Not like a monthly club subscription but just as a gift of a year of chocolate.

http://www.thechocolatemoon.co.ukjavascript:mctmp(0);

I am a graduate student at the University of Southern California who is looking into the perceptions people have of fair trade products. I’ve created a short, non-commercial survey and would love to hear your opinions.

The survey should take between 10 and 15 minutes. Your participation is entirely voluntary and your identity will be strictly anonymous.

By completing the survey, you will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win a $50 iTunes gift card.

If you would like to participate in the study, please click the link or type in this URL:

https://uscannenberg.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cFQbmW5b4E45PuI

If you have any questions, please email me at lauradon@usc.edu.

Thank you,

Laura Donnelly

I did a comprehensive retrial of the situation in Rome, thanks to the emergence of a pair of new contenders, Il Gelato di Claudio Torce and Gelato del Teatro.

Gelato del Teatro has a nice cioccolato fondente in terms of intensity; it's too bad they use a low-grade chocolate, or to be exact a poor origin. It had the coconutty, very dark flavour one associates with bulk beans from the Ivory Coast. A better chocolate would have made all the difference. Texture is a problem; the ice cream is a bit grainy.

Il Gelato obviously is trying to position themselves as the chocolate ice cream specialist. I've never seen even close to this many nuances on chocolate ice cream. Fortunately, the highest-quality chocolate they appear to use (Valrhona Manjari) also appears to have the strongest formulation, in a gratifying reversal of the typical state of affairs. However, while good, it still wasn't as good as the previous champions. Texture isn't quite silken, and the flavour was a bit too ashy to be classic Manjari. They should I think use an even more potent chocolate, too: a 70%-80% is more appropriate.

Various other places tried don't even merit mention.

But the big winner, and clearly improved overall, is Giolitti, who regain their title with a stunning performance. They appear to have tweaked the formula for their Cioccolato Fondente. Now it is the equal of Sorbetteria Castiglione, and perhaps even slightly better. The texture reaches the same sublime height, and the chocolate intensity dwarfs other competitors in Rome. They are using a more distinctive chocolate, too, than Castiglione, although still not as good, IMHO, as they might use. If this is the result of them reading this site and taking action, then they are particularly to be commended for the commitment to improvement! I state again that in Rome, Giolitti is BY FAR the best ice-cream maker overall, and has been for many years. Don't listen to the hype or the guidebooks that imply otherwise; compare the queues in each gelateria and decide for yourself which one obviously has the public nod of approval, who in this case are exactly right. Don't be deterred by the (almost traditional) brusque service, just enjoy the best ice cream to be had.

Just wondering what everyone think so of raw chocolate, if you've heard of it all?

Is it …

1. wanting to prove ones ability
2. wanting to produce the finest product
3. wanting to make a financial killing
4. wanting to stand out from the crowd
5. wanting to have a change of direction
   in life
6. any or all of the above
7. something completely different

Let us know.

Scott

Can you think of any traits or habits you did as a kid or still do as an adult with chocolate? 

I did another side-by-side with the Venchi. While it must be said that the results were closer than any of the previous tests, the Venchi continued to emerge as the winner. Domori's had nice fine hazelnut flavour, but was, rather like Gobino, too sweet. There's also IMHO a definite problem when a gianduja without milk (Domori) manages to taste weaker than one with (Venchi). The Venchi also showed a much more adept handling of hazelnut roasting, so that the flavour was livelier. Just as before, the slightly coconutty presence of the Venchi chocolate was its only negative, relative to the Domori which had a fruitier flavour, but again, lacking in intensity in relative terms.

This shouldn't be taken as too harsh a criticism of Domori - its gianduja was clearly excellent, but it again should show that there is excellent, and there is great.

I should also note that all these tests have been relative to the Venchi milk gianduja. They do make a dark gianduja, which I have been priviledged to try only once. Would that this were more widely available! Against the dark version, it must be said, neither Domori nor anyone else would stand any chance at all. Venchi's dark gianduja is just in a separate category.

Along similar lines, I also tried Domori's chocolate hazelnut spread, back after a long absence. Here my opinion was: profoundly disappointing. It just doesn't have the intensity it should especially without milk. This one just tastes too much like Nutella, mostly something sugary.  A lot of Italians go wild over the Guido Gobino version here, but I found it to taste too buttery and again, it was much too sweet. Yet again Venchi is in a class all their own with Cuor Di Cacao chocolate hazelnut spread.

Scott

I decided that those who care enough about bean-to-bar will find out by looking at my web-site. There are many issues to face - especially ethical sourcing - and some of these have impact on the marketplace. In the end I think it comes down to taste. If it tastes great then you are likely to buy a bar and come back and buy another. If it tastes great and people realise that you are trying hard to build a link to farmers and pay some kind of attention to their livelihoods and conditions then it might help sell more bars but I do it so I can sleep at night - and, for example, I carry on using Fairtrade sugar even though they don't let me list it on the ingredients.

Now that the business is up and running I make chocolate from beans and I also make chocolate from Fairtrade liquor. I make no secret of this fact and mention it in my publicity material, such as it is. I am not convinced that where you roast the beans or grind them matters if you have control. That is why I want beans - so that I have control. If someone can show me that there is absolutely no difference between my roasting and them being roasted in the country of origin (allowing more money to stay in a poor country) then why would I object? The taste of the chocolate is the same and the local community generates a little more income.

So, if the chocolate tastes good and you approve of the makers' ethical standards then please support them. We should be encouraging more people to make chocolate, however they find that they need to do it. We should be encouraging more people to make the link between the price of chocolate and the conditions of the farmers, and then to use their purchasing power wisely.

Right, back to work to start a new batch of chocolate off then back to watch F1 qualifying.

Duffy

Alex_Rast said:

Then there were the Friis-Holm chocolates. Initial reaction: mind-blowing. These are amazing chocolates, just completely in another depth compared to everthing else tried. Emphasis is on the dark, liquorice-like flavours. I got all 3 bars: reviews coming shortly!

---

Very interesting.  Are they bean-to-bar?  I can't really tell from their web page, but it sounds like they might be sourcing the beans and letting a third-party (i.e., a "family-owned chocolate factory in southern France") process them.  (Could it be Bernachon?  That's where Steinberg apprenticed.)
 

Scott

It would be nice if chocolate-makers would identify their manufacturing source (whether them or a third party) on the bar, although I imagine some 3rd party manufacturers prefer not to be named. But it would really help to disambiguate the situation. I see the following classes emerging:

1 Fully bean-to-bar made with beans sourced by the manufacturer through direct plantation relationships.

2 Fully bean-to-bar made with beans sourced by the manufacturer on the general cocoa market.

3 Made from liquor manufactured by a third party with maker sourced beans

4 Third-party manufactured with maker sourced beans

5 Made from liquor manufactured by a third party from third-party sourced beans

6 Maker blended from third-party manufactured couverture

7 Branded bar or remoulded couverture

And there may be more with time! Categories aside, however, the Friis-Holm bars are stylistically so distinct and so distinctly different from other companies that from a practical point of view they may be considered an "original contribution".