Review of "The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition"

Posted in: Opinion

We weren't in the book for the same reason many other excellent companies were omitted: companies needed to pay for their inclusion. Additionally, the size of the layout depended not on their relevance or quality, but on how much they were willing to spend. It may be good publicity for many of the companies, but it also means the book is a willfully inaccurate "guide", at best.

Review of "The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition"

Posted in: Opinion

Dont get me started.Perfect review clay.

Review of "The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition"

Posted in: Opinion

I also agree with Clays assesment of the rather poor editing quality, unfortunately its true. But Im glad someone started the ball rolling on choc guides as they are fun to look at and can be a good resource- but like Clay said, not all choc shops are represented (only those that "subscribe" to Taste TV- TCB Cafe Press- the publisher) and certain regions are NOT covered enough- although their website says a Central USA guide book is still coming....one would certainly want to also gather info off the web for a complete listing of any regions visited.Choc on!

Review of "The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition"

Posted in: Opinion

I have also pre-ordered the Eastern edition of this book, Amazon estimates the shipping date for end of April/ early May - its only $10.85 to pre order. I hope others discover these guides too, they are just choc full of photos and great info for any choco lover....

Review of "The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition"

Posted in: Opinion

The Western Edition of The Chocolate Guide is brought to you by the same people who produced the book Chocolate French and who are also behind TasteTV, Chocolate Television, and the International Chocolate Salons in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Miami, and internationally.I reviewed the first edition of Chocolate French when it first came out, and I did not give it a very good review. Much of my criticism was leveled at the way the book was organized as well as at the apparent lack of professional copy editing and fact checking. As I remember, this level of inattention was also evident in the recipes, several of which could not actually be made successfully if the directions were followed.In my correspondence with Andre Crump the writer/editor/publisher of Chocolate French I was accused of "killing" the book - that my review on chocophile.com was somehow single-handedly responsible for stalling the sales of the book. (Poor sales had nothing to do, of course , with the fact that the book was poorly done.) I was, however, happy to see that Mr Crump was wrong in his assessment of the book's sales potential and that a second edition was published. I did not either contribute (I was asked) or review the updated version so I do not know if the structural issues I pointed out in my review of the first edition were addressed.When I heard that Mr Crump was publishing a guide to chocolatiers, chocolate makers, Boutiques [sic: comma is missing on the cover] Patisseries & Shops, I hoped that he would have learned his lesson from Cafe French and actually create a usable book.Sad to say, that is not the case. Which is not to say that the book is not useful, it's just not very usable.There are huge gaps in the businesses and areas that are covered and it's not apparent (unless you read some fine print in the front of the book) why some companies were included and featured and others overlooked, and there is no rational scheme or order that I can detect in the way the businesses that are included are ordered that would make the book's organization make sense.The book starts showing how little attention was paid to the idea of editorial consistency when you take a look at the Table of Contents and the cover page for the first section. The Table of Contents says the first section is titled "Southern California" while the Cover pages say "Southern California & Mexico." This is born out by the fact that the Nestle Museum in Mexico City is not only mentioned in the Table of Contents, it deserves four full pages of photos. But the Museum does not appear in the "Local Directory" so there's no contact information. And what, there are no other chocolatiers or chocolate companies between the San Diego and Mexico City?This lack of depth and consistency plagues the "Local Directory" at the back of each section. In the Local Directory for Southern California, for example, the first entry is Chuao (which is located in Encinitas which is closer to San Diego than it is to LA). The next entry is for Leonidas in LA/Beverly Hills, followed by a raft of LA metro-area entries which appear to be grouped by city, but are not organized alphabetically by the name of the business or according to the geography of LA. Nor are multiple entries for the same company (Leonidas, for example) listed in most cases, let alone grouped together. (To be fair, the Leonidas site itself is confusing: the store referred to on myleonidas.com as being in Beverly Hills is the same store whose web site is leonidashollywood.com.) So, I can see how the editors might be initially confused, but that is exactly the sort of organization and attention to detail that readers deserve, if not expect.Furthermore, all of the entries in the Local Directories are incomplete : only a small percentage have phone numbers and none of the entries have either web site URLs or zip codes. In this day and age, surely, all of these businesses have both phones as well as web presences. In fact, the only companies with complete street addresses, phone numbers, and web addresses are the featured companies. (More on that in the conclusion.) And in the case of Chuao the address on the featured listing is different from the address in the directory, and Chuao is not the only example of this (Scharffen Berger falls victim, too). Are you confused yet? I was and still am.Nowhere is the unwillingness to do the necessary research and fact checking more apparent than in Emily Stone's article Pacific Northwest Chocolate - The Trip I Didn't Take . Now I know Emily and respect her work and her opinion, but an article like this does not excuse TCB-Cafe Press from actually doing the research. Which reveals still yet another editorial mishap. One of the companies mentioned in Emily's article is not listed in the Local Directory. (Sour grapes? Emily is one of several bloggers whose work is featured in the book and I, and other writers whose work might also be recognized, are not mentioned at all. I know why in my case. It's because of the negative review I gave of Mr Crump's first edition of Chocolate French. And frankly, this book displays so many flaws that I am glad I was not asked to contribute; it's not a project I want my name associated with. Sour grapes? You decide after looking at the book from my perspective.)In at least one case, it appears as if the writer took promotional copy directly from a brochure published by the company being featured and did not read it closely enough. The Qzina description on page 49, in the last paragraph, reads "... at each of our location [sic] hosted by their Corporate Pastry Chef." A clear case of not paying attention.Another challenge the book presents to its readers is that it does not adequately distinguish (in the table of contents - there is no index) between chocolate makers, chocolatiers, recipes, blog entries, photo essays, and specialty foods distributors. You are left on your own to figure this one out, as is puzzling out why Ghirardelli is featured, but not Lindt (its corporate parent) and there is no mention at all of See's, the largest chocolate company actually headquartered in California, and highly regarded by many.The editorial and production issues are not limited to the Table of Contents and the Local Directories: page 174 is blank except for a headline that says "Chocolate Salon." (Clearly someone was not looking closely at the page proofs when they came back from the printer.) Given the context of the facing page, missing are some photos from one of the Salons that TCB-Cafe Press organizes.And promote the various interests of TCB-Cafe Press the book does. Of the 190 pages of the book, more than 10 pages are devoted to advertising TCB-Cafe Press projects and not a guide to chocolate at all, and one of them is an ad for the same edition of the book you happen to be reading. On purpose? Or, was it supposed to be an ad for the Eastern Edition and they just weren't paying enough attention? Conclusion After reading the introduction on the Welcome Page, the actual purpose of the book becomes clearer. It's as much a promotion vehicle for the companies that support TCB-Cafe Press's television and event businesses as it is a true guide. Companies that support TCB-Cafe Press's other businesses are featured in the book; companies that do not, are not. That the next to the last page of the book is an ad for a company that has nothing to do with chocolate, but probably provides business service (promotion, PR, marketing) to TCB-Cafe Press really drives this point home.This regrettable circumstance gets in the way of the book's usefulness in other regards, too. Northern and Southern California fill about 140 pages of the book while only about 40 pages are given over to "Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia." Apparently there are no chocolatiers or chocolate makers worthy of inclusion in the book in Arizona or New Mexico, or any other state West of the Mississippi - which would be a natural dividing line unless a third, Midwest Edition, is planned.Now of course the publisher could complain that this was a print book and not a web site and therefore space was very limited. That's nonsense. The way to handle the space issue would have been to reduce the number of pages devoted to completely and totally irrelevant (at least to true chocolate lovers interested in a real, usable, guide) content. One page of photos of the Nestle Chocolate Museum in Mexico City would have sufficed. There, I just saved three pages for useful content. The double page spread for Sacred Chocolate could also be sacrificed on the altar of more content. Two more pages available. Three pages for the How to Conduct an Interview segment. Six pages for gear, wine, and Vermeer could easily be done in three. The cover pages for each section could be done in one page, not two, saving another three pages. Losing the ads at the back would save three more. There, I just freed up 17 pages - nearly 10% of the book - for meaningful (by which I mean central to the purported premise of the book) content.At this point, after reading all the reasons I found not to like The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition , you've probably forgotten that early on I wrote, "Which is not to say that the book is not useful, it's just not very usable."The book is useful in the sense that it does list a lot of companies whose work you probably should be aware of but have never heard of, even though it fails to mention many others you should also know about. Armed with the base information the book provides, an understanding of its editorial slant, and a willingness to do a lot of your own online research, The Chocolate Guide: Western Edition is worth reading if you are planning your own trip to Discover Chocolate out West.I also want to point out that I applaud Mr Crump and his associates' efforts in promoting chocolate in general and American artisan chocolate in particular. The book is a great idea conceptually. This first edition is flawed, and I hope that the publisher works to resolve the copy editing, design, and usability issues I mention when producing future editions - these guides are supposed to be updated on a regular basis. Book Review Rating: Must Have :: Should Have :: Nice to Have :: Not Worth Shelf SpaceBy clicking on one of the images below, you can order the book whose cover is being displayed. The Chocolate Life earns a commission on each sale. When these links to products on Amazon generate sufficient sales I will remove the Google ads.
updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/20/15 14:49:23

Chocolate on TV

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Food Network has a lighthearted look at chocolate with "HAM ON THE STREET" airing Wed, March 5 @ 9:30am (30 min)Please add any chocolate TV show listings here so we can all have our DVRs ready!
updated by @Chocoflyer: 12/13/24 12:16:07

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Chantelle, where you have it in the shop it probably isnt getting enough sun. I have one on the window sil at work. It has been growing well for 2 years and is about 70 cm tall now. I planted one in Darwin at my sister in laws house and it was that big after about 3 months, so we do face issues here in Adelaide. On my window in never gers below 15 deg C and as the dappled sun (we have louvers) hits it the terracota pot warms to about 25 deg C even in the last week. This is helped by the large thermal mass of the building i work in, so ambient temp overnight doesnt drop low. Also i water well and use a high magnesium fertiliser. I sometimes water with warm water if it goes a few days where there is not much direct sun. I also spray it with water about three times a day but not on weekends. I found mine was very slow to grow initially but it seemed to reach a critical number of leaves in the last year and is growing super well now. Good luck

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I also have a little cacao tree. I haven't had it long- probably 2 months. We haven't really given it enough attention and it's not going so well. It's about to get really cold here in South Australia- was wondering if anyone has any tips to keeping it at the right temperatures and humidity Should I just buy or build something to house it in and keep it at the right conditions?

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello Lorna, it's interesting to hear that you are trying to grow cacao plants. Unfortunately the cacao trees are very sensitive and require specific geographic and weather conditions.

The good news are that with technology we have been able to recreate such conditions for the trees to grow strong and healthy. In regards to the height, it is not really important, the height will be dependant from the variety that you are growing.

I have some good information about planting, growing and harvesting cacao but most of it is in Spanish. I consider this two links will be very helpful for you, take your time to review them

Growing Cacao (FAO)

Growing Cacao (ICCO)

This includes all what you need to have high quality cacao beans (in recommended conditions).

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Oh cool! Sounds like you profited from a unique opportunity there.

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I got it at a greenhouse sale at San Francisco State University while I was studying ecology there. I rarely see them at sales elsewhere since.

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

That's so cool! May I ask where you bought it?

How to grow cacao at home

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I've had a Theobroma cacao for a couple of years now and have been keeping it not only alive, but occasionally flowering. Since my move to Michigan, I lost a branch and started getting brown tips on all the leaves. It's still putting out new leaves, but only about one flower or two in months. I have it near (but not too near) the heater and spray it all the time.I wish I could take this tree to the next level maybe get some height (it's about 2.5 feet) or at least loose the brown tips. I'm working on building it a little greenhouse. I don't ever expect pods, but at least a green, growing tree to add to my botanical assortment.Anyone else have a tree and want to discuss?
updated by @Lorna: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

We are a bean to Bar Maker in Canada who should be added to this list

ambrosiapastry.com

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Just wanted to add "Matale Chocolate" to the Australian bean to bar list.... www.matalechocolate.com

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hola,

How do I add our company to your data base of Bean to Bar chocolate makers? SAMARITAN XOCOLATA, Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. 100% organic, Costa Rican, hand-crafted chocolate.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Does anyone know what Hotel Chocolate come under, British or American ? Or? Rob

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi Louis,

What is the relationship between Ki Xocolatl and CACEP, a chocolate manufacturer in Tabasco?Is Ki Xocolatl subcontracting CACEP for the manufacturing? FYI, I live in Battery Park City, so I will try to attend the Battery Place Market tasting on April 3.

Brady

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Any Asian Entry?

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

You forgot to include Ki Xocolatl.

Ki Xocolatl is a bean-to-bar manufacturer in Merida, Mexico. They also grow their own cacao in a vast plantation in the heart of the Yucatan peninsula. And they have an office in New York to distribute their chocolates.

This is their website: www.ki-xocolatl.com . This is the site for the Plantacion Tikul: www.ecomuseodelcacao.com . You can get their chocolates from Amazon.com. And if you are interested in wholesale, you can contact them by email at info@casa-catherwood.com or mexicanchocolatecompany@gmail.com .

Louis

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi Guys, I guess we can also add Ananda Chocolate to this list? The Bio/FT arriba cacao bar dressed in a home compostable foil... 100% produced in country of origine, being Ecuador. Ananda Chocolate

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Belcolade

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

What about Vestri and Cacao Sampaka?

As far as I know, there are only claims that Vestri is tree to bar, in that they own their own plantation. But in the case of Sampaka, it seems to me I've heard both claims that they are bean to bar, and claims to the contrary.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I added those I mentioned in my reply just above to the master list, plus made made these and all the other newer additions hyperlinks. I have not added Salazon, as I'm slightly suspicious of this company.

For example, this from their FAQ

"Why dont you make milk chocolate?
At Salazon we see chocolate as an energy food not candy, so we simply stay away from offering sweeter, more candy-like milk chocolate. "

And what is their chosen default percentage for this "dark" chocolate? 54%!!

But that may be too bitter for many, so

"However, we do understand that some people may want a touch more sweetness so we created our Organic Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Organic Turbinado Sugar bar."

Also, there seems to be nothing on the website with any information on who these people are, not even their names, and no information about or photos of their chocolate making process. Except that they are the "Salazon Chocolate Co Team," which consists of "a group of us were on a backpacking trip to Utah."

Therefore, who knows who they are, or if they grasp "bean to bar" meaning.

btw, has anyone tried their chocolates? I see they are available at Whole Foods.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Is Vivani in Germany a bean to bar company? I suspect that they are fondeurs, but I'd like to make sure. I gleaned from their website that they are owned by Ludwig Weinrich, and marketed by their subsidiary EcoFinia GmbH. They said that Weinrich has made chocolate for over 100 years, but they make no mention of actually being b2b. In addition, my very low enjoyment of their dark chocolate (72% bar, my enjoyment rating = 2 out of 10.) makes me suspect that they didn't make it themself. Does anyone have any more information about this?

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thanks Casey. I've added a few of those that I didn't have to my personal list of b2b companies. I've got a list of 284 companies that are bean to bar, fondeurs, or some mixture. Some I don't know what they are.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I wonder if we ought to add Mindo, Snake and Butterfly, Potomac, Salazon, all newer US makers claiming to be b2b, but I have not exactly called them up to quiz them... Isn't there someone on this list also who says they make b2b, Oakland Chocolate Company?

This list is going to be getting so long as small b2b increase exponentially over the next years, so can I just add my grandma's home brew now? She sells to her Mahjong club.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Is Bernard Castelain a bean-to-bar maker or a fondeur? Their website is only in French and I don't read French. I suspect that they're a fondeur but I don't currently have any evidence either way. All I know is that their chocolate wrappers don't say anywhere that they are b2b.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

RE: http://australianrawqacao.com/australian-raw-qacao-cacao-fruit-bean

Qacao sounds to me like a lot of Quackery mixed with spiritual mumbo jumbo.

updated by @ChocoFiles: 09/07/15 18:28:16

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I've found and Australian Certified Organic farm listed as producing Cocao in Killaloe QLD but as yet had no reply from them.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Unfortunately, the content of the site is so poorly written, edited, proofread, and fact-checked that it's self-marginalizing and comes off as very fringe - even farther out than most on this subject. It will be interesting to see how the business takes off.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Yeah, I saw that the other day too, don't know who those hippies are, I'll have to ask.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

http://australianrawqacao.com/australian-raw-qacao-cacao-fruit-bean

This site purports to sell raw organic Australian beans already.

updated by @Ice Blocks!: 01/24/15 16:14:51

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Cocoa Australia nolonger exists there was some legal issues. However the plantations still exist and there are some exciting things hopefully to happen in 2011 up in FNQ. I can't say more as it is not my place, but I will when I can.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Not sure whether these guys can be classified as bean to bar yet but they seem to be heading in that direction.

Farm by Nature
Phone: 392128188
Website: http://www.farmbynature.com.au/

When it comes to the Cocoa itself, Farm By Nature is on the road ( through their sister company Cocoa Australia)
to grow Australias first cocoa Plantation in Far North Queensland.
The first of these little Aussie beans should be available in 2010 and used to create a unique Australian Cocoa Farm Range.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Well thank god somebody thought to include Trader Joe's!

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thank you for sharing this information about Bean to bar chocolate makers.

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Just for fun, here is the ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) of "Chocolate Manufacturers." In looking at it I see:

• None of the American craft chocolate makers on the list (e.g., Amano, Askinosie, Black Mountain, Cacao Atlanta, Escazu, Patric, Rogue, Theo ...).
• Some other amazing oversights - Pralus, Bernachon, Debelis, Ambrosia, Belcolade,
• Some companies that clearly don't belong on the list (Green and Black's - until recently, anyway, all G&B product was made by the Italian company ICAM; Astor, Asher's).
• Does Scharffen Berger count any more (as manufacturing is supposedly done by Hershey). Dagoba as well?

It's not clear what the criteria are for inclusion. One very new company, AMMA (Brazil) is on the list.

Thoughts?

:: Clay

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi Duffy

Yes, and I've read about you at Seventypercent.com, wanna taste yours too, but I can't order them from my country *sigh*

Someday when I can make it to Europe and UK, I will definitely go to your workshop to learn and taste some sample, if you don't mind

Willy

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I make chocolate from bean to bar in the UK - Red Star Chocolate. Clay has even tasted some of it...

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I've updated the database with Rogue Chocolatier, from Minneapolis, MN. The founder, is the youngest chocolate maker that I know, and if I'm not mistaken, Colin Gasko is also a TCL member too. Can't wait their chocolates, that I've ordered, arrive in my home in January :-p

Bean to bar chocolate makers

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I guess I should have done more research on the internet first. I was only looking at the package which says in large bold letters on the front "El Ceibo Cooperative" then on the back "Made in Switzerland" and distributed by "Alter Eco Americas". Going by this information alone I thought it would be possible for the company to be bean to bar, made in Switzerland but distributed in the U.S. Now I wonder-- who actually makes the Bolivian beans into chocolate?

It turns out that Alter Eco is a French company started in 1999.

Clay, thanks clarifying this.