Forum Activity for @brian horsley

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

I know that the cacao they use is 70% or more ccn51. i also know that they have organic cert., i just saw the certificate hanging in their office a couple days ago. Here in Peru ccn51 is grown organically in the areas i work in, so presumably can be and is in the areas naranjillo works in. i honestly can't speak to how effective or accurate the organic certification is here, or whether naranjillo is separating organic from non-organic really strictly, but ccn51 is grown without chemical inputs here in peru, i've seen it personally.

brian

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi Brian

I boughtorganicliquor fromnaranjilloseveral timesand I am waitingnow anew arrival.It's agoodcocoa.But nowI want to know, asyou say, ifin factthey also includetheccn51, andare certifiedorganic.In EcuadorIlearnedthatonlynational isorganiccertified,while theccn51was not possible.

Grateful forany informationyou canprovide me

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

hi guys, i see i wasn't clear, i was referring specifically to naranjillo's FT cocoa powder in my first response. naranjillo does make chocolate but itspretty sweet stuff for the domestic peru market, not really anything for a more discerning market. right now they have a bunch of what they call 55% couverture which is 35% cacao, 20% cocoa butter, 45% sugar, and the cacao they use is mostly ccn51.

my impression is that while they want to get into exportable quality chocolate, for now they specialize in butter and cocoa powder, which as clay says appears to be pretty good quality. their factory is modern and well run. I'm meeting with their manager in lima monday on another matter, if you like todd send me your data and needs, i can give it to him and you can judge for youself if you want to consider them based on his response.

just so everyone is clear i have no affiliation with naranjillo, i have no monetary interest in todd's decision, i offered to help as a professional courtesy, nothing more.

brian

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Thanks for all the info. I would definitely be interested in exploring your connections Brian. That being said I'm only interested if it is good, high quality chocolate. We are a premium brand so while FT is important I would not chose it at the expense of lower quality. Let me know what you think.

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Brian:

I responded because I have seen and tasted product from Naranjillo. While I would not buy the chocolate they make for domestic consumption, the liquor, powder, and butter are of good quality.

They can make chocolate to spec but the minimums are at least 5 tonnes, as I recall, based on my last conversations with them.

They mean well, but I fear it's the nature of co-operative management in Peru, Bolivia, and elsewhere.

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

what clay says is correct, doing pretty much any business in peru requires speaking spanish, spending time in peru, and having a top notch customs person. customer service is generally poor to non-existent here. working with a peruvian supplier only over the phone from the us is dubious.

i haven't worked with naranjillo, just been to the factory and know them, so take what he says well in mind todd. i know they make the product you're looking for, and can make an introduction if you want.

bh

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

From personal experience, I can tell you that working from the US with Naranjillo is extremely difficult. Customer service did not exist as a concept in their English vocabulary.

Plus, Naranjillo didn't have (as of about six months ago) any export capability for finished and semi-finished products to the US.

Maybe things have gotten better in the last six months or so. In any event, I would not want to work with them unless I had a representative in Peru, fluent in Spanish and in business customs, handling the Peruvian end of the business for me. I can't recommend doing it remotely.

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

hi from peru todd, i just replied to sacred steve about a similar query. i was in a factory today that produces literally tons of organic FT cocoa powder, and there are other options here in peru as well. the production quality is very good. the beans are mostly ccn51, conventional, notat the high end of fine and flavor, but not like african bulk stuff. I know everybody down here, if you want a connection let me know.

saludos

brian

Buying Fair Trade Chocolate in Bulk

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi,

I'm looking to find a chocolate company where I can purchase both bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder. I want it to be certified by a third party organization such as transfair, Rainforest Alliance, etc, or if not know that the company sources it's chocolate in an ethical and socially responsible manner. That being said I do not want to sacrifice quality to achieve the above. I'm also somewhat price sensitive as I'm using the chocolate and cocoa as a raw ingredient in my company's product(brownies) that we sell to retail stores, but hopefully my volume will allow for possible lower pricing. I'm open to any and all possible solutions so that I can get high quality, FT chocolate & cocoa powder into my product. We are a socially responsible and have been searching high and low for a product that fits our needs and budget. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Todd

updated by @Todd Kelly: 04/07/25 13:00:14

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

I love following the chocolate!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Further update, i don't know if anyone caught the Jetstar inflight magazine article well this is even better exposure for Daintree Estates chocolate. They had the tv show Landline do a story on them, go to http://www.abc.net.au/landline/archives/landline_201206.htm and follow the chocolate!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Display photo from the launch at the Sheraton Mirage Resort at Port Douglas earlier this month. Looks amazing I think you will agree

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Sure is. First orders have just been received by the customers and tasting feedback is starting to filter through.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Looks like the online store is up and running!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Press release: http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/10/25/187725_local-news.html

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Oh, you got that right! Dark milk chocolate is a seriously under-represented catagory in Australia and the funny thing is it would probably be the most popular (my experience over many years of giving samples to people). I love it, you can still taste the origin but it has the lovely milk to mellow just slightly the bitterness. There are a few bars out there but they don't really say DARK MILK CHOCOLATE like the Lindt 50% which is what my wife and daughter go for when they have eaten everything I have made......which happens a lot, have a safe box with a very stern note in it, which some how doesn't seem to make one ounce of difference!!?#$%#@. Well, if I was serious I would get a small safe!

Oh, I finally got my Daintree Vanilla and wow! You weren't kidding just the smell alone is sodelicious and potent, not as harsh and 'green' (if that can be used as an aroma descriptor) as the Tahitian stuff you can buy in supermarkets now. I need to get some of the Queen planifolia for comparison, but wow, if that is how it smells I can't wait to put it in some chocolate this weekend. Mmmm mmmm!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Loved it Tom that's the way milk chocolate should be.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Yep! Just waiting on a few more things to be packaged and we'll soon have sales via the website. Only weeks away now. Sneek previews attached. Shhh...

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Looks like the Daintree bars are packaged, this pic is off the website

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Ooooo I can't wait, hopefully it gets here for a weekend run!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

I think I was talking to the right person in the right place at the right time.

The dark milk that I make with the Aussie beans is a 55% but that is 40% beans, I like my cacao content quite high in a dark milk, this formulation I found best to my liking, just the right amount of milk to balance with the fruit. The Daintree Estates formulation I am not sure of but suspect it is more like a 45% like you have guessed (when I see the nutritional info on the bigger bars I will be able to work it out). This bean works well at a number of different formulations below the 55% I settled on, the flavour of the bean still comes through even down to a 25% cacao bean content. I found it more challenging to formulate it at this level because I wanted to maintain the origin flavour but at that level of milk you face a lot more challengeswith the physical properties of the chocolate rather than getting the flavour you want. I got it pretty damn right in the end for the milk chocolate though, I was really quite proud of that one (with nibs in it it was killer!!!).

updated by @Tom: 09/07/15 20:42:50

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Damn I'm jealous. Is the dark milk the 45%?

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

It's very different , you will not be dissapointed.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Hey, thanks for the tip off Ice Blocks, I didn't know they existed, I seem to remember searching for Aussie vanilla at one stage, don't know how I missed them. I have just ordered some beans and will try them in a batch of Aussie chocolate and compare with other vanilla, see if I can detect a difference. I also quite like making a version of the el rusticoAskinosie bar which has chuncks of vanilla bean in the chocolate - should taste a difference there!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

I didn't work with Daintree Estates per se, Iworked with Don Murday and just before thatRick Raya bit on how theirpost harvest processes related to the finished chocolate, this started back in 2009. I worked for beans; Don kindlysent beans and I sent back chocolate. As well as trying different roasts over that time I optimised formulations (dark, dark milk and milk choc)to display the unusual flavour notes and did some 'product developement' too so to speak but never official. Don did show (let taste) some of the many shipments I sent over the years to some of the execs of the operation, so perhaps that had some influence. I had a great deal of fun and gained a lot of experience and importantly got to eat a lot of very nice chocolate. The finest beans I have worked with. Post harvest processing was so good I did a copy of Pralus' chocolate coated cocoa beans and they were sensational with dark milk chocolate. I had never felt game enough to try this on any other originI have worked with because the shell is left on in this delicacyand quite honestly who knows where cacao has been and the shell needs to be nice and thin, free ofplacenta, sticks, bugs, rocks, dirt andfermentation extremely consistent.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

I was hoping you were producing powder. I've seen pretty simple setups for that i.e. basically a massive hydralic ram and somewhere for the butter to go.

Don't know if you have tried, it but Daintree Vanilla & Spice is maybe worth trying to up the local Ozzie appeal.

Best milk chocolate I've tasted in 10+years maybe 20.I love milk chocolate.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Cocoa butter is not presently made anywhere in Australia, and not using Australian grown cocoa. Consequently our chocolate uses imported cocoa butter. In the future we plan to produce our own butter and powders, but this is unlikely within the next 12 months. We are obligated by law to disclose that the product is made from local and imported ingredients, but can assure you it is predominantly from Australian ingredients. All nibs are from 100% Australian grown cocoa. The sugar is from cane grown in the same region of Far North Queensland.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

One thing is intriguing me from the ingredients list on both the 70% and 45% mini bar labels is the inclusion separately of both Cocao Nibs & Cocao Butter. Is the butter from Daintree too? Is there then consequently left over Cacao powder? Are the nibs produced by a separate company? If your in control of the entire processing (bean-to-bar) "Cacao Beans" would be the obvious ingredient?

I also hate the "Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients." statement knowing the way juice manufactures abuse such labelling. i.e. the only "local ingredient" being water in some juices ...

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

We had the fortune to try both the 70% and 45% milk chocolate today. Must say I'm *very* impressed with both. The balance of sugar and mouth feel are excellent. Did you do the roasting profiles and formulation Tom?

I have a cold today so taste is impaired but from what I could taste I liked. From what understand the price point will be $8-$10 / 80g bar?

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Keep us posted Tim - I'm keen to try them

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Thanks Tom - yes, our 80g blocks are being packaged now and we should have them available for online ordering within 2-3 weeks. We're all nervously excited!!!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Just received a sample the other day. Excellent work guys, the flavour notes unique to the Australian bean are very well showcased. I just heard that the 80g bars were coming off the line on Monday. I look forward to seeing the packaging.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Thanks Tom for your continuing interest in the Australian cocoa growing project over the past few years. At long last (much to our grower's delight) we're just about there!!!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Well ill have to order some bars then, look forward to reading more as the blog continues!

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Ok got in, took a million years to load the site and i still got the message that it couldnt open the page? Dont know what is going on there, Ill have a look around.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Hi Tim good to see you on here.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

I have, still no love, have used Safari and Explorer on several machines. I will try at work when i get there.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Actually Daintree Estates is not just a bean to bar chocolate maker, but the only pod to plate chocolate maker in Australia. ;^)

Our full size blocks are not far away now. Product launch is expected in September or early October.

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Well i would like not to forget but i think i did, i am pretty sure i have come across the name before but couldnt access your website, and forgot with no other means of contact, it was a difficult followup. I am trying to access right now and cant. Just found your facebook and therefore your email but there aint much else there. So what do you do, where do you sell?

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Hey Tom don't forget the other Australianbean to bar producer"Cicada Chocolate".

Daintree Estates - Australia gets another bean-to-bar chocolate maker

Posted in: News & New Products Press

Very exciting news! Australia now has four bean to bar chocolate makers (I think I am counting correctly). Haigh's, Nui, Zokoko and now Daintree Estates ( www.daintreeestates.com ). Check out their comprehensive website for more info, the shop is not up and running yet but soon I am told.

I have had the good fortune to have worked with some of the cocoa from Mango Park run by Don and the chocolate I have made from itis amazing! The flavour notes are very unusual, I get liquorice and pineapple very strongly in this chocolate.

Well done guys!!

updated by @Tom: 03/11/26 06:20:34

huckleberries!

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Kathryn,

I've been working long hours lately and have not done much chocolate making lately, or anything else for that matter! Thank you for the recipe, I look foward to making it and will let you know how it turns out...

DM