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"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/
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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:
In2004 I started making bars with rice, millet, kamut and quinoa puffs. I'd like to expand the line to goji berry and other dry fruit. I used to make them manually, but now I am preparing to introduce a depositor. In the picture old labels are shown, which will be updated.
As an old mountain climber, I will name my 40 and 100g bars after famous mountain peaks.