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Over the weekend, we had the exciting opportunity to meet up with another local chocolate maker. Dave Huston of Confluence Chocolate, who lives up in Sacramento, agreed to come down to the Bay Area for a visit. We met at Bittersweet Cafe , and drank some absolutely delicious hot chocolates (similar to whats offered at Dandelion ). I recommend the Spicy hot chocolate!
We met up with Dave to chat about life as hobbyist chocolate-makers, to share stories of how chocolate sweetens our lives and get to know each other. I know cheesy. And it was wonderful! Imagine if you could meet someone else who has the same strange hobby that fills your weekends and evenings!Yes, we learned a lot, but more importantly, we met a new chocolate buddy. As per the trend, people in the small batch bean-to-bar industry are awesome!
So, what did we learn exactly?
Read more on the website: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/11/26/chocolate_meet_up/
There has been a lot of news recently regarding the world chocolate shortage. Some sources are stating that there will be a 1 million MT deficit in chocolate by 2020. The ICCO denies that projection, addingthat this year actually showeda 40,000 MT surplus of chocolate.
A few factors certainly could contribute to a shortage of chocolate overall in the world. Note the emphasis on overall. If were to take the chocolate shortage claims seriously, we must include all the factors that could contribute.
Read more about what this news has to do with Root Chocolate and any other small bean-to-bar maker here:
Ever wonder what the Root Chocolate Factory looks like? Check it out!
Its been about 8 months since we starting playing around with chocolate. And in that time, weve collected quite a bit of equipment, tools, and ingredients that now fill an entire area of our apartment. We like to call that area our Chocolate Factory.
We started with just a bag of cocoa beans from the Grand Central Market in LA and some white cane sugar . From our very first coffee grinder to the old fashioned grain mill to the melanger we use today, weve gone through more than a few iterations of our process.
Id like to show off a little about our current set-up, in the hopes that it will be useful to other chocolate-makers or aspiring chocolate-makers out there!
Read more here: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/11/18/chocolate_factory/
"Organic" "Local" "Single Origin" "Fair Trade" "Rainforest Alliance" "UTZ" "Direct Trade"
What do these all mean and which ones should you pay attention to when you're choosing your chocolate? Good question! Some relate to labor practices, others relate to the environmental circumstances surrounding the farming.
Here at Root Chocolate, we've discussed where cacao farmers fit into the picture, the complications of importing cocoa beans, the benefits of slowing down our interaction with food, and the importance of supply chain, and the relevance of genetics. Now let's talk about the external certifications that can factor into your decisions around chocolate purchases and consumption.
I'm not going to claim that one certification is better than another or that any one of these means your chocolate is sustainably produced and sourced, but let's go into what each of them mean.
Learn more here: http://rootchocolate.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/chocolate_labels_1/
Last week, we made a batch of chocolate from some very special beans. They are Carupano Corona from Venezuela, 2014. The Chocolate Alchemist describes them as Criollo/Trinitario with clove and soft fruity high notes and very low bitterness.
And the exciting part John Nanci roasted them right there in his workshop with us watching (and smelling) on! In his homemade roaster with temperature gauges inside the drum roaster and in the oven itself, these beans smelled amazing. Ill write another post just on his roasting style and tricks, but for now, suffice it to say that it was quite an experience!
Read more and find out how to win a prize from Root Chocolate here: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/11/06/venezuelan-batch/
One of the areas of innovation in chocolate where we have not yet ventured is that of ingredients. Well, thats not totally true When we first started out, we tried a bacon batch, but we added way too much bacon. Another time, we tried a salted chocolate batch, but we added way too much salt. (Noticing a trend?) Weve strayed away from new ingredients since then.
However, our visit to John Nanci in Oregon taught us many things. One of them was the appropriate use of cocoa butter and soy lecithin. Cocoa butter is the fat of the cocoa bean. Most beans have about a 50% cocoa butter content compared to cocoa mass, though the percentage varies by genetics, origin, and even roast profile (which can dry out the beans). See John Nancis post on cocoa butter percentages here .
Read more: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/11/03/new-ingredients/
Happy Halloween!
You may expect a rant about Halloween chocolateor a self-righteous monograph about how I dont eat junk candy. But, to be honest, I love candy corn and Swedish fish and even Milky Way bars! We dont eat too many sweets, but every once in a while, the candies from my childhood provide that comfort of sugary deliciousness.
Our apartment complex didnt get any trick-or-treaters last year, so we dont expect many (if at all) this year either. Still,we have our costumes ready to go (Carmen Sandiego and Waynes World pictures to come) and some baby pumpkins decorating our front step.
So,today Id like to take a positive spin on this mostly unhealthy holiday to cover some of the research on the health benefits of chocolate.
Read more here: http://rootchocolate.com/2014/10/31/healthy_halloween/
Last week, we finished another batch of delicious chocolate. This time, we tried fourdistinctly new ideas: a new roasting profile, a higher percentage cocoa, a longer refining time, and finally, a different temperature range for tempering.And the result? Smooth deliciousness!
Roasting
Rather than our typical 400 degree hit, followed by 15-20 minutes at 250, we tried a roasting profile inspired by some comments Chloe made when we chatted at Dandelion a few weeks ago. This time, we let the initial 1249 grams of Madagascar cocoa beans roast at 225 F for 45 minutes. Thats the longest weve ever roasted beans, even for our first roasting test , when we came up with the Xtra Toasty chocolate! We quickly cooled the beans on our quartz board and let them sit there for about 15 minutes.
Read more here: