Forum Activity for @Sabrina M

Santha Vs Cocoatown

Posted in: Opinion

Hi there,

I'm looking to purchase either the Santha Spectra 65 or the Cocoatown ECGC 65 and wanted to see if anyone has experience using both these units and how they compare to each other?

I've been using smaller Spectra models, and I've had issues with the belt breaking. But my understanding is that the 65 runs uses a gear drive, so I should have have these issues?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Sabrina

updated by @Sabrina M: 04/10/15 08:01:54

beans from the ivory coast

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Hi Milford Deninison,I think you should post an ad on Alibaba.com. We have quality grade A cocoa beans for sale. Our located in CAMEROON.

beans from the ivory coast

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Are you looking for bulk beans? If you consider using fine organic beans, shoot me message.

beans from the ivory coast

Posted in: Classifieds ARCHIVE

Looking for some organic cocoa beans from the ivory coast of anyone has any or knows where to get some I would be great full
updated by @Milford Dennison: 04/07/25 13:00:14

Chocolate for tempering?

Posted in: Opinion

I was wonder what chocolate people use for candy making? I need all 3 milk, dark and white. I was looking for a good brand that won't kill my bank account
updated by @Bryan: 04/10/15 13:48:08

Cacao beer or wine available in the us?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

The Black Inca beer is from Australia and you can contact ChocolateLife member Igor van Gerwen about getting some. We're registered for sale in California, so I need to connect to figure out how you can order. I will get back to you.

Cacao beer or wine available in the us?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hey there clay. That sounds like exactly what we are looking for! would love to get the contact info for that one. It would be great to get our hands on any other drinks you might know of too such as the black inca beer I noticed pictures of as well.

Cacao beer or wine available in the us?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Ash -

One of the projects I am working on is Solbeso - the world's first distilled beverage made from 100% fresh cacao fruit juice. We're registered for sale in NY, FL, and CA and ship to most states. It's 40% ABV, not 5-12% which is what a wine or beer would be, but it is very tasty. Let me know if you are interested and I can give you contact info for how to purchase.

:: Clay

Cacao beer or wine available in the us?

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi there,

Anybody out there heard of, or know of, any wine or beer drinks that are made from or with cacao that are available in the US?

updated by @Ash Maki: 04/09/15 07:04:25

Recipes

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

wanted to know if anyone wants to share a recipe of chocolate, as percentage of cocoa butter is placed in the manufacture of chocolate

updated by @mariano garcia: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Can powdered sugar be used in making chocolate bars

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I was a private pilot (still am technically) and the brotherhood of pilots is nothing short of amazing. I am getting that same feeling from the Chocolate life and the people making chocolate. It is Sunday m,owning, I fire out a question and people rush to help and spread their knowledge. I love the people and thee chocolate!! Thank you for your help. Makes perfect sense!

Can powdered sugar be used in making chocolate bars

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi Jim, the starch in the powdered sugar makes the chocolate swell up and thicken, which makes it hard to work with amongst other issues. I have used a Blendtec blender to pre grind sugar to some degree, but it does not get it very fine in the blender before the sugar starts to get sticky due to the heat build up from friction. So basically you can do a quick pre grind of the sugar but your chocolate will not have that silky smooth texture. A melanger seems to be the only solution I have found to get the smooth texture. FYI, the reason the powdered sugar has additives in it is to keep it from caking up. It is rumored that you can get powdered sugar from Europe or Canada without additives, but I have spent hours researching that and so far none has been found.

Can powdered sugar be used in making chocolate bars

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Careful with powder sugar...many times it isnt just sugar....it has corn starch, flour and calcium phoshpate, of course you could grind your own to get around that problem...

Can powdered sugar be used in making chocolate bars

Posted in: Tasting Notes

There seems to be lots of discussion about pulverizing the sugar before adding it to the chocolate liqueur. Is there some reason powdered sugar is not used?

updated by @Jim Cameron: 04/29/15 08:04:45

Meadowlands Chocolate, Bean-to-Bar, KICKSTARTER announcement

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Would anyone be able to give us some tips and pointers for getting the word out about Meadowlands Chocolate's Kickstarter campaign? Kickstarter has been very successful for several other bean-to-bar chocolate makers. We have a great product and would like to succeed in our Kickstarter goal. Would appreciate any help, especially from those who have run successful Kickstarter campaigns.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1412260686/meadowlands-chocolate

Meadowlands Chocolate, Bean-to-Bar, KICKSTARTER announcement

Posted in: Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Greetings fellow chocolate lovers and chocolate makers! Clyo and I have been so busy making chocolate and getting our business going, that we haven't had much time to post here. However, we have learned a lot from The Chocolate Life people who post here over the past year. Just a note to let everyone within earshot (or cyber-earshot) know that Meadowlands Chocolate (we make handcrafted, single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate) has launched our first KICKSTARTER Project! Please take a look, enjoy the video and read our story, and consider contributing if you can and are so inclined.

Great Chocolate definitely ROCKS!

-- Clyo and Beryl, Meadowlands Chocolate

Here's the link:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1412260686/meadowlands-chocolate

Enjoy!

updated by @Beryl Wells Hamilton2: 04/11/15 21:56:31

Herbal Chocolate Challenges

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hello again chocolate lifers!

So just back from another round at the factory and I want to share some of our experience and get some feedback.

~~~~~*~~~~~

So we are starting an herbal chocolate business and we are in the midst of testing/refining our process so we can be selling asap. Tonight we noticed challenge which we think we have remedy for but I will run you through the journey of our latest batch.

This is our process;

We use a cacaotown melange to grind our raw nibs for 48 hrs. At hour 24 we add our sugar and herbs. Our ratio is 64 oz of nibs to 18 oz of butter with 32 oz of sugar and 160 grams of dried powdered herbs. That makes a 60% herbal chocolate bar.

When we arrived, the chocolate was quite thick in the melange but we figured we would see where we were at once tempered and warmed to working temperature.

We brought the chocolate up to 120* then started to temper by hand on our granite slab. We seeded about 50 grams of chocolate at about 95* and continued to reduce the temperature on the slab. This is when it started to thicken up on us and once we got to proper temperature it was hardly workable. After raising it back up to 90* it was still very hard for us to pour it into our molds. We ended up having to spread it into the molds with our flat spatula, forming many bubbles which we were unable to remove through agitation.

Then we placed the polycarbonate molds into the fridge and waited about 25 minutes. We couldnt get the bars out of the molds even with vigorous whacking on the table.

~~~~~*~~~~~

My thoughts are that we need to add more butter. Were hoping that adding maybe another 5 oz might give us the proper viscosity we are looking for. Does this sound like it would remedy our thickness issue as well as our ability to get them out of the molds??

The chocolate tastes great but the production needs some more fine tuning and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

updated by @Evan Langendorf: 04/11/25 09:27:36

POS Systems

Posted in: Uncategorized

We are looking at new POS systems, currently running our retail shop on GoPayment (square type app). We are looking for something that will allow us to track inventory and manage our wholesale along with retail sales, use gift cards and possibly an integrated ecommerce element (which are currently all seperate). Not even sure where to start! What programs have you been using and what should we avoid? We would like it to be Ipad compatible and be able to track sales remotely. Please leave your suggestions, the insight is much appreciated!

-Carley

updated by @Carley Felton: 04/13/15 23:01:13

warm weather shipping

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Mary, check out this extensive discussion on warm-weather shipping:

http://www.thechocolatelife.com/forum/topics/summer-shipping-tips-tricks

warm weather shipping

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

i have a customer that wants chocolate shipped to texas - where it currently is 100 degrees. obviously, overnight is essential. but any hints for how to package with cold packs, etc. would shipping the chocolate straight from the freezer be okay??

thanks

mary amsterdam

updated by @mary amsterdam: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Wrapping Solutions

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks for the link. I am checking that site out now.

Wrapping Solutions

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Mark,

There was a response to this earlier. I think the site mentioned was www.gleurp.com .

I think Shaun mentioned he bought packaging from the company. The artwork is 'hot stamped' and is an option offered.

Clement

Wrapping Solutions

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

We have access to some very fine cacao now, some that a certain US artisan company is able to sell for $45/lb., after they convert it to bar.

Our process is complete, but improving.

I would like to find an economical, yet elegant solution for wrapping bars that we can sell to tourists and the locals. There is the traditional, label over foil wrapping that commercial bars used to use. Then there are the artisanal, wax lined bags such as:

Does anyone know if these types of bags are available "off the shelf"? Do they require custom printing and hand sealing?

I'm open to any wrapping solutions, but we really want to brand our chocolate and give it an earthy look, such as the wrapper above.

updated by @Mark Allan: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Small/Mini Enrober

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and pretty new to the chocolate world altogether. I just purchased the Revolution Delta and am looking for an enrober to go with it [a local Chocolate 'maker' advised me to purchase the Revolution). From the limited research I've done online, I have not been successful in finding a "small" enrober that would work with the Revolution Delta. I was wondering whether you can provide some advice where I can pick up an enrober similar to Chocovison's version (the enrober by Chocovision will not work with the Revolution (link to Chocovision enrober: http://www.chocovision.com/index.php?cPath=37&id=384&name=E ...). I'm not limited to the Revolution, it's just that I need a tempering machine that's somewhat mobile..

Feel free to message me directly: levi@jcrafts.org

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Levi

updated by @Levi: 04/23/15 06:42:04

Melting Machine & Warm Milk

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

I'm only guessing here, I don't have any scientific basis for saying this, but:

- milk is stored in a fridge at 4C - I assume this is to help prevent bacterial growth

- chocolate has an incredibly long shelf life (relative to milk) if it remains unmixed with anything

I would have thought it best to (1) keep the milk in the fridge as long as possible for bacterial reasons and (2) not mix the chocolate with anything else, so that if you don't use it all, you can let it set and reuse it later.

Melting Machine & Warm Milk

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi,

I'm trying to create an awesome drinking chocolate. I have a chocolate melting machine and I was wondering if adding warm milk in the melting machine would be advisable, or would you add it later (i.e. keeping the chocolate separate in the melting machine).

Your feedback would be highly appreciated. This forum is a ton of help, thanks guys.

M.

updated by @jisimni_mark: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Andrea thanks for the great info and advice!

It is great help.

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

Since the course is self-directed it is mostly reading and then practicing. It is well organized information, which is why the course is good for someone with no other experience. Plus there is a lot of good information regarding the history of chocolate.Based on your experience you could do just fine continuing on your own. It sounds like you are already developing an understanding of how to temper chocolate. It is a continual learning process anyway with success and failure along the way.One thing that might benefit you is to find someone locally who is a chocolate maker or has experience who you can hire for some hands on training. Maybe an hour or so to see how someone else tempers chocolates. We learn not just by reading but by modeling what we see as well.Once you have a handle on tempering then you might want to consider spending time learning (either through Ecole or in you own) about how to avoid contamination, mold growth and the best ways to extend shelf life.I took the Ecole class you discuss and enjoyed it. I also did some professional-level classes and continue to develop my skills on my own. I do think its possible for you to do it on you own but it will probably just take longer.Andrea

Is Ecole Chocolate online program for me?

Posted in: Chocolate Education

I know that a few questions about Ecole Chocolate has been asked before in the forum, and I did read good reviews, however I didn't find enough information for me to decide.

The first question is how does it work? Is it something like - "here is your reading about the subject, study then do the exercise"? I got general information about this program but I don't understand how the learning is actually done.

Second question - can't you get the same training from books, online reading and videos + this forum?

I completed a professional pastry training, purchased "Chocolates and Confections" and I already practice. So I do have some skills and knowledge, but I want to learn it more thoroughly. Also my results are not satisfactory in my opinion.

So I really think about it and I am not sure if I need this program or can continue to learn and practice on my own and get to the same results.

Any thoughts from people who did this program will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Or

updated by @Or M: 04/10/15 09:43:32

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks, I'm in oregon. I'm not a member but maybe ill try searching.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Krista,

Not sure where you are located but I have used brokers in the NY metro area. The average is 10-15%

You can get a list of Brokers from Specialty Food Association, if you are a member. if not a member, I am not sure if the list is available but you could always try to google it

Diane

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Its helpful & appreciated

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Industry Average

Broker 2-5%

Distributor 15-15%

As far as a salesperson is concerned, unless you have a well established mix of product/pricing/historicals, it will be difficult to obtain a qualified person, even if on a part time basis.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Thanks for responding. I was more just wondering if there was an industry average percentage that a rep would be expecting and if I could even come close to.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

A good way to decide is to figure out A) if sales for you is their only gig, and B) if so, what would be a decent monthly "salary" to make it worth it for them. From there, figure out what % of your sales gets them to that point. For example, if the sales person wanted to make $5000 a month, and you offered 10%, they'd need to sell $50,000 a month. If they have other sources of income, then less might be acceptable to them. It will also depend on how much responsibility you want to give them and what your production capacity is (if you can't produce $50,000 worth of chocolate, then recalculate based on what you can make).

Ultimately you will have to just put an offer out there and negotiate based on individual needs.

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

This is a really good question and I too would love to hear from other members, especially those with sales experience. I wonder what kind of arrangement sales people are looking for? If sales people are open to commission only what percentage makes it worth theie time? If sales people need some type of base payment, I would really like to know what they require? what kind of arrangement keeps a sales person motivated to sell?

Salesperson

Posted in: Opinion

Hi, has anyone here ever hired an outside salesperson? I'm considering it on commission only. Any idea what the normal percentage is for this industry? I have no idea what is an acceptable percentage
updated by @Krista2: 04/09/15 15:03:12

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I tasted 9 different plain dark bars of them in 2010, 2011 and the last ones in December 2012. Sorry to say this but overall I didn't like them. In my opinion the texture is terrible, no good melt and no delicate flavours. Two bars were even disgusting: San Martin and Papua New Guinea. San Martin was very bitter like aspirin and the Papua had very heavy smoke flavours. I spew them out and throw the bars away I hope they improved their production style since then....

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Mast Brothers were one of the first companies that I can think of who realized that beautiful packaging will entice people to buy chocolate. Their high quality, artistic, multi-colored wrapping papers draw many people to buy their bars. Right or wrong, an inescapable fact is that marketing has an incredible influence on buying. I have been in chocolate stores observing uninformed people make decisions. The majority of the time, when faced with a wall of many bars, uninformed people will just choose the one that looks best without knowing anything about the maker. Since the vast majority of Americans know very, very little about artisan chocolate this is how many people decide which bars to buy.

I think that Mast Brothers also influenced other companies to use high quality artistic wrapping paper as well. I imagine that makes production costs higher, though, thus decreasing the profit margin.

Sadly, the converse is also true-- some very high quality makers are often overlooked only because the packaging was not as attractive as other bars.

Group Review #2 - The Mast Brothers (any and all)

Posted in: Tasting Notes

This is the second in a regular series (ultimately at least quarterly) of Group Reviews , a new feature for 2014 here on TheChocolateLife.

The idea behind the reviews is to get members to contribute their opinions about chocolates that are either very popular, have been heavily hyped, and/or that have received strong positive reviews from rating and reviewing web sites and/or awards programs.

The inspiration for the feature comes from Jos Ortega y Gassets 1929 book, The Revolt of the Masses [ Amazon affiliate link ]. In this book, Gasset predicts that future generations will come to rely more heavily on the recommendations of friends, colleagues, and even strangers over those of experts. If asked to choose between the advice of "experts" and the impressions of "regular" people, the majority will turn to the latter. This helps explain why many people tend to trust crowd-sourced aggregate reviews over those from reviewers in established media outlets.

For this Group Review - Anything made by the Mast Bros

Think about your response in three parts.

Part 1 :: Present your sensory impressions - Aroma, Taste, and Texture -of one or more of the chocolates.

Part 2 :: Give a rating of the chocolate on whatever scale you want (or that you use for your own purposes) - 1 (low) through 10 (high), 1 through 100, or an impressionistic scale from low (This chocolate is so bad that if I were gifted it I would not even regift it to someone I did not care about); to high (This chocolate is so good that I would have to think three times before sharing any, or This is a desert island chocolate).

Part 3 :: This part is optional but is very important for this review and can include a discussion about other aspects of the chocolate - including your thoughts on packaging, marketing -- topics that are not central to the chocolate itself.

updated by @Clay Gordon: 04/20/15 15:13:36

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

As I mentioned, I have used 'mycryo' as seed. Mycryo is pure powdered cocoa butter. This has worked quite well for me.

To expand on what I do: I generally use it in a non-stirred melter, but have used it in my small chocovision. I just need to ignore/bypass the built in tempering routine. What I do is let the machine melt the chocolate, then press the 'seed' button without adding anything. I wait until the temperature has dropped to 94F, and _then_ I add the mycryo seed. In this way I can control the amount added. Because it is a powder, _all_ of it goes under the baffle and into the melt.

Mycryo is recommended for use in 1% levels, but you could add 1% at higher temperature to simply be fully melted, and use 1% as seed.

-Jon

Using cacao butter as seed AND What temperature to add seed

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi Jon, thank you for helping me understand how the tempering machine works. I get it that the machine uses the block in the back of the baffle until the temp drops to its target working zone, thus the amount of chocolate used will vary on conditions. So, I will have to use chocolate to seed with, rather than the cacao butter. If I can't control how much butter the temperer uses, I won't have the control I need to keep my recipe intact.

Thank you again!