Forum Activity for @Brad Churchill

Clay;

Thanks for your opinion. As a really pissed off consumer - turned petulant child - turned successful chocolatier, I would have to disagree with some of what you wrote and say that I'm definitely on the right track with my marketing.

People are tired of being misled and lied to by marketing propaganda from businesses in all industries. My journey is what it is, and I'm not going to lie to people about why I started in this business. If I were to pad it, or otherwise sugar coat my story, that to me would make me a hypocrite and undermine the entire purpose of me starting this business venture in the first place. After all, who would believe anything written about a business when the owner himself lies about why he got into the industry?

My journey and story isn't about chocolate. It's about starting and growing a successful business with honesty and integrity, while at the same time standing up to deceptive competition.

...and I must say, my business is very successful. Apparently your opinion differs from the thousands of people whopurchase enough of my products to allow me to have bought twoother locations this year alone with the business's own cash!

If you had read the last two paragraphs of "my journey", you will read that along the way I actually began to truly enjoy the chocolate industry.

Again, though, thank you for your opinion. After all, I did ask for it.

Brad

Brad:

I have to agree with others who state that the site is not very smart phone friendly. I visited the site on an iPhone 4s and in landscape mode viewing the entire contents of pages (bottom scrolling) is difficult. On the catalog page (and this is not just an issue on the phone but on my laptop) the text in the blue bar across the top is not completely visible. From a usability perspective, the "I Promise" page should be shown only once in each visit. Or, if you want to, rotate the photo each view during a visit.

However, the larger issue for me is the overall tone of much of the writing and what appears to be the core from which it is written.

I think it safe to say that most people who get into the chocolate business get into it because they love chocolate. From what I read on your "about the choklatier" page, you got into chocolate because you got pissed off. I mean, really angry. Your anger is still palpable in your writing, now, what, nearly eight years after the incident? What I get from your tone is that you are not the "bad boy" of chocolate that you think you are - you come across as the angry petulant child of chocolate.

I find the expressed point of view tiresome. Immediately tiresome. Based on the content and tone of the writing of your current web site, I would never, ever, do business with you. And, if asked for my opinion, I could not recommend that anyone do business with you.

The other reason I cannot make a recommendation to others to engage in commerce with you is, of course, that I have never tasted any of your confections so I can't render an opinion on them. Nor am I ever likely to because oh - I can't actually buy them without traveling to Calgary. I did a little research and I can't find any other reviewer whose opinion I trust that has ever reviewed your products. So I can't even cite them.

My advice to you - if you really care and are serious about really, really listening to what ChocolateLife members have to say, is:

Chill out.
It's just chocolate.
You're not solving world hunger or campaigning for world peace.

Take a deep breath and repeat after me, "It's just chocolate. It's just chocolate. It's just chocolate. It's justchocolate." Now consider rewriting your web site by appealing to your customer' love for chocolate - not as an outlet for your anger. It is a matter ofwhat you say -- andhow you say it.

My $.04 (considering inflation and the exchange rate)

Your " Our Difference" page made me want to get on a plane and fly over to experience the difference first hand LOL. Text on the other pages sounds very inviting as well and I actually wanted to order some undoubtedly delicious truffles only to discover that I couldn't . Bummer.

P.S. Not smart phone friendly at all.

Thanks for the feedback Brian!

brad you once offered me your opinion on my marketing materials, and since you asked i will do you the same service.

the site seems like a bunch of pages full of small hard to read text apparently written by you in the same voice as you use here on choc life. no interesting pics. almost no detailed information on your very numerous fillings and rolled in coatings for your products. what's hot diggity made of? what's a pastel sequin? after i click a link it turns light pink and i can't see it against the white background. when i clicked "i promise" it took forever to load the order form and when it did it was ugly and confusing. some pages had the text cut off like you could scroll down but you couldn't. the heavy text and lack of imagery makes it seem antiquated and a little amateurish. there's more but that's the gist, good luck with your new location.

saludos,
brian

Ruth;

Thanks for the feedback.

In answer to your questions, we don't sample at all. Given that I make several different dark chocolates out of several different beans, we would literally have to feed people. For a chocolatier who uses one variety of dark chocolate, sampling makes sense. However it doesn't in our case.

I have also found that sampling negatively affects sales. Chocolate for the most part is an impulse purchase, and if the customer's sweet tooth has been satisfied by a sample, they often purchase less than they were originally intending. This is in line with a common phrase in the diet and health industry "Never shop for groceries when you are hungry. You will almost always over purchase and make bad choices." Customers have entered the shop to BUY chocolate. I'm certainly not going to feed it to them free.

Just like the wine industry does, there are in depth descriptions of each of our chocolates. This helps customers who prefer fruitier chocolate or earthier chocolate.

With regard to our truffles, wehave standardized onone variety of milk and one variety of dark chocolate for them. It doesn't make sense to offer multiple milks and darks, when all of our truffles are made to order, and the flavor nuances from one dark to the nextare masked by the 100's of combinations of coatings and centers. As far as truffles are concerned, they are simply a confection that uses chocolate, and not celebrates chocolate.

Hope that answers your questions.

Cheers

Brad

The first time I tried to load it, it took forever and I gave up. This time it was fast. I am not a fan of light colored text. The blue and pink are a bit hard to read. Personally, I like a darker text. A side note--when a new customer comes in, do you offer samples of the chocolate? How would a customer know which chocolate pairs with a particular flavor? Do you offer a variety of chocolates in your truffles, or just the bars?

Thanks!

Hi Everybody!

Last week I pulled the trigger, bought out another chocolatier, and in typical "Insane Brad" fashion gave myself 7 days to turn their business around, renovate,and rebrand it as mine (I did it and video taped each day's progress for sharing at a later date). At the same time I decided to give my company's website a complete facelift - adding one more color to our standard blue and brown.

I would be interested in your opinion of the new look - good bad or ugly. For those of you who have been to my previous site, you'll probably see a lot more content as well.

I await your criticisms and accolades with baited breath....

Thanks in advance (I think).

Oh... Here's the site: www.SoChoklat.com

Brad

I'm going to be in Verona from 25th Jan to 1st Feb and would like to know if anyone knows of any good chocolate shops there please?

Thanks

I was a vendor this past November at the Chicago Fine Chocolate Show at Navy Pier. It was nice to meet you there Clay! The three day event was well worth my time and I did get a return on my investment. I will defintely participate in the 2013 show in October.

To Marisa and the entire ChocolateLife community:

In the almost exactly 5 years since I started TheChocolateLife, I have only had to remove one post, and the few posts that I have redacted are because portions of them violated the terms and spirit of the community guidelines.

Removing and redacting posts is something I am extremely reluctant to even consider doing as I open myself to criticism of censorship. The last thing I want is for members to think I quash opinions I do not agree with. Those who know me -- and who've followed some of the more inflammatory discussions that have appeared on the site over the past five years -- know that I go above and beyond in my desire to be a fair moderator - tolerating things that I probably should not. There are stretches when I spend more time behind the scenes than I do out in front.

In the only other instance where I removed a post I did so onlybecause, after review, I felt that there were potential legal ramifications affecting me personally that I was unwilling to be exposed to. I am deleting the text of Marisa's post for exactly those same reasons. After review and thinking about this overnight, I feel the potential for legal exposure that I am unwilling to risk.

There are many things Icouldsay -- but I feel it prudent not to inject myself into the matter, thereby achieving what I hope to avoid.

Interestingly, several members of TheChocolateLife community are involved in disputes involving money with people who also just happen to be members of TheChocolateLife community. Fortunately, those aggrieved members chose to get in contact with me privately to discuss the issues so that I was aware of them - and to seek counsel on how to proceed and resolve the matters amicably.

Marisa, I am disappointed that you have been a member of the community for nearly a year and that this is your first public contribution. If you would care to message me PRIVATELY I would be happy to hear what you have to say. I cannot promise any sort of relief or mediation, of course, but I am happy to listen (or read) what you have to say.

:: Clay

I don't know what it is about chocolate that attracts all the scam artists. The first and last chocolate show I attended in Vancouver was a flop. Patrons were complaining about the entrance fees, and lack of vendors, but one of the major complaints was the scotch. One of the vendors had nothing to do with chocolate but was selling scotch, which he paired with chocolate. The show was coupled with a festival which was poorly run, for instance the organizer would call me up a week afte the festival started and tell me that "a photographer" would be at my shop that day, and I was to compensate him and his party of 4 with chocolate high tea @$25.00 p/p. I declined, and later found out from others that the "photographer" used his cell phone camera. Then there was the last minute call telling me to compensate a " well known blogger" with 2 of the same high tea packages because the blogger wanted to take his mother. This was to promote the festival--two weeks after it was launched. Rather than deal with the organizer, I e-mailed the blogger directly and told him I would be delighted, but he must state on his blog that it partly funded by me----I never heard back....

I'm also wary of "Competitions", in which small shops and producers are solicited to compete. I have "learned my lesson" and now will only compete IF the judging is open to the public-live--AND blind. y va

Greetings Fellow Chocolatiers & Chocolate Lovers

[ REDACTED :: Please refer to my comment, below. CLAY ]

Marisa Baxter
Truffles in Paradise

Thanks for that Mark. I'll give that a go. Makes great sense!

Colin

The ginger pieces are water, the chocolate fat. They don't like each other. Try precoating the pieces with something to act as an emulsifier "glue". Common is gum arabic solution or a quick coat solution (1:1 gum arabic:sugar). There are some modifiedstarches, low bloom gelatins, etc that will also work.

Once you get sufficient chocolate on for support, chill it down well to crystallize more of the cocoa butter. Then turn enough to warm up only enough to add the rest of your chocolate.

Have fun and enjoy

Has anyone tried panning ginger? I have done two batches - one dark choc and the other milk. Using Sicao chocolate so it's very good chocolate.

I tried it in my big pan (55Kg) but the ginger pieces flex and the chocolate breaks away. So I switched to my small pan (15Kg) and slowed it right down - same problem. Seemingly nothing is gentle enough to prevent the ginger flexing and breaking up. I thought that the milk chocolate may have worked as it's not as brittle as dark but it didn't work out

Am thinking of pre-coating with a thin layer of chocolate/cocoa butter prior to panning but that is a lot of work and I'm not convinced it will work. It works well with very light centers but I fear that the heavier ginger will simply break the layer up when I get to pan.

Does anyone have any thoughts please?

Thanks!

Colin

Can you help me determine the density, thermal conductivity, viscosity and prandl number of chocolate.

I have to do melting point of the chocolate wich I make and wait duplicator.

is it okay for truffles too? mine are shell molded or dipped, so truffle is completely enclosed in chocolate - if that matters

It's ideal. Refrigerator is too cold and more importantly the humidity there is too high. Just give it 15 mins to get back to room temp and you're good.

I have heard of people using a wine refrigerator for chocolate storage. Does anyone do this, and how does it work out. Thanks.

I use a chocoflex mold and it works great.

I prefer the slab to stand for 24 hours before cutting, but have cut sooner when needed. I want it at room temp.

Thanks! When do you fing it is the best time to do it?? How hot/cold?? That seems like the hard part.

Andy

The roller knife is not time consuming--just the opposite. I can cut perfect sizes in just minutes. Check out Savage.

Hello,

I have a question for all of you professionals. How do you cut caramel into exact sizes consistently?? I see the rollers with the blades, but that is time consuming. Do molds work?

Thanks

Andy

No need for anything like that.

What you need to do is warm the bowl, stones and nibs to about 115F and then add the nibs slowly until they start to release some fat. Once that happens you can go a little faster until all the nibs are in the grinder. This should take about an hour total to fill it up, and then in about another half hour you should have a batch of usable liquor. The Santha can fit about 8lbs total. Why do you not want to use cocoa butter?

Greetings all,

I'm looking for a way to make cocoa liquor from nibs to feed my santha grinder. After much investigation I purchased a spice grinder which grinds nibs into powder, but this also seizes up the Santha. Even when the ground powder is warmed it does not melt into liquor. Perhaps I need a different type of grinder, maybe one that produces more of a shearing grind rather than a rotor with blades which produces only powder.

I'm trying to avoid the use of cacao butter so I'm looking for some way to make cacao liquor ready for the santha grinder. Any suggestions?

Many thanks!

Adam

Some wineries do this. Glen Ewin Estate here in Adelaide where the cellar door represents several wineries. The wineries may even use same grapes but would be a hard job to tell.

There was a discussion a while ago where (I think) Sebastian suggested buyers for fine flavoured cocoa beans should considerpooling their buying resources to enable container load purchases to be made. Ie., Bar Maker A can't afford a full container, but partnering up with B, C & D, together they can buy a container load of beans from a growers co-op.

What about extending this a bit further: say Bean-to-Bar Makers A, B, C & D get together and are based relatively close to each other. They buy their beans in bulk together (cheaper beans). Once the beans are delivered they each go off and interpret the beans in their own way, on their own premises,and package in their own packaging and with their own brandname. But then have a co-op retail store where bars from A, B, C & D are all sold together and the retail store is owned by Bar Maker A, B, C & D.

The advantages seem to be better buying power (and potentially better access to beans given larger purchase quantities),each Bar Maker keeps their individuality when it comes to making chocolate andthere are better economies of scale on the retail side (ie., each only pays 1/4 rent, marketing, electricity, wages to retail staff, websiteetc). You could even make a marketing point that each Bar Maker has their own interpretation of the same beans.

SoI wonder why it hasn't been done before? Or has it been tried before/is it currently being done? Are the logistics of organisingmultiple business partners who have their own bar making factories just too hard? Or is it too hard to get agreement on a retail store front? - I wouldn't have thought so, but I've never tried to do it. Or is retail of bean-to-bar just too hard and most Bar Makers are aiming for wholesale clients?

Anyway, I am interested to hear what others think . . . it seems to be one way to consolidate some of the smaller parts of the market and benefit from economies of scale,but allow each Bar Maker to keep their individuality.

Hi Everyone,

My Name is Dennis Howard:

I've Had A chocolate Distribution Company In Honduras Central America For Over 25 years and I want to add and replace products like M&M type candy, chocolate covered biscuits or bars, chocolate balls and many others.

If You Have Any sources In Miami I will Be visiting this coming Saturday the 12th of January.

But if you have other good sources That I can Contact by phone or email please let me know.

I have an established customer base all over the country.

I may also be interested in Buying Equipment in the future To produce some of my own products as well as doing my own private label version.

I appreciate any help and want to thank you all and I hope to be able to both help and learn from others in this group!

Dennis

Also I'm interested in other Bulk type candy.

Thanks for the ideas, Clay -- I just might try the sunflower seeds and smoked salt. I did consider blending the Tanariva with a darker chocolate. Alas, I am out of Guanaja but I guess I could try blending it with E. Guittard's LEtoile du Nord, which I have plenty of. Cheers!

Emgee:

I know what you mean about the sweetness of Tanariva and I think that using it as a base for something with a salty/nutty inclusion is a fabulous idea. Try something weird, maybe a roasted/salted sunflower seed butter studded with roasted sunflower seeds (unsalted) and sprinkled with a smoked coarse salt. You could also consider mixing the butter with the melted chocolate to make a spread. Sun-duja!

Another thing that occurred to me would be to use the Tanariva as milk in a "dark milk" blend chocolate. You don't want to use something really fruity like Manjari, but using it to lighten up Coeur de Guanaja (or even regular Guanaja) could be really interesting.

And - on a complete other note - try pairing the Tanariva with Brooklyn Brewery's Pennant Pale Ale. Classic English pale ale malty/yeasty/bready - served temps in the 50s, not ice cold - goes extremely well with the Tanariva. I did this for a pairing event last holidays (2011, not 2012) and it was the dark-horse hit of the pairings.

I've got a nearly full 3Kg bag of Valhrona Tanariva -- but I'm not liking the Tanariva as much as I thought I would -- it's overly caramelly and cloyingly sweet. Any suggestions on what I can use it for? It's has too prominent a flavor to work as a couverture for any but the most neutral or saltiest of fillings. I'm thinking salty nut clusters or bark with salty inclusions. Please advise. Thanks!

I found incredibly great concentrated organic alcohol free extracts and wrote about them here:

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/incredibly-great-flavors-for-chocolate?xg_source=activity

they are from medicineflower.com

Those are actually really high in alcohol - minimum 70% (you can see the numbers if you click on the individual products). I have a couple of bottles and haven't found them useful in chocolate making. They are more for pastry.

You'll be better off with flavouring compounds - Sosa makes some nice ones. Mec3 makes the nicest strawberry compound that I've ever had.

Thanks for the 411 on Amoretti. It never came up an the dozens of Google searches I did.

And the perfume spray sounds amazing! It may be just what I'm looking for.

Greg:

Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell what the alcohol content of these are from the descriptions on the Chef Rubber site. You'll either need to go to the manufacturer's site or call Chef Rubber customer support. I had a tough sourcing problem that they were able to help me with.

Gold standard for flavors, though, is Amoretti . They are expensive but everyone I know says they are worth the difference when flavor is important. If you look at the details tab for their products it will let you know if there is alcohol.

They have generic extracts (e.g., rum) and often taste-alikes for premium brands (e.g., Amaretto, Kahlua) and often have both water and oil soluble versions of the same flavor.

Amoretti also makes edible perfume sprays - you can add aromas to the outside of pieces just before serving them. It sounds weird but it's way cool.

Does anyone have experience using alcohol concentrates like the ones at Chef Rubber?

http://www.shopchefrubber.com/Liquor-Concentrates/

My ganache recipe contains alcohol which is great except I can't sell it if it has over .005% alcohol. I'm wondering if I could use less alcohol with these and get the same flavor.

As a follow up, I was able to make a trip up to Quebec and visited Choco Musee Erico634 Rue Saint-Jean in Quebec City. They have a nice museum recounting the history of chocolate, a window to watch the chocolatiers (video available when they are not in production), nice selection of chocolates and gelato and even make a bean to bar chocolate that while a rougher texture is very tasty, I regret not bringing back more. Down the block is an historic grocery that is supposed to be the oldest in North America and they have a selection of chocolate bars.Chocolaterie de l'Ile d'Orlans196 Bout de l'Ile Ch, Sainte-Ptronille is also worth a visit if you have a car because there is no public transportation to there. They also have a small museum about chocolate in addition to a nice selection of chocolates, including casis and maple which are sourced locally on the island. They have a little patio where you can enjoy the chocolate, or walk down the road and you can have views of Chute Montmorency, the waterfall.

I prepared an itinerary for a travel and tourism program I am taking that was for a trip I would like to do to visit various chocolate places in Eastern Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax) and the French Island of St. Pierre. There are chocolate places doing bean to bar, hand made chocolates, gelato, etc. I could send the itinerary in PDF, or I could extract out the names and links (if available). I do have to disclose that I have not been to any of these shops, but in the future, if I have enough money, I would like to do this itinerary and visit them all.