chocolate judging protocol for competitions. In order to support the certification process I pointed out that it was not useful unless it also conferred an economic benefit (that is, people could make money by earning one). I used the metaphor of the $100 bar of chocolate to try to get this across. One of the reasons why there are Masters of Wine is that there are $5000 bottles of wine. If all there was was jug Chablis and $3 bottles there would be no economic need for sommeliers. However, because there are very expensive wines, there is the need for people to understand and educate people about them. Chocolate won't be able to support a generation of professional "chocolate sommeliers" until there are very expensive chocolates that are not novelties.

Finally, I suggested that there is a need to adopt a working definition of sustainability. What does "sustainable cocoa" actually mean? Over the past year I have been trying to articulate one and presented my thinking to the group, a definition with three pillars:

Environmental sustainability means that the trees, and their supporting and dependent ecosystems will be around in 100 years.

Economic sustainability means that there will be people who see cocoa farming as a viable way to make a living and support their families in 100 years.

Social sustainability means that the communities in which the farmers live will be around, viable, and dynamic 100 years from now.

Underlying the above three points - and this is a point that was made in the movie Nothing Like Chocolate about Mott Green and the Grenada Chocolate Company is there has be a sense of fairness, equity, and balance in the system. The farmer, the chocolate maker, and the chocolate consumer must all feel that they are being treated fairly and that one partner in the chain is not taking unfair advantage of them. If there is inequity in the system, it cannot be truly sustainable.

Direct Cocoa

Afterwards, a small group of us went to a nearby pub for a drink before attending an event announcing the launch of a new initiative, Direct Cacao, which seeks to create an alternative to existing fairtrade systems for cocoa and chocolate. It's not exactly clear to me, yet, how this is going to be achieved - and it's something I have been working on for over a year now under the name CocoaAssure. I hope to get a chance to talk at length with Direct Cocoa co-founder Martin Christy of seventypercent.com while we are together in Amsterdam next week. Right now he's busy with Chocolate Unwrapped over the weekend.

Chocolate Unwrapped

I am going to Chocolate Unwrapped tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday - and will be giving a presentation (tasting) on Sunday. The next blog (which will include pictures) will be after I get back from Chocolate Unwrapped. I may not finish it in London but will on the train to Amsterdam, in which case it will get posted Monday evening.

London.

Believe it or not, London is probably the most dynamic city on the planet for chocolate It's hard to overstate just how much creativity and interesting work is going on here.

My plane arrived about 15 minutes ahead of schedule and the best thing that can be said for the flight was that it was uneventful. The only downside is arriving at a sleepy 7:30 am (2:30 am New York time). I sailed through immigration, customs, and baggage claim, and found my way to the Underground - Piccaddilly line to Earl's Court and transfer to the District Line for Sloane Square. I am staying at the Sloane Club, a charming private club with rooms in a very comfortable single en-suite.

Fortunately the room was ready when I arrived so I was able to relax into the typical early fall London day - overcast, chilly, and intermittent rain ranging from a light drizzle to a persistent nuisance.

My schedule today includes two activities a crossover tasting event for London Cocktail Week - Choc Tales - and London Chocolate Week and a dinner for the speakers at tomorrow's Academy of Chocolate Meeting.

It's raining rather heavily as I head out to the former of the two events, on Dean Street in Soho. (Note to self and others in London odd and even numbers can be on the same side of the street. 68 Dean is across from 48 Dean. I got quite wet discovering this fact and locating the event.)

Choc Tales featured five confectioners (Rococo/Grenada Chocolate, Artisan du Chocolate, William Curley, Damian Alsop, and Paul A Young) paired with five spirits (Ron Santa Teresa; Aperol, Johnny Walker, Martin Miller's Gin, and AquaRiva Tequila). Noted London mixologist, Felix Cohen/Manhattan Projects created a cocktail for most of the spirits, paired with the chocolates.

Rococo's offering was a rum-scented ganache made with dark Grenadan chocolate paired with a warm buttered rum made with the Santa Teresa aejo, apple cider, treacle, butter, and spices. Paul A Young offered a chocolate bar with grated parmesan inclusion (as the salty/savory/sweet accompaniment) to a disarmingly straightforward margarita made with AquaRiva tequila. Also notable was the combination of Aperol and Prosecco (which made me think about taking it up one more level to make a sparkling Negroni).

For me the event was not just a chance to catch up with friends - Maricel Presilla, Martin Christy, Santiago Peralta, Bertil Akesson, Kate Johns, and more - but also a chance to finally meet in person people whose names I have come to know very well, William Curley and Damian Alsop. (I told you in my last post that I was going to name drop shamelessly.) Though the chocolate world seems very small at times, the Atlantic is a not-inconsequential hindrance to international relations.

After Choc Tales, and around the corner from Dean St at Kettner's Restaurant, it was time to meet some of the other speakers at the Academy of Chocolate conference tomorrow.

After a short time to mingle I had the great pleasure to sit at the same table as Robin Dand (author of the book, The International Cocoa Trade) and Tony Lass along with Bertil Akesson and Sara Jayne Stanes of the Academy.

It's now about 1:30 London time (only 8:30 NY time) but it's been a very long day. Tomorrow morning it's off early to take part of the annual conference of the Academy of Chocolate. I will check back tomorrow, after the day's activities.

I am writing this in the chocolate factory I have been helping to build for Fine & Raw Chocolate. I am getting ready to leave for London - I leave for the airport in less than six hours. There is still much to do and I am going away for two weeks at a critical juncture. Sigh. Construction projects do tend to stretch, but this has taken longer than even a stretch schedule.

It's less than four hours before I head to the airport and my Heritage Radio Network program streams live at 3pm. Crunch time.

The basic itinerary has not changed.

I will be in London for four days, speaking at the Academy of Chocolate meeting on Friday and giving a presentation at Chocolate Unwrapped on Sunday. There is very little downtime with events (already) scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.

On Monday morning I head to Amsterdam to speak at the Origin Chocolate conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the conference is over I am heading to Kortrijk with ChocolateLife member Geert Vercruysse before heading to Brussels, where on Thursday I will be getting a guided tour of Pierre Marcolini's workshop, given my Mr Marcolini.

On Friday it's off to Turin where I will be visiting Domori, and then spending Saturday in Turin doing some chocolate sightseeing - the must-stop destination is the master of gianduja, Guido Gubino.

On Sunday it's off to Milan where I will be spending all day Monday and Tuesday at FBM getting training on their machines and troubleshooting some chocolate tempering challenges. I return to NYC on Wednesday the 24th.

I do plan to be blogging every day of the trip and you will find those reports here in the blog section of TheChocolateLife. Photos, first-hand anecdotes, shameless name dropping (!) and more will be posted, along with tasting notes and impressions.

I would like to thank all of the ChocolateLife members who graciously donated to my trip fund. I really do appreciate your support. I will be bringing chocolate back for you, and probably throw in a few surprises.

Yours in the pursuit of chocolate,
:: Clay

The New York City Craft Beer Festival took place on Saturday, March 3rd, at the Lexington Avenue Armory in Manhattan. Close to 60 craft breweries and cider makers from around the country were pouring over 100 different offerings covering the gamut of beer styles.

I was asked by Jimmy Carbone, owner of Jimmy's #43 and the host of Beer Sessions Radio on the Heritage Radio Network to give two chocolate and beer pairing seminars - one during each of the afternoon and evening sessions - as a part of the educational program that also included Joshua Bernstein, beer sommelier Hayley Jensen, Adam Levy, and Samuel Merritt.

60 breweries gave me a lot to select from - an embarrassment of riches, in fact. After consultation with Jimmy and others, I narrowed the selection down to five beers, all from breweries pouring at the event, each a different style. My goal was to select as many brews as possible that were not being poured in the tasting sessions, and four of the five brews I selected were only served in my pairing programs.

And, because I like to live dangerously ... I had actually tasted just three of the five brews and four of the five chocolates before the day of the festival, and I'd only tried one of the pairings. I was trusting my gut that I could make the rest work as I imagined in my mind.

The five breweries and brews were (in the order they were served):

1) Brooklyn Brewery (NYC) Pennant Ale - (English Pale Ale)
2) Wandering Star (MA) Zingari Witbier
3) Blue Point (LI, NY) RastafaRye
4) Clown Shoes (MA) Muffintop - Belgian Trippel style IPA (India Pale Ale)
5) Firestone Walker (CO) Sucaba - Barleywine aged in bourbon barrels

With these five brews I paired six chocolates (also in the order of service):

1) Valrhona Tanariva (33% milk)
2) Pacari Lemongrass
3) Valrhona Guanaja (66%)
4) Valrhona Caraibe (70%)
5) Ki Xocolatl Oregano and Almond milk
6) Raaka Bourbon

Beer and Chocolate?

Over time, I have come to understand that pairing chocolate with beers is not only easier than pairing with wines, it's also a lot more fun and satisfying. Part of my enjoyment is that the craft beer and fine chocolate audiences have a lot in common. It's a lot more satisfying because "everyone knows" that chocolate and wine go together so introducing them to the nuances of beer with chocolate is a new experience for most of them. It's also easier because chocolate and beer not only share fermentation flavors, but also roast flavors, plus the soft bubble structure of beer complements the texture of chocolate; it does not clash the same way that tannins in wines often clash.

Beers tend not to be vintaged, as most wines are. So when you find a beer you like, chances are that it's not going to change in flavor from year to year as wines can and do. I ran into this recently where I asked for a wine for a pairing and the 2009 that I had always used was no longer available ... the merchant delivered the 2010 vintage and it was not the same wine at all!

Finally, virtually all beers are lower in alcohol than wines. This means you can enjoy more beer with your chocolate because you don't get buzzed nearly as quickly.

My number one tip for pairing beers with chocolates? Select beers that can be served at something close to room temperature. Beers that need to be really cold (or are served too cold) are really hard to work with because they cause the fat in the chocolate to harden, slowing down the release of chocolate flavor.

My number two tip? Don't go for the obvious choices. You will notice there is not one stout, chocolate stout, or porter in my pairing lineup, and half of my chocolate selections are not mainstream. Why? Because what would my audience (and I) learn from staying within the bounds of what is obvious?

The Pairings

#1 - Brooklyn Brewery Pennant Ale with Valrhona Tanariva

I am a contrarian when it comes to wine pairings, and I tend to prefer pairing white wines (I like a loit of Gewrztraminers and my all-time favorite pairing wine is Prosecco) with dark chocolates and red wines with milk chocolates whenever I can. Many chocolate "connoisseurs" think it's bad form to admit they like milk chocolate (just as wine drinkers have been trained to say they prefer pinot over merlot), and these days, IPAs not English Pales Ales are all the rage. So what better way to start a pairing program than by crashing through stereotypes by pairing a classic French milk chocolate with an English Pale Ale?

In this case, the warm bready, yeasty flavors of the beer marry extremely well with the rich, sweet, caramel notes of the milk chocolate. The very soft bubble structure of the beer mingles well with the soft, velvety texture of the chocolate. This pairing was selected to highlight how the texture of the beer plays an important role. Plus, I also happen to like this particular milk chocolate. A lot. The pairing is obvious in hindsight (hind-taste?).

#2 - Wandering Star Zingari Witbier with Pacari Lemongrass

I forget why I was talking with Wandering Star's Chris Cuzme about this beer, but it was shortly after I returned from San Francisco in mid-January where I attended a Pacari and Whiskey tasting that included the lemongrass bar.

Most Wit beers don't have lemongrass in their recipes, but when Chris mentioned that Zingari did (along with the more traditional coriander and cardamom and the decidedly untraditional fenugreek), I intuited that the lemongrass in the chocolate would provide a nice bridge linking the two. And I was right. What was also nice was that the additional lemongrass notes in the chocolate enhanced the other spices in the beer, making the combination more complex than either, individually.

#3 - Blue Point RastafaRye with Valrhona Guanaja and Caraibe

The RastafaRye was one of the three beers I'd tasted before the seminars, at Roberta's in Bushwick (which is, coincidentally, the home of the Heritage Radio Network Studios - and some of the best pizza in the NYC metro area; I can recommend the guanciale with egg). The other reason I selected it was because ryes tend to be spicy but without the aggressive piney resinous quality of many IPAs and I wanted a distinct style different from the other brews.

The purpose of this pairing was more educational in nature, rather than being something that I knew in advance "worked." The idea was to taste the chocolate with the beer to see how the flavor of the beer changed with the two different chocolates. (In color theory in art, we call this the principle of simultaneous contrast). Even though the percentages are only 4% apart, the difference in sugar content, as well as the bean origin and roast, make the flavor combinations wildly different.

I always like to include one pairing like this in all my sessions as I get to use it to show part of the process of making the pairing selections. It's also instructive to note that some audience members really prefer one pairing over the other while some don't really care for either.

#4 - Clown Shoes Muffintop with Ki Xocolatl Oregano w/Almond Milk Chocolate

This was one of those completely blind pairings that were either going to be fabulously wonderful or absolute dreck. For me, this was the standout pairing of the session, in part because it was the most surprising. This is a really counterintuitive pairing on the surface but one that makes sense when looked at closely. Still, it would either fail spectacularly or be hauntingly sublime.

IPAs in general are among the more difficult pairing beers, and any beer that labels itself as a hybrid of a Belgian Trippel and an IPA is going to be even more problematic. The challenge is the resinous, piney, bitter nature of the hops - it really does want a fatty chocolate that itself is spicy.

The chocolate is extremely aromatic and Mexican oregano is known for its resinous qualities. The combination was outstanding, with the oregano notes mellowed by the almond and caramel flavors in the milk. Definitely a case where 1+1 equals 3 (but in this case I might make it equal 4).

#5 - Firestone Walker Sucaba with Raaka Bourbon

First off, if you ever see Sucaba available anywhere, try it. It is outstanding and unlike almost anything else you will ever drink. Not very much is made - it's a "proprietor's reserve" limited edition. You will be rewarded admirably if you seek it out.

This was the highest alcohol content brew of the day - ABV 12.5% - and, like the Wandering Star/Pacari pairing was one I intuited would work because ... the Sucaba is aged in bourbon barrels and the Raaka is made from nibs that have been stored in used bourbon barrels to absorb the aroma.

So - they share basic fermentation flavors, basic roast flavors, and the overlay of the bourbon flavors, which have ferment flavors, roast flavors, plus oaky and vanilla flavors from the barrel. See where I am going with this one? While the flavor pairing is a marriage made in barrel-aged heaven (I scored it tied for second with the Zingari/Pacari pairing in my mind), what's most interesting and unusual is the way the deep earthy base note from the chocolate tamed some of the residual sweetness of the barleywine, adding layers of depth and complexity that brought out some of the fruitiness in the chocolate and lowered the "center of gravity" of the tasting experience in the mouth.

Concluding Thoughts

The point is to have fun and to experiment, and understand that not every pairing has to work. In fact, pairings that don't work can be more instructive than pairings that do.

Tasting is a conscious process, where you go slowly and pay attention to what your senses tell you about what you are smelling, drinking, and eating. What's important, and what takes practice, is to build up sense memories that you can call on. People who are really good at this can imagine what pairings will be like in their mind. I won't pretend that I am really good at this - I have a lot to learn, still - but I "knew" in advance that the lemongrass pairing would work and I had a very good sense for how the bourbon pairing could work. I could also "taste in my mind" how the oregano could go with a hoppy IPA.

All it takes is practice - and a sense of humor. It's okay to take the chocolate and the beer seriously - but don't take yourself too seriously.In the end, it's just beer, and it's just chocolate.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the festival organizers and Jimmy Carbone for inviting me to present. Also to Chris Cuzme of Wandering Star, Jordan at Union Beer Distributors, and Brookly Brewery for helping me with my beer selections. Conrad Miller of Chocolate Earth provided much of the chocolate, and all of the chocolates served during the pairing are available through Chocolate Earth (DUMBO - Front St). Thanks also to Louis Varela of Ki Xocolatl for providing their chocolate. Louis returned from Merida, Mexico the day before the session and brought the chocolate with him, requiring some extra special last-minute coordination with Conrad. I would also like to thank Mary Izett and the staff from Jimmy's who provided invaluable assistance during setup, greeting guests, and pouring the beers. Their hard work and professionalism made my job a whole lot easier.

You can listen to the episode of Beer Sessions Radio that aired the Tuesday before the festival, where I talk about beer and chocolate with Garrett Oliver, John Holl, Mark Zapp, and Jimmy Carbone, on-line . It (and all Beer Sessions Radio episodes) are also available for download as podcasts on iTunes.

The Setup

I was given the opportunity, earlier this week, to do the chocolate, wine, and beer pairings for a holiday party, co-sponsored by Valrhona, Fresh Direct, and Manhattan magazine, to whichover 200 people were expected to attend.

There are always challenges with doing large scale events like this, but the major hurdle for this particular event was that I'd never tasted any of the wines that were going to be served and it had been a while since I'd tasted either of the beers. I don't like showing up at the venue an hour before things are scheduled to start and having to the pairings on the fly but that was the way it had to be and my only option was to take a deep dive and do my best.

The six chocolates being sampled all come from the Valrhona Grand Cru bar line - Tanariva (33% milk), Jivara (40% milk), Caraibe (66%), Alpaco (66%), Manjari (64%), and Abinao (85%).

A Short Aside

In case you don't already know, I happen to be a contrarian when it comes to wine and chocolate pairings. I find it easier to find really good pairings between whites with dark chocolates and reds with milk chocolates. More generally, I find that the clich advice of red wine with meat, white wine with fish means you're unlikely to get real dud pairings. But because they're safe, you rarely get great pairings unless you really know what you're doing. By pairing outside the lines you're more likely to run into some real loser pairings but you're also more likely to run into really excellent surprises.

Because I was under the gun to do the pairings, starting out with the contrarian approach suited me just fine, and gave me an interesting angle to talk with the guests about - that a little bit of adventure is a good thing, and thinking outside the box can deliver some truly excellent experiences.

The Pairings

Tanariva - One of the two surprise pairing of the evening was the Tanariva with Brooklyn Brewery's Pennant Ale. This is an English Pale Ale, not an IPA, and has a warm yeasty/bready flavor - lots of roasty malt flavors with a nice soft bubble structure. These married very well with the sweet caramel notes of the Tanariva and created one of those rare situation where the pairing elevated both of the component parts. The paired wine was the 2009 Domaine Pelaqui Ctes-du-Rhne. This is a good mid-priced bottle that has definite bright acidity to it. This acidity made it unpleasant with all of the dark chocolates and the high milk fat content tamed the acidity.

Jivara - I also paired the Brooklyn Brewery Pennant Ale and the Ctes-du-Rhne with the Jivara. The beer pairing was not as sublime with the Jivara as the Tanariva because of the much darker flavor profile. However, the Jivara stood up to the Ctes-du-Rhne better than the Tanariva for the same reason.

Caraibe - The tasting notes on the Caraibe say balanced and voluptuous and it was this in mind that suggested pairing it with the 2009 Edmeades Zinfandel (California) after I got a chance to taste it - also a balanced, voluptuous Zin. This is definitely a go-to comfort pairing and just might be one of the all-around most pleasant red wine and dark chocolate pairings I've tasted in a long time.

Alpaco - The tasting notes on the box say floral and oaky and this made it a natural choice to at least try pairing with the 2010 Channing Daughters Scuttlehole Chardonnay (Long Island, NY). This chard is fermented in steel with no malo-lactic fermentation and there is no contact with oak. The wine is a straightforward expression of the fruit of the grape without any herbaceous or woodiness. The light floral notes of the chocolate accentuated the fruitiness while the oaky notes added a small hint of the wood we Americans have come to expect from Chardonnays, especially highly-rated Californian ones.

Manjari - This was the other really surprising winner pairing of the evening. The combination of Manjari - which is probably the best-known Valrhona chocolate in the professional kitchen - and the 2010 Salmon Run Riesling (Finger Lakes, NY) delivered the uncanny taste impression of a s'more or at least the combination of graham cracker and chocolate. Astonishing. There is nothing about the typical Madagascan acidity or the light sweetness of the Riesling (a little too sweet for my taste, while I like Rieslings I prefer drier ones in part because it's hard to get people who say they don't like Rieslings to even try them during tastings - almost as hard as getting people who say they don't like milk chocolate to try milk chocolate) to suggest that the pairing of the two would lead to graham crackers. This pairing was a lot of fun and had people smiling.

Abinao - At 85%, this is a chocolate that even dark chocolate-lover sometimes have trouble with. Neither of the red wines came close to being a pleasant combination, the Chardonnay didn't have enough character, and the Riesling wasn't sweet enough. Thankfully, we had the Smith Woodhouse 10yr Tawny Port and the mellow silky sweetness of the Port blended tamed the Abinao very nicely. This would be a very good dessert pairing for following a meal where steak was the centerpiece and you didn't want something too rich - or too sweet - for dessert.

There were two other beverages poured, Brooklyn's Brewery's Dark Chocolate Stout, and the Althea Prosecco NV (Italy). Prosecco is my go to all-around favorite pairing wine, especially drier ones (although there are some stunning ross). Proseccos have a tendency to be less sharp and alcoholic tasting than champagnes and also tend to have a softer, creamier bubble structure. This makes them excellent sparkling wines for general enjoyment. The best chocolate pairings were the Jivara, Caraibe, and Abinao. What to say about Dark Chocolate Stout but to say that it's a "no brainer" for most people when it comes to chocolate pairings. Overall, however, you want to pair a stout like this with chocolates that aren't particularly fruity or acidic. The Caraibe was the overall best pairing because of it's balanced flavor profile and luxurious mouth feel. The Jivara was next-best, but the Tanariva was just too sweet.

* Disclaimer.
I consult to the organizer of the party, Ciao Imports, on their chocolate program. Valrhona is one of the brands they represent, and Fresh Direct is now offering over a dozen items from Valrhona including Grand Cru bars and selections from the home baking line. The wines were provided by Union Square Wines, who is the wine provider for Fresh Direct. The beers were provided by Brooklyn Brewery.