the Esprit range by Van Wees in Amsterdam is amazing.The purity of the product is from a time long forgotten and absolutely natural.De Ooievaar Stokerij is in the Jordaan, situated in the old city and is known for its artisan Jenever and Liqueurs.

the Almond Esprit is phenomenal as are the Rose and the Apple.

check it out here:

http://ning.it/LS7nCf

I started Making chocolates when i was 8 years old, I would put them into decorated egg boxes as gifts for my family and ever since then I have had the bug. I studied at the Cassio College in Hertfordshire and was the recipient of the Renshaw Challenge cup in 1987..... that basically set the tone for the rest of my carreer. I ran away to the Netherlands in 1993 and became pastry chef, head chef and chocolatier at the extremely popular Ma Brown's in Haarlem, there made the British tradition of Afternoon Tea an Institution baking and creating to sell out "audiences". Walking through the cobbled streets of Amsterdam , one afternoon, i happened upon a curiously shaped shop filled witha table groaning under the weight of all the opulent chocolate treats on display.... it looked like a surreal jewelry boutique! My reaction to the gentleman behind the table was "wow! I want to work here!" he hurried to the door and locked it " we have him!" he cried to the owner who was secluded in the atelier behind the shop.

My career at Puccini Bomboni spanned 7 years and I lived the life of 'chocolate couture' to the hilt.... we crossed boundaries that have now become commonplace, nevertheless the intricacy of our bonbons and the complexity of our flavours is in my opinion unsurpassed. Tamarind, Sereh, Rhubarb,Star Anise..... crates of fresh seville oranges boiling to puree for the Cointreau Ganache..... it was a love affair .

In 2006 a bid a fond farewell to the Netherlands and set sail for the south, after a season on the Canary Islands I hopped to the Mediterranean isle of Mallorca where i tasted and tested and cooked and 'chocolated' at home , at private Villas and businesses. When I traversed the Atlantic in the autumn of 2007 my life changed forever..... on the tiny Dutch/ French island of Sint Maarten/Martin I found my Valhalla.... at the former home of the legendary Diana Ross i hosted , managed and held culinary theatre to enthusiastic vacationers and residents. Jaunting between Villa Mille Fleurs and the boutique Rainforested Island of Saba i currently Create chocolates for the Queen's Gardens Resort and hold workshops in chocolate making and pastry.

My most recent memorable acheivement was designing and creating a Praline for Her Royal Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during her state visit to the islands, other acheivements include A custom made Bonbon for the closing concert of the Montreal Baroque Festival , the theme in 2009 was Death By Chocolate, a celebration of the works of Henry Purcell; my creation was a combination of Champagne Ganache with a Caramel Pate Sable flavored with bitter almond ( said to contain arsenicum) . I have also recently harvested wild cacao from the slopes of Mt. Scenery, Saba and produced an audacious Grand Cru chocolate which I will be submitting this May as my award entry In the European Leg of the International Chocolate Awards.

I am embarking on an exciting venture in the USA this summer and will be producing for an Expanding Young business Called The Caretakers, North Georgia's Premium Home Services exclusive signature bonbons for a high end villa agency and also holding organised events including workshops, tastings and even pairings at some regional vineyards. The spring of 2013 will herald the debut of Blue Pearl Chocolate, my own enterprise, producing free form Hand dipped Ganaches and organic fair trade chocolate and raw chocolate products. All I can say is "WATCH THIS SPACE" .

The excitement is almost tangible. I am in the process of finalizing my O-1 Visa petition and very soon I will be moving to the North Georgia Mountains to commence Blue Pearl Chocolate.

I'm an Outside the Box chocolatier, so look out for some surprises. I'm currently working out a line of bonbons, cut ganache, free-form piped mousses and "loose stuff" as cookies and snacks and fruits.Hand dipped.

I need to start from scratch with equipment so if anyone can help me out with a small tempering machine, a wire cutting frame and a small Hobart or any other planetary mixer that would be awesome. I'm looking out for suppliers too, I like the flavour and Consistency of Callebaut and mainly use 70-30 dark, 811 semi sweet , HW2 white and 823 high-cacao milk...... the Dark Gianduja blocks are awesome too . any suggestions on good flavoured Fair trade or organics? I contacted Dagoba but they never responded... weird huh?

also working out some Organic Goat milk recipes.

I'm loving this Group as it offers a wealth of inspiration and creativity, hopefully In the future I can offer the same.

in my 20 plus years in the chocolate and pastry world I've put out quite a lot of what some may call innovative stuff.... being my bread and butter I'm often too 'at work' to realise what exactly it is I'm doing and have achieved....luckily I realise that and have made a conscious effort to enjoy the experience of creation because let's face it , that's the whole point of it in the first place, right?

In my outside the box way, what recently began as a joke between a Maryland Chef and I on my facebook food group, rapidly fired my imagination to the creation of a concept/product that has me awake at night.

The buzz, it's there, and that's the buzz I have revisited regularly ever since I entered the world of chocolate.

I have been in environments with colleagues that positively hate the "monotony" of production..... lets face it when a product is successful it's going to become a slog, repeating the same action again and again, day after day. But I have learned to meditate, to converse, to ponder whilst in the rhythm of production. My calm infuses my product, as does my excitement, my humor and my joy. No one NEEDS chocolate goodies. It's a treat; its eaten for the pure pleasure of it , no other reason, so why would I taint that piece of happy with my boredom or my anger or my disinterest?

Which brings me back to the point.... the creation of a new product can be one of the most exhilerating experiences; and that exhilleration is both the child and mother of renewal. And with constant renewal the joy will remain the predominant vibration of that Brown Stuff......... nuff said.

And the new product? watch this space (Patent Pending)

~ PJK