The 8 th time I visited Le Salon du Chocolat in Paris. To be honest: I love it and I hate it. Its too big and too crowded. But I have to go because every year I find some very special things that makes the trip worth it. First I check which chocolatiers won the awards from Le Club Des Croqueurs de Chocolat. I mostly agree with their opinion. Five of the twelve best were at Le Salon: Pascal Le Gac, Vincent Guerlais, Jean-Paul Hvin, Sadaharu Aoki and ES Koyama. The last one I had not heard of before so I bought some of his chocolates. Wow, this is good!

If you are interested in small artisan bean-to-bar chocolate makers you have to go to London. But for chocolates-bonbons I think Paris is the place to go. Although the fillings are very traditional, they are of superb quality. Of the small chocolate makers we met in London only Bojesen was at Le Salon. The curious chocolate lovers you could find at his stall: Chloe and Evert-Jan. The Brazilian booth had also some interesting bars that I didnt taste before. So full shopping bags and an empty wallet when I left Le Salon.

Tasting could begin!

This was the first year of the Single Origin Event in The Netherlands. Hopefully this will be a yearly event from now on. The location was Restaurant Merkelbach in Amsterdam. The event was organized by Erik Sauer of El Sauco, distributor of some very beautiful single origin chocolates (yes also Original Beans!) and Erik Spande, owner of Chocoltl chocolate shop in Amsterdam. They invited Santiago (Pacari), Mott (Grenada), Philipp (Original Beans) and Kees (Metropolitan Deli) to tell the unique story behind their chocolate. And of course we tasted three different chocolates of each chocolate maker. Geert Vercruysse and his wife Katrien came over especially from Belgium for this event. Geert made some chocolate-bonbons filled with ganaches with Grenada, Pacari and Original Beans. Delicious and very beautiful! You can now buy them at Chocoltl. At the after party Marilla Erkens served a gorgeous vegan soup (based on cauliflower and other vegetables and spices) with Grenada nibs! Wow, that tasted really good!

It took me some time to recover from my first Chocolate Triathlon in October. Fortunately I am in good shape again and I can tell you about my experiences. The three parts were: Chocolate Unwrapped in London, The Single Origin Event in Amsterdam and Le Salon du Chocolat in Paris. Now up to London!

This was my first visit to Chocolate Unwrapped. The event was held in Vinopolis near Borough Market, a beautiful location. I helped both days at the booth of Original Beans. A lot of people visited the event and showed interest in our chocolate. I often heard: very delicious chocolate! Besides the bars we had something very special: freshly made chocolates by Geert Vercruysse. Cream-based ganaches with our Piura Porcelana, Beni Wild Harvest and Cru Virunga. Damian Allsop made water-based ganaches with the Piura and Virunga. It is very interesting to taste what happens if you add cream or water to these two chocolates. A completely different experience!

The very top British chocolatiers and chocolate companies were at the show: Duffy, William Curley, Paul A Young, Rococo, Paul Wayne Gregory, Lauden, Hotel Chocolat, Melt, Artisan du Chocolat, Sir Hans Sloane and Baruzzo. Also chocolate makers from France, Switzerland Hungary, Grenada, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Ecuador: Valrhona, Akessons, Idilio, Rzsavlgyi, Szanto, The Grenada Chocolate Company, Amedei, C-Amaro, Benot Nihant, Oialla, Friis Holm, Pacari and Kallari.

Of course I did some shopping myself. It was very nice to meet the Idilio-guys Niklaus and Pascal. I love their chocolate and I guess I was their best customer. I invited them to become member of The Chocolate Life and to tell us more about their company. So hopefully we hear more of them very soon. Someone who is already on this site but I didnt met before is Benot Nihant from Belgium. He and his wife were very proud to present their first bean to bars chocolate. My new-coming favourite of this event is Rasmus Bo Bojesen with his Wild Bolivian Oialla. This chocolate has a very mild and delicate taste. Take a look at:

http://www.oialla.dk I also enjoyed the presentation of Friis Holm. We tasted his new dark-milk chocolate that in my opinion doesnt taste like a traditional dark-milk. This one is very fruity: melon! Hungarian Rzsavlgyi won a few awards by the Academy of Chocolate this year so of course I must have these bars! His Principe I like most. The wrappings are lovely, they look like very special little gifts.

It was very nice to meet with and talk to all those chocolate minded people. Alex and Martin of Seventy Percent Club and Dom of Chocablog used the opportunity to taste our new Organic Piura. I had a few samples with me. Their first impression: they like this one more then the former recipe!

The most amazing lady was our neighbour: Lauden. http://www.laudenchocolate.com/

She makes gorgeous fresh fruit-based chocolates. What energy she has! She completely sold out in just one day!

Thank you all for your enthusiastic responses and showing interest in the development of Original Beans new recipe! What happened after two weeks? Is the new chocolate still so fruity?

How does Organic Grand Cru sound? I like it. We have waited for the first organic harvest from Congo (Cru Virunga) to make the change for all products.

But the most important thing we have changed in our recipe has to do with conching, a truly magic process in the art of making fine chocolate. There are many opinions and voices in the chocolate world, when it comes to conching. But you really have to experience and taste it before you can form a valid opinion.

The interesting thing at Max Felchlin AG is that they have several different conching technologies to work with (see pictures below). They are world famous for the oldest conching machines in the chocolate industry: the original long conches, or Lngsreiber. Besides those, they also use round conches in various sizes. The Lngsreiber builds temperature by friction only. All others can be heated externally.

Some people believe the Lngsreiber is the best. I agree on most issues: texture, melting, creaminess, beautiful balanced flavour development. The flavours hardly fade over time. The Buehler round conches, on the other hand, may get a more condensed, explicit flavour profile out of the bean. They work with a steeper temperature curve and as I inhaled above our Piura conch, I smelled a lot of the acidity.

So is it true that the longer you conch, the better the chocolate gets? No! Most important is to get rid of unpleasant acids and bitterness, open the fruit flavours, and create a deep, smooth texture. Every bean has a unique character, and develops its own story differently on different conches. For Original Beans chocolate we want to find the maximum fruit point. At some point during conching the aroma peaks. If you conch too long, the aroma is gone and whats left is a flat and rather boring chocolate.

I have learned that perfectly conched chocolate is not so much a matter of science, but mostly the result of long experience, continuous sampling during the process, and a good intuition.

The last few days I tasted the new recipe again and compared it with the last two batches. The existing Piura Porcelana bar (best before 12-2012) tastes mild, dark caramel, nutty and a little fruity. The new one is very different! Very fresh and fruity, you really taste chocolate is made of a fruit! Amazing!

In a few days this new batch is available in couverture drops. Im looking forward to the creations of pastry chefs and chocolatiers with our new Organic Grand Cru Piura!

As you all might know Iwork as a volunteer for Original Beans. The combination of delicious chocolate and nature conservation makes it the best in my opinion.

Two weeks ago Philipp, founder, called me. A new test production would start Thursday! If I could come to Switzerland? Wow! A dream comes true! I immediately packed my suitcase. The biggest one so I can take a lot of chocolate back home. We are on a mission: how can we get more of the fruity flavors of the bean into our Piura Porcelana chocolate?

Original Beans dont have their own factory. When the company started a few years ago the founders carefully selected a partner. Felchlin shares our values about quality and sustainability. We are delighted to co-create our chocolate with them.

Thursday at 11 A.M. I arrived at Felchlins Laboratory in Schwyz. First Sepp, Marcel and the Original Beans team did a pre-tasting of the last two batches. What do we like and what can be done better? We went to the factory and production started. Amazing: all those machines, the logistic system and the smell of chocolate! When conching started I got a grand tour through the factory. All Felchlin employees are very friendly and explained every detail. Its one happy family and all wearing red t-shirts. We got permission to make pictures! See below.

Friday we were expected in the factory at 6 A.M. Yes, this is serious business! Liquid chocolate test batches of 2 A.M., 4 A.M. and 6 A.M. were on the table and tasting the new recipe could begin. Its very difficult when you are used to having solid chocolate. Flavors are still developing over time. Even after molding you have to wait two weeks before you get a good picture. We decided to conch longer. After several hours we thought the fruity flavors to be on their best. Marcel quickly molded two bars that we took with us to The Netherlands.

In about a couple of days from now two weeks will have passed. Will the chocolate taste more fruity and better still? To be continued

A chocolate-order-break during summer time? No way! I have to taste new chocolate and will take the risk of melting problems. A few weeks ago I heard for the first time of Adi Chocolate Fiji. Chocolate from Fijian beans and made on one of these beautiful Islands.

Wow, this sounds great! I have to taste it! So I sent an e-mail to Adi. Very quickly I got a response from Tom, the owner. He was very enthusiastic about the first trip of his chocolate to The Netherlands. They even organized a farewell party for their baby.

Unfortunately the tracking code didnt work. After a few days I became obsessive about delivery vans driving in our neighbourhood. After 10 days waiting I saw our van again and I asked the driver if he maybe had a package for me. Yes, he did! Temperature was about 20 degrees (Celsius) outside so I was lucky!The chocolate arrived in perfect condition! Tasting could begin!

But there were some instructions on the wrapping about which time you may eat it and that there has to be some nice ocean breeze. So first I went for a walk on the beach, took a deep breathe and hurried back home.

This chocolate tastes very good! Nice fruity and flowery flavours. Lightly roasted, no vanilla or soy lecithin so you get a good picture of the beans. There are four different kinds of beans: an Amenolado and three Trinitarios: a yellow large pod, a red hybrid and a very nice Cundeamor. A bar called ToTo-A 80%, made ofCundeamor beans is my favourite.

And as mentioned on the wrapping, you can taste the added laughter and love!

Thank you very much, Tom!

About 12 years ago I bought the Dutch translation of Chantal Coadys book The Chocolate Companion. One of the chocolatiers that got very high rates was Paul de Bondt. I had never heard of him but I became very curious after reading her review. Although he is Dutch his shop is not in The Netherlands but in Pisa, Italy. But I knew then: one day I will visit Pisa!

A few years later I discovered a few of his bars at Le Salon du Chocolat in Paris. They were excellent!

In September 2008 I met Paul and his wife Cecilia at a food festival in Rotterdam. I admired his products and I learned a lot during his chocolate tasting.

One year later, when I was already ambassador for Original Beans, I asked him if he would like to do a workshop for us. He did! A day I will never forget! The most amazing recipe he created with our Piura Porcelana chocolate was a tapenade, of course based on olives, capers and anchovies. Everybody loved it!

And last week I finally visited Pisa! Yes! I had a great time! Paul and Cecilias shop is located along the river Arno. Bars with dried fruit, nuts and spices. Chocolates/bonbons (the coffee ganache is the best I have ever tasted) andalmost three weeks after Eastern there were still some eggs! Lucky me because they are delicious! I dont know which one I like mostgianduia, rocher, creminoall made of the finest hazelnuts (Gentile). Paul only uses the best ingredients and as local as possible. He also showed me his laboratorio, very well equiped. One last dessert before I had to leave Pisa: a chocolate semifreddo with passion fruit. Yummy!

Thank you for the wonderful time Paul and Cecilia!