Tom

Tom

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Tom

Lessons learned from non-success


I dont like the term failure,...
@Tom 16 years ago - Comments: 4
Tom

Who's making it and where to get good chocolate in Australia


This is an invitation for people to...
@Tom 14 years ago - Comments: 8
Tom

Steven ter Horst Chocolatier


A mate of mine, Steven,has just...
@Tom 13 years ago - Comments: 0
Tom

Willie is back on telly


Sorry for the late notice, Willie...
@Tom 14 years ago - Comments: 16
Tom

Gradual Report: Aust. Choc Factory Tour


This guy is a bit of a crack-up...
@Tom 13 years ago - Comments: 1
Tom

Santha (Spectra), Ultra or Cosmos


I have a Spectra 10 - modified for...
@Tom 16 years ago - Comments: 0
Tom

Aldi Supermarkets - single origin bars


Writing on another post reminded me...
@Tom 14 years ago - Comments: 8
Tom

Sad News


I was just sent an email from Bob...
@Tom 13 years ago - Comments: 1
Tom

Monty's Chocolates


I finally found where you can get...
@Tom 14 years ago - Comments: 3
Tom

Australian Chocolate Update


Companies that specialise in...
@Tom 12 years ago - Comments: 76

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Haigh's single origin chocolate
Mel's cacao 20120728
20120606 Mel's Cacao Trees
20120513 Mel's Cacao Trees
20120411 Mel's Cacao Trees 4
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20120411 Mel's Cacao Trees 2
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Adelaide Botanic Gardens: May 2009
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peter mengler
07/23/13 02:26:06 @peter-mengler:

yes, i do buy beans from Daintree and carry credits of source on my label. As you'll appreciate for commercial confidentiality reasons i can't say much more. But glad you enjoyed the bars ,Vanuatu beans have improved greatly over the last year. Currently Bougainville & Solomon the most popular alas i won't have more Bougainville Beans till Sept


Nat
01/30/13 00:34:47 @nat:

Hi Tom,

So gladyou got to try and enjoy ourchocolate! We've been trying to get it into Monty's in Brisbane. Any suggestions there? We've sent them samples but can't seem to get them on the phone.

Thanks,

Nat


Nat
10/10/12 15:45:30 @nat:

Hi Tom,

Great! We look forward to hosting him. We'lldefinitely have at least 2cacao farm & chocolate factory tours and abean-to-bar chocolate making class in January, with possibly someadditional mini classes. Just tellyour mate to keep an eye on http://madrechocolate.com/Classes.html and we'll post classes usually 1-2 months ahead.


Bea Misa
08/27/12 07:28:18 @bea-misa:
Thanks Tom! We're just a year into our fermentary, but it's been great. Really love cacao <3
Tupaemanaia Steve Brown
07/15/12 12:46:56 @tupaemanaia-steve-brown:

Tx Tom.....sharing this with fellow chocophiles..."The flavour of the chocolate is pretty good and typical of the Samoan origin, full chocolate note with hints of nuts and honey, you will also find it will start to develope some fruity notes as the chocolate ages over the next three weeks or so. Quite an edible chocolate! The raw note in there and extra bitterness from the small beans could be easily masked by formulating as a dark milk chocolate."

Since then we have fermented longer (6-7 Nights), turned the fermenting beans daily in the latter half of fermentation, sorted the beans before exporting.....peter from dprawfoods.com thought the longer fermentation was disadvantageous? We now have Joshua bahen in WA making chocolate from Tavita;s cocoa beans here in Samoa carefully fermented 4 and 6 and 7 nights (3kg of each). Monsieur Truffe is also making chocolate this week from CSL (Cocoa Samoa Limited) beans again more carefully fermented for a longer duration (5-7 nights) by Talima.

Our growers are used to just making their own Koko Samoa paste, selling it locally in 250g cups for hot chocolate drinks, but are now having to consider obtaining the best chocolate precursors for premium export purposes.

Tx Tom


Tupaemanaia Steve Brown
07/14/12 03:06:35 @tupaemanaia-steve-brown:

Hi Tom, You were the first to make chocolate from our SAMOA GOLD beans, thanks to Howard ( www.mamorchocolates.com ). Can you please send me your Testimonial/results to stevebrownsamoa@gmail.com as this same grower now has 5 tonne available..we inspected them yesterday after her organic certification follow-up visit....she's asking an additional $AUD5000/tonne through our Pacific Distributor, Richard David at www.kokosamoainternational.com and this is the price increase we want our growers to receive. Then, and only then, will we be able to produce more premium beans to make some of the best chocolate thru chocolatemakers like yourself. If you know of anybody keen to purchase 10 tonnes of PREMIUM SAMOA GOLD cocoa beans, they are now available. First come first served. And let me take this opportunity to thank you Tom..can we send you another sample as we have altered the fermentation technique to improve the quality even more? Cheers, Steve


Tom Ohito Zukoshi
02/09/12 22:45:48 @tom-ohito-zukoshi:

Hi Tom, Yes you got one of my best beans which happen to have very less butter content but the aroma. We are fighting again this year with too much rain and the wind.


Vera Hofman
07/24/11 15:29:50 @vera-hofman:

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your comment! Nice to hear from you. I would love to hear more about your chocolate makingexperiences. By the way: I did not taste an Australian bean-to-bar chocolate so far....

Chocolove, Vera


Sonia2
03/05/11 03:30:44 @sonia2:

Hi Tom,

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to you. Any tips you have for me would be excellent. I have never made chocolate before. My daughter has a rare condition and can't have dairy so i am on a mission to make dairy-free chocolate. There is more and more in the shops but i love chocolate so thought it would be a fun challenge for me. I have ordered a melanger grinder which should arrive in the next week or two. I am sure i will have to taste a lot of bad chocolate before i get good at it but i will let you know how i go :)


Ice Blocks!
02/01/11 01:50:05 @ice-blocks:

Made a raspberry and cacao ice block and its surprisingly good. Needs a few tweaks here and there but its definitely on the correct track to be a special.

Try frozen banana (LadyFingers), pomegranate juice and a couple of tablespoons of cacao powder as a smoothie in the morning. I love it. Always raises the mood.


marcus
01/12/11 02:43:41 @marcus:
Hi tom,like wise good to see some else in adelaide who likes chocolate. Ah I make a mixture of chocolates like pralines,truffles,clusters etc. I mainly make them as a hobby but have made them for work recently and everyone loved them,which is good to hear. I have a passion for making them and are intrigued by different ways you can use chocolate. cheers marcus!
Lynn Green
11/03/10 16:15:12 @lynn-green:
Hi Tom, great to hear from you! Thank you for the feedback! I am pleased that you are enjoying it as much as I do. I am having so much fun with it all!! I will in the next 6 months be adding a shopping cart to my website so you do not have to take a detour to Bute. :) Alternatively, there are currently retail outlets and more to come in Adelaide.I am very lucky to have a family community who support me so well. They are all on my marketing bandwagon! No better advertising than word of mouth! Yes Bute is the definition of Australian small country town. Imagine, 22 years ago, a corporate girl selling steel from Cincinnati Ohio visiting a man in Bute that she met and fell in love with in Barbados! Major major culture shock! Once I settled in, I thought, what have I done! But, I found my way and my purpose and niche. Isn't life interesting.I hope your skim boarding competition went well!
Theobroma man
04/23/10 02:26:56 @theobroma-man:
Thanks Tom, good to be here!
Kristina
04/03/10 00:03:41 @kristina:
Hi TomI'd love to hear/read more about your chocolate and wine pairing study, epecially re Madagascar origin.
Robert Frederick  Rankin
03/22/10 20:18:59 @robert-frederick-rankin:
Hi Tom. Love to hear how you started off and how you overcame any difficulties - Bob Rankin
Frank Schmidt
06/19/09 13:06:24 @frank-schmidt:
Tom,Send me an e-mail to : fhsdds at tri-lakes dot netI've got a couple of more ideas on the chocolate that I've been working on.I'll be back on-line Monday.Frank
Alison Holland
03/29/09 20:57:56 @alison-holland:
I am awaiting 15kg from John but will try Tava when I'm finished with those. I would like to try and age some chocolate so I may go through those quite quickly.My sister is holidaying in Australia - I'll see if she can find some of that icing sugar for me. Thanks
Alison Holland
03/29/09 19:29:11 @alison-holland:
Thanks TomI am very new to this game but I have been in contact with Tava and they said they are not yet up and running in their new premises. I am on their email list to notify when operational again but for now I have been ordering from John at Chocolate Alchemy. I have only made two batches and can't wait to make some more.Question for you - I read somewhere that you can get icing sugar in Australia with no starch in it - is this true and would it be any good for chocolate?
Jeff Pzena
02/23/09 07:00:04 @jeff-pzena:
Hi Tom,I'm doing an incredibly small scale commercial operation in Belize called Cotton Tree Chocolate Company which is an off shoot of my jungle lodge called Cotton Tree Lodge. I was following your thread on winnowing but I couldn't see the pictures. Would you mind emailing me some pics? I'm at jeff@cottontreelodge.com. Thanks!