The Pod - Issue 7

ISSU E # 7

n e ws & r e v ie ws st r a igh t from t h e conch

AT HOME IN THE RAINFOREST

How a plucky British couple built Hotel Chocolat’s hotel in Saint Lucia p8

AU T H E N T IC • OR IG I N A L • E T H IC A L

Don’t you deserve the best?

Excellence Experience the most admired chocolates from the last year’s Tasting Club selections. Specially made for Tasting Club members.

Ensure yours is reserved today! hotelchocolat.com/tastingclub £20.95 including p&p

Contents features 4 STRAIGHT FROM THE CONCH Our co-founder Angus Thirlwell invites you to a Saint Lucian ‘jump-up’ on a beautiful new terrace at our Rabot 1745 restaurant. Plus, our Top Picks to see and do this month.

5 THE RISE OF THE ICON

The Giant Slab is back in a beautiful new box. Read the story of one of our most iconic chocolate designs.

6 FOOD & DRINK The story of our exquisite Chocolate Fudge Sundae. Plus: The Strawberry & Chocolate Mille-Feuille recipe that you will love with a deep and abiding passion.

7 Living in a box Do not forget to buy cocoa infusion bags for the slightly scary woman you love, recommends Iain Ball.

8 THE PHIL & JUDY STORY What kind of maniac moves 4,000 miles to restore a dilapidated 250-year cocoa plantation? Meet Phil & Judy Buckley.

12 COCOA PLANET The latest happenings from the Tasting Club and the world of Hotel Chocolat, plus cocoa news from around the globe.

13 QUICK SNAPS You heard it here first: Tidbits and snippets to keep you informed.

Page 5

14 THE CHOCOLATE TASTING CLUB Learn more about our Chocolate Tasting Club, with scores and comments from last month’s selections.

Editor’s note

Page 8

On the cover this month is the Boucan restaurant and, just below it, the infinity pool at Club Boucan. Building our astonishing luxury hotel over a thousand feet up a mountain in a rainforest required the remarkable courage and endurance of Phil and Judy Buckley, Hotel Chocolat’s couple on the ground in Saint Lucia.

Read all about their adventures on page 8.

Also this issue: The six winners of this year’s Create a Chocolate competition.

See their ingenious ideas on page 14.

Please follow us online at hotelchocolat.com/thepod Page 14

Iain Ball, Editor

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Megan Roberts

Gemma Hussey

Kieran Walker

PR Manager

Marketing Manager

Tasting Club Marketing Manager

Megan interviewed the intrepid Phil and Judy Buckley for this issue's cover story. When Megan’s not herding journalists and diving into the latest media splash, she can usually be found sipping on an antioxidant-rich cocoa shell infusion.

Marketing Manager Gemma is HC’s marketing whizz.

When she’s not dreaming up a new Christmas campaign or planning where Beau Bunny will be going next, Gemma loves to go running. Her favourite chocolate: Salted Caramel Puddles!

With 7 years’ experience at Hotel Chocolat, Kieran brings his talents to the Tasting Club. His mission: to make the experience of membership even more exciting. When he’s not thinking about chocolate, he’s thinking about buying a puppy. Aww.

Production: Editor: Iain Ball Assistant Editor: Alexandra Hare Senior Designer: Andy Linney Senior Designer: Louise Daniels Designer: Sarah Mckewan Contributors: CEO Hotel Chocolat: Angus Thirlwell Managing Director CTC: Terry Waters Head of Marketing: Melissa Shackleton Head of Guest Relations Saint Lucia: Judy Buckley PR Manager: Megan Roberts Head of Chocolat Development: Adam Geileskey

CONTACT US: Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email thepod@hotelchocolat.com or via our website hotelchocolat.com/tastingclub. For our US members please write to The Chocolate Tasting Club, PO Box 461, Montoursville, PA, 17754 website chocs.com

THE POD

4

Straight from the conch Jump Up to Rabot 1745 Join the party at our beautiful new terrace overlooking Borough Market, invites Angus Thirlwell The next time you’re in Saint Lucia, make sure you catch a Friday night jump-up.

That’s the Lucian name for an impromptu party after sunset, when friends and neighbours get together in a garden or on a local beach for drinks, food and music.

You can expect a fantastic feast of local jerked meat, spiced fish and ‘ground provisions’ (Lucian for ‘vegetables that grow in the ground’) – and some seriously dedicated relaxation.

This summer, we plan to bring the spirit of the jump-up to our Rabot 1745 restaurant in Borough Market, where we’re launching an open-air terrace with a fabulous view overlooking the historic market.

You’re warmly invited to join us on the terrace for dining and drinks, with room to seat 60, and a free spirit all its own.

Rabot Terrace has its own special menu, offering healthy and authentic food for the soul – including a new braised cocoa beer jerked chicken, a delicious fish escabeche and much more.

You can’t bottle the spirit of Saint Lucia, but we’ve added a liberal dash of it – with phenomenal food, fabulous drinks, and a fantastic view at the heart of one London’s oldest and finest markets.

Jump up and join us!

Book your table online at hotelchocolat. com/restaurants or opentable.com

“You can’t bottle the spirit of Saint Lucia, but we’ve added a liberal dash of it – with phenomenal food, fabulous drinks, and a fantastic view at the heart of one London’s oldest and finest markets.”

TOP PICKS

Things to do, places to go, people to see Sundae Driver Do not let the summer pass by without trying our exciting new Chocolate Fudge Sundae summer selector: a glorious combination of sticky toffee sauce and rich hazelnut praline that will drive your tongue wild. hotelchocolat.com

Don’t be afraid of…

Virginia Woolf, one of the greatest writers of the last century, is celebrated in an exhibition of portraits and rare archival material at the National Portrait Gallery, London, starting 10 July. npg.org.uk Image:

BEST IN CLASS

Celebrate Exam Success They passed! We think the victorious exam candidates in your life deserve the reward of A-grade chocolate. It’s like a gold star you can eat! hotelchocolat.com

The Port Eliot Festival Join this fun, eclectic and quirky festival in the grounds of a Grade 1 listed house in Cornwall, amid fairytale woodland and majestic river views, with everything from music to literature, kids’ stuff, fashion and flowers. 24-27th July. porteliotfestival.com

Mile-High Chocolate Going on a summer holiday?

Our chocolates are now flying on British Airways flights, served free to 1st Class and Club Class passengers, and available to buy in a special box of 24 chocolates made exclusively for BA! highlifeshop.com

Virginia Woolf by Vanessa Bell c.1912 1912 © Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy Henrietta Garnett. Photo credit: © National Trust / Charles Thomas

hotelchocolat.com/thepod

GRAND DESIGNS Our newly packaged iconic Giant Slabs are works of art When you pour molten chocolate onto the cool marble of a chocolatier’s table it naturally sets into a fabulously curvy, fluid shape.

This was the inspiration behind the design of our half-kilo Giant Slabs, icons of the Hotel Chocolat range.

Much admired, often copied but never equaled, our Giant Slabs have recently been given a subtle makeover, with a new range of recipes and a stylish and clever box.

Once you’ve finished admiring this magnificent still life in chocolate, just remove the lid, snap your slab into pieces and turn the frame into a tray – perfect for sharing. hotelchocolat.com/giantslabs

FRUIT & NUT FRENZY

BILLIONAIRE’S SHORTBREAD

COOKIE HAZELNUT CRAZE

ROCKY ROAD

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE WHAM BAM

Succulent golden raisins and cranberries and incredibly crunchy Piedmont hazelnuts and the best almonds wrapped in 70% dark chocolate.

A luxurious blend of irresistible caramel and mellow 50% milk chocolate, with a scattering of crispy shortcake biscuits.

Creamy 40% milk chocolate with magnificent blobs of high-cocoa white praline, studded with whole crunchy Piedmont hazelnuts and cocoa biscuit pieces.

Crispy crunch meets meltingly smooth, with chocolate chip cookies, creamy white chocolate chunks and puffed rice stirred into a silky smooth 70-30 milk and dark chocolate fusion.

A chocolate extravaganza with swirls of milk, mellow caramel and creamy highcocoa white chocolate – for those who love a little bit of everything.

Full Throttle Rev yourself up for one of the loudest and most thrilling events on the British Motorsport calendar, the FIM Speedway Grand Prix. Returning to Cardiff on 12th July speedwaygp.com

Leading Innovation The Designs of the Year exhibition at the Design Museum, London, celebrates the most cutting-edge and original talent of 2014. Vote for your winner at designsoftheyear.com

Tea for Two in Leeds Come to our Roast+Conch restaurant for a magnificent afternoon tea every Sunday from 12pm to 5pm, with an incredible selection of cocoa-infused delights and drinks. roastandconch.com Boyhood Richard Linklater’s ground-breaking new film, Boyhood, was filmed over 12 years with the same cast, following the tough journey of one boy from childhood to adolescence. Released 11th July.

A Decade of Chocolate This year, Hotel Chocolat celebrates 10 years of amazing chocolate.

Reserve our special 10th anniversary special selection, featuring the top ten chocolates of the last decade! hotelchocolat.com/topten

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THE POD

Food & Drink

The Chocolatier’s Tale Chocolate FUDGE SUNDAE Tarow Loke

“Last year I went on a family holiday to Cumbria, and paid a visit to the lovely village of Cartmel, known as the home of the sticky toffee pudding.

Their handmade sauces are incredible – rich, indulgent and beautiful drizzled over ice cream and sprinkled with chopped nuts.

Strawberry & Chocolate Mille-Feuille Succulent strawberry and cream, deeply indulgent chocolate and crispy puff pastry.

A special creation from last year’s Summer Desserts collection.

Difficulty: Medium Time: 40 minutes preparation; 35 minutes cooking Serves: 6

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4. To make the nibbed cream, place the cocoa nibs in a heatproof bowl in the oven for 10 minutes until warmed through. Remove from the oven and pour in the cream, stir, then leave to infuse until needed. (If Ingredients possible, do this a day in advance and keep, covered, in the fridge.)

Nibbed Cream: 2. To make the mille-feuille, turn the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas 6.

3 tbsp Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Nibs Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

300ml / 10½fl oz / scant 1¼ cups 3. Roll the pastry out to 5mm / ¼in thick. Cut into 9 rectangles double (heavy) cream ½ tsp vanilla extract approximately twice as long as they are wide and place on the 1 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar prepared baking sheet. Dust the pastry with icing (confectioners) sugar and top with a second sheet of baking parchment and a Mille-feuille: baking sheet to prevent the pastry rising. Bake for 15 minutes, then 500g / 1lb 2oz ready-made remove the top baking sheet and baking parchment. Return the puff pastry 5 tbsp icing (confectioners) sugar mille-feuille to the oven and cook for a few more minutes until 40g / 1½oz/ ¼ cup Hotel Chocolat golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

70% Dark Chocolate Drops 4. To make the strawberry sauce, place the strawberries and lemon juice into a blender and blend until puréed. Stir in the icing sugar, Strawberry Sauce: to taste, then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl.

500g / 1lb 2oz strawberries, hulled Juice of 1 lemon Stir in the cocoa nibs.

1–2 tbsp icing (confectioners) 5. Just before assembling the mille-feuille, put the chocolate in a sugar, to taste heatproof bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water 2 tbsp Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Nibs (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and heat until melted.

To Serve: 400g / 14oz strawberries, 6. Pass the nibbed cream through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add the hulled and sliced vanilla extract and caster (superfine) sugar and whisk into stiff peaks.

1 tbsp icing (confectioners) 7. To assemble the mille-feuille, carefully cut each piece of pastry in sugar, for dusting half crossways to make two pieces. Brush one side of each pastry sheet with the melted chocolate. Place one piece, chocolate-side up in the centre of each serving plate and top with some of the nibbed cream mixture. Lay a few of the sliced strawberries on top of the cream, then top with a second piece of pastry, chocolate-side up. Repeat this process with the remaining cream and strawberries.

8. Top each serving with the final piece of pastry, chocolate-side down. Dust with icing sugar, spoon around the strawberry sauce and strawberries.

Cumbria also had a fantastic selection of fudge on offer, and I couldn’t get either of these amazing ingredients out of my mind when I came home.

So our Chocolate Fudge Sundae was born! I started with sticky toffee sauce, and added a dash of fudge to the recipe for a deeper, even more satisfying flavour.

The sauce is slathered over a thick layer of hazelnut praline, and topped with a caramel cap; everyone went crazy over it in our tasting meeting, proclaiming it one of our future superstars! What do you think?”

Chocolate Fudge Sundae available in selector: hotelchocolat.com

For the shopping list...

70% Dark Chocolate Drops Easy-melt baby buttons of our 70% cocoa house dark chocolate for baking or snacking. A perfect cocoa hit of utter indulgence. £8.50 hotelchocolat.com

hotelchocolat.com/thepod

7

Forgetting her cocoa tea is probably not advisable, reckons Iain Ball “Look, this is what aphids look like,” says Zoe sharply, pointing at a collection of small, harmless-looking bright green bugs that have dropped onto her bike saddle from a nearby bush.

They’re so well camouflaged I can never spot them in our garden, but on a black background they look a bit startled, like old ladies caught by a gentleman caller with their curlers still in.

As I peer down, Zoe wipes them all out with a brutal coup de main.

She looks at me with a grim satisfaction, slowly brushing their tiny corpses from her hands.

“That was a bit ruthless,” I say, surprised.

“They’re the gits who keep attacking my clematis,” says Zoe firmly. In her French accent, ‘gits’ sounds like ‘geets’.

I’m slightly disturbed.

And it’s all done with an ironfisted zeal that I never noticed before in my otherwise kind and gentle Zoe. I try not to let it bother me.

After lunch at home, she sweetly asks me to make her usual cocoa infusion tea. Zoe adores everything about it, from the malty flavours and antioxidants to the zero-calorie cocoa buzz.

Nowadays, she even keeps the leftover shells and sprinkles them in her garden pots. “Cocoa shells make an excellent mulch,” she says. I nod as if I remember what that is.

Zoe flicks on the TV: The Empire Strikes Back is on, and she catches Darth Vader getting annoyed with one of his flunkeys.

I go to the kitchen cupboard and realise with a start that I forgot to pick up more Cocoa Infusion Bags from Hotel Chocolat when we were out.

Zoe is the queen of our balcony garden. And under her reign, there’s no question that it has transformed into a beautiful space filled with flowers and herbs and spectacular climbing plants.

“You have failed me for the last time, Admiral,” seethes Lord Vader from the telly.

But the more her garden grows, I’ve noticed, the more mediaeval Zoe seems to become.

She now exterminates all potential threats with an icy determination that is, frankly, unnerving.

The shop isn’t far, so I decide it’s best if I just slip out quietly.

Any leatherjacket grubs that are discovered are cast from our second-floor balcony like traitors tossed from the castle wall. She’s acquired her own squad of ladybirds, whose job is to hunt down and suppress aphids and other mites. She’s now considering various organic chemical weapons to take them out.

BOX

LIVING in a

“Serves him right, silly git,” comments Zoe from the sofa, as Admiral Ozzel drops dead.

“Zoe now exterminates all potential threats with an icy determination that is, frankly, unnerving...”

Vox chocs Cocoa soundbites from people Who Tweet Sophie Anderton@sophielanderton So excited to learn about making my own chocolate! Love my bf @Sabina for the most fun b’day pressie so far! @Rabot1745 About Time @AboutTimeMag It’s a beer. It’s infused with cocoa shells. It’s the best creation ever? @HotelChocolat Marita Kelly @OfficialMaritaK Its mornings like this I know my editor is amazing – Mississippi Mud Pie in the studio at 7am @hotelchocolat

We’d love to hear your thoughts on The Pod and our products.

Have your say at thepod@hotelchocolat.com or tweet us at @hotelchocolat

hotelchocolat.com/thepod

9

TWO BEANS IN A POD It’s not all mangos, mosquitoes and margaritas. Meet Phil and Judy Buckley, the plucky British couple who moved 4,000 miles from home to restore Hotel Chocolat’s 250-year-old cocoa plantation.

P

hil and Judy Buckley arrived on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia in 2006 at the bottom of a mountain, with four suitcases, three dogs and a hire car.

The newly married Buckleys’ mission was to restore a 250-year old distressed Caribbean cocoa plantation to its former glory. Getting stuck in right at the roots of the cocoa trees, they would unite local farmers and bring back the exceptional chocolate the faded 140-acre estate had been famed for over a century ago.

Eight years and two hurricanes later, they’ve created a stunning hotel described by Marie Claire as ‘a luxury bolthole’. Condé Nast Traveller places it on their coveted Hot List as ‘understated luxury with a hint of sex appeal’, and Tatler simply murmurs, ‘Chic’.

“I was filled with excitement,” says Judy of her first days on the island, now relaxing with a cup of coffee on the Rabot Estate house veranda.

“My mother is from the Caribbean and I felt like I was coming home.”

But reality soon shoved aside any picture-postcard dreams the Buckleys may have arrived with.

Words: Megan Roberts Left: Hotel Chocolat’s Estates Director Phil Buckley and his wife Judy Buckley, our Head of Guest Relations at our Boucan Hotel, outside the Rabot Estate plantation house in Saint Lucia, at the heart of our 140-acre cocoa plantation.

“After the first two months it hit me,” she says. “We didn’t have a bank account. We hadn’t bought the land. We had meeting after meeting after meeting with the government. And I missed my family and friends terribly. It wasn’t all mangos, mosquitoes and margaritas and lying by the pool all day.”

In something of a culture shock, the pair found themselves on a primordial Caribbean island with intense heat, looming volcanoes and hurricanes, unsure if they had a home.

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THE POD

TWO BEANS IN A POD

“Hotel Chocolat also created the world’s first ever singlecôte chocolate bar, with cocoa harvested from the Marcial côte of Rabot Estate. Billed by The Telegraph as the ‘world’s most exclusive chocolate bar.”

“It was the local Lucians who brought us in and made us feel that we belonged,” says Phil. “They involved us in the local community, invited us to Christmas dinners, communions – the lot. They’ve stood by us and helped us for the past eight years.”

An engineer by trade, Phil had never designed a hotel before.

“I designed factories. But I like a challenge,” he smiles.

And a challenge it was, every step of the way. In 2007, Hurricane Dean ripped through the island, flattening a year’s hard work on the plantation. Hurricane Tomas followed in 2010, demolishing much of Saint Lucia and tragically claiming the lives of close friends of the Buckleys.

“The hurricane ripped the coconuts off the trees and turned them into cannonballs,” Phil recalls sadly.

“The government issued a state of emergency. We were devastated,

all of us. But we never wanted to give up.”

“You just plough through together,” adds Judy. “We went out into the community and helped our friends put the roofs back on their homes.”

When Boucan opened in 2011, it became a wild success, drawing worldwide acclaim, numerous celebrity guests and appearances on television.

The monumental scale of the landscape around Boucan is jawdropping. A real-life Jurassic Park roars into life before your eyes, the Piton Mountains towering majestically in a vivid, glossy riot of greenery and tropical flora.

Everything has been meticulously thought out, from the showstopping view at the infinity pool to the perfectly positioned Lodges that catch the cooling breeze from the Caribbean Sea. Better than any West End show, the natural stage unfolds every evening

hotelchocolat.com/thepod

11

From left: The welcome sign to our 250-year-old cocoa plantation, Rabot Estate; inside the nursery; palm trees struggle to stay upright during 2010’s terrible Hurricane Tomas; using earthmovers to clear the road afterwards; Phil shakes hands with our first Island Grower partner, Laurence Auguste in 2006; Judy at Boucan; the church at Soufrière, the nearby town and harbour for the hotel boat; the stunning view of one of the Piton mountains from the infinity pool at Boucan; a guest lodge at the hotel

for an unforgettably dramatic experience. The golden sun gently slides between the theatrical Pitons, resting finally behind Petit Piton for the perfect backlighting. Sitting and watching the sun set with a Cocoa Bellini in hand is an almost spiritual delight to the senses.

“This isn’t about glass elevators going up to the mountains,” explains an animated Phil. “It’s not a hotel. This is barefoot luxury. Guests come here and they experience a whole new lifestyle during their stay with us. Hitting the wow factor is what we wanted to do and I think we’ve done it.”

Phil also went on to establish our Island Growers programme, forging an ethical trading partnership with more 150 local farmers that has restored Saint Lucia’s fame for its prized variety of fine cocoa.

In 2012, Hotel Chocolat also created the world’s first ever single-côte chocolate bar, with cocoa harvested from the Marcial côte of Rabot

Estate. Billed by The Telegraph as the ‘world’s most exclusive chocolate bar’, with notes of ‘shiraz wine, antique oak, roasted cocoa and stewed spiced plums’, it swiftly sold out.

The passion and energy that pours out of Phil and Judy is captivating.

Listening to them talk and finish each other’s sentences, you quickly realise that they are something of an inimitable force. Phil gestures around expansively as he tells me excitedly about Project Genesis, the long-anticipated chocolate manufactory currently under construction. Judy has quietly left, her lilting Welsh tones in the background warmly welcoming the latest open-mouthed guests to Boucan.

Loved and respected within the community here, the pair are happily, as Phil says, “stuck in like an Alabama tick”.

And they’ve only just begun.

come to Boucan “Boucan is probably the best, and certainly the most interesting hotel-restaurant on the island” Condé Nast Traveller STAY WITH US The Boucan by Hotel Chocolat is a celebrated boutique hotel in Saint Lucia with 14 luxurious lodges set 1,000 feet above sea level, with spectacular views of the Piton mountains.

The hotel is located amongst the rainforest and sun-dappled cocoa groves of Rabot Estate, and is served by the acclaimed Boucan restaurant, one of the island’s favourite foodie destinations.

As a guest you’ll be free to do what you like, from trips around our relaxing cocoa groves and Tree to Bar chocolate-making adventures to daily excursions to the island’s hidden beaches on our cruiser, unforgettable cocoa massages at our Cocoa Juvenate spa, or just chilling out in the infinity pool, taking in the primordial beauty of a protected nature reserve.

ENJOY A FREE NIGHT If you stay with us between 6th January 2015 to 30th April 2015 you’ll receive a Complimentary Night’s Stay and Tree to Bar Experience. To enjoy this offer, please book a minimum 4-night stay before 30th November 2014.

Find out more and book at hotelchocolat.com/boucan

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THE POD

Cocoa planet news from around our world Saint Lucia Location: Boucan, Rabot Estate Showstopping events and weddings at our Boucan Hotel Our barefoot luxury boutique hotel has been attracting a huge amount of attention as the destination and event space in Saint Lucia, for everything from reality TV shows to magazine shoots and amazing weddings.

Earlier this year, viewers of ABC’s hit romance reality series The Bachelor saw the suave Juan Pablo Galavis trying to find the love of his life from 27 gorgeous female candidates at various locations in Saint Lucia, with Boucan playing the role of fantasy tropical love nest.

In March, a styling team from Company Magazine visited Boucan in March for a beauty story photo shoot. Two stunning models were photographed in glamorous hair and make-up shots with a ‘colour splash’ theme (the season’s big beauty trend, we’re told) – for a story running this summer.

And there’s no reason why you couldn’t have your own showstopping event at Boucan. This February, a Tasting Club member from Michigan in the US took over the entire hotel for their wedding, with the aid of Boucan’s Head of Guest Relations, Judy Buckley.

The spectacular views, beautiful weather, stunning rainforest and restful cocoa groves make Boucan an amazing place to get hitched.

Judy can plan the whole thing for you – from an intimate wedding to taking over the whole hotel, to hosting your reception in our Boucan restaurant, even the cake and the ceremony (and she usually sheds a tear or two at the ceremony).

The ceremony can take place in a variety of locations around the 140-acre estate, all of them with a dramatic and primordial beauty that stands out from the usual Caribbean wedding.

We also offer some beautiful honeymoon packages, too. Book your honeymoon at Boucan before April 30th 2015 (for a minimum 5-night stay at the hotel before April 30th 2016) and you’ll receive a complimentary upgrade from a Lodge to Luxe Lodge.

Find out more at hotelchocolat.com/boucan

Above: Jennifer and friends at her wedding with Matthew at Boucan in February this year

Ghana Location: Osuben, Kwahu District The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund: Nearly there!

We’re now so close to reaching our target of £45,000 for the Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, needed to finish building a medical centre for the cocoa-farming community living in and around Osuben in Eastern Ghana.

We need to raise just another £767 to finish the building of the centre.

The foundations are laid, the walls are built, and now the roofing frame and aluminum roof is being put on.

This is a great achievement, and we’re already feeling really proud of the commitment and generosity we’ve received from our Tasting Club members.

We still need to raise funds to reach the target. You can help by making a donation (see right), or even just by sending in a Tasting Club scorecard. We’re giving an extra 25p towards the Cocoa Growers’ Fund for every scorecard we receive.

Any additional donations over our target that we receive will be put towards buying additional medical equipment for the centre, which we hope will be complete and operational before the end of the year.

JOIN OUR GHANA APPEAL How you can help: We still need £767 to complete and equip the Osuben medical centre. We add 25p for every scorecard we receive from our Tasting Club members.

If you’d like to donate, please send a cheque made payable to: The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send it to: CTC Ghana Appeal, Freepost, ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD. CURRENT:

£ 4 4,2 3 3 TARGET: £45,000

surprise!

uk Location: Covent Garden

Cilla at Rabot 1745

Cocoa Vaults – The School Of Chocolate

Surprise, surprise! Rabot 1745 recently hosted a star-studded cocoa lunch with BAFTA in honour of the legendary Cilla Black. Cilla and her closest celebrity friends and family celebrated her upcoming BAFTA award for outstanding contribution to entertainment with us!

Discover all the secrets of the cocoa bean at our exclusive event space in the heart of Covent Garden.

Our beautiful and intimate underground venue near Seven Dials on Monmouth Street makes a perfect setting for our School of Chocolate, with chocolate-making sessions, tasting events and all kinds of bespoke parties and events for everyone from kids to corporate teams.

Your could take your appreciation of chocolate to the next level with a Chocolate Tasting Adventure – a two-hour guided tour through the flavour nuances of chocolate in which you’ll learn how best to taste it, pair it and discern the distinctive flavours of fine cocoa from around the world, with a delicious glass of our house Prosecco.

Our Corporate Chocolate Tasting Adventures make for unique business events, perfect for informal networking, team building, staff incentives and more.

TUCK IN

Learn the noble art of chocolate making in our Bean to Bar Experience. Our own chocolatier will show you how to roast and conch cocoa and guide you as you make your own bar of chocolate to take with you.

We also offer creative children’s parties, with chocolate decorating and a fun and educational introduction to cocoa and chocolate.

Come for Breakfast

In all our events we like to offer delicious goody bags to take home with you!

The plantation breakfasts we serve at our Boucan hotel are legendary. Now they’re available at Rabot 1745 in London and Roast+Conch in Leeds, with everything from Superfood Cacao Muesli to Lobster Hollandaise with poached eggs! Served every day. hotelchocolat.com/restaurants

Cocoa Vaults is also available for private hire for bespoke events, parties, photo shoots and as a filming location. Just tell us what you’d like and we’ll create it.

BAKE OFF

Book your adventure at our School of Chocolate at hotelchocolat.com/tastingevents

Find us at: 4 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9HB

Remembering nicola Hotel Chocolat’s call centre team recently held a bake-off using recipes from our Summer Desserts cards.

The winners were Craig Losh with his Buttered Rum Cheesecake and Jodie Richardson with her Chocolate & Raspberry Mousse.

They raised just over £60 for the Nicola Emmerson Trust, which funds research into Sudden Cardiac Death in young people. Nicola was an employee on our team who sadly passed away on her 20th birthday, so this is a charity that’s very close to our hearts. thenicolaemmersontrust.co.uk

Above: The roof goes on the medical centre at Osuben. Lumber to build the frame is brought in by members of the local community

Quick SNAPS

THE POD

14

Tasting Club Reviews The Create A Chocolate Competition Winners You imagined them. Now we’ll make them. The Create a Chocolate Competition results are in!

appear in our Tasting Club selections at the end of the year.

With hundreds of candidates vying for just six prize-winning spots, our co-founder Angus Thirlwell found it hard to choose, but the winning chocolates all have something in common.

“The secret is a brilliant flavour pairing,” explains Angus.

Each winning recipe has a great combination of ingredients that will wow your taste buds, as you’ll discover when they

1

2

Mint Royale – Mark Perkins

The six winners are: Mint Royale by Mark Perkins; Turkish Coffee by Hester van Hien; Walnut Liqueur by Pamela Jordan; Flake by Lynfa-Siân Palmer; Lemon Fresh by Claire Richardson; and Burnt Caramel with Praline by Holly Farnham.

Turkish Coffee – Hester van Hien

Classic selection D173 No. Chocolate Name

Meanwhile, each winner will receive a 5kg case of their own creation, containing at least 200 chocolates.

3

Walnut Liqueur – Pamela Jordan

Dark selection K106

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

1

Lemon Meringue Pie

Kiri Kalenko

42%

8.6

1

Dizzy Praline

Rhona Macfadyen

37%

8.2

2

Crème Brûlée

Tarow Loke

40%

8.7

2

Ecuador 70% Praline

Kiri Kalenko

33%

8.4

3

Champagne Bellini

Olivier Nicod

31%

8.2

3

Crème Brûlée

Tarow Loke

30%

8.2

4

Coffee & Almond

Rachel Smith

30%

8.1

4

Champagne Bellini

Olivier Nicod

30%

8.4

5

Rum, Raisin & Cinnamon

Jessica Howe

29%

8.1

5

Rum, Raisin & Cinnamon

Jessica Howe

28%

8.0

1

2

3

1

2

3

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING

Lemon Meringue Pie – “The lemon meringue pie tasted just like an actual lemon meringue pie. I also absolutely loved the Sour Cherry & Coconut.” 10/10 Ruth A Deckman

Dizzy Praline – “This was a hit. A lovely combination of tastes.” 8/10 Francis Budge

Champagne Bellini – “The joy of a Bellini WITH chocolate. Marvellous. 10/10 Kim Butteriss

Ecuador 70% Praline – “This wasn’t 70% milk, it was 70% praline and it was delicious.” 10/10 T Stockil

PRIZE DRAW

PRIZE DRAW

Our prize draw winner is Ruth Deckman from Lewistown USA who wins a Sleekster Nutty Selection.

Our prize draw winner is Mrs Joan McCarthy from Brentwood who wins a Dark Signature Selection.

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4

RABOT 1745 selection P38*

Flake – Lynfa-Siân Palmer

No. Chocolate Name

5

15

Chocolatier

1

Trinidad 75% Piedmont Hazelnuts & Nibs

Kiri Kalenko

2

Thick Caramel & Cocoa Nibs

Olivier Nicod

3

Venezuelan Dream

Olivier Nicod

4

Hacienda Iara 70% Milk

Kiri Kalenko

5

Island Growers 50% Milk Feuilletine Bûche

Rhona Macfadyen

Lemon Fresh – Claire Richardson

1

2

3

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING 6

We haven’t received enough scores this month for the Rabot 1745 selection to be statistically valid. But members’ comments below are representative.

Burnt Caramel with Praline – Holly Farnham

Venezuelan Dream – “A second outstanding chocolate in this selection.

Rum and dark chocolate mix exquisitely. ” 10/10 Anthony Grattan-Cooper PRIZE DRAW

Our prize draw winner is Mrs A Wright from London who wins a selection of bars from Saint Lucia.

All Milk selection M28* No. Chocolate Name

Elements selection S84

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

1

Crème Brûlée

Tarow Loke

40%

8.3

1

Lemon Meringue Pie

Kiri Kalenko

45%

8.4

2

Chai Latte

Rachel Smith

37%

7.5

2

Crème Brûlée

Tarow Loke

36%

8.2

3

Dizzy Praline

Rhona Macfadyen

37%

8.6

3

Caramel Milk Chocolate

Felicity Plimmer

32%

8.3

4

Blood Orange Truffle

Jessica Howe

34%

7.9

4

Blood Orange Truffle

Jessica Howe

31%

8.2

5

Salted Caramel & Feuilletine Baton

Felicity Plimmer

33%

7.9

5

Berry Kisses

Olivier Nicod

30%

8.3

2

1

3

2

1

3

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING

WHAT MEMBERS ARE SAYING

Chai Latte – “Bit heavy on the chai.” 6/10 Gemma Kaling

Lemon Meringue Pie – “Wow this is so yummy, normally there is not enough sharpness for me but this was brilliant I want more!!” 10/10 Beth Missen

Blood Orange Truffle – “Delicious tangy refreshing & satisfying.” 10/10 Isabel Abbott

Caramel Milk Chocolate – “Nicer than batons due to being thinner, sometimes find this a bit sickly, but this was a blast of childhood Caramac bars, yum.” 8/10 Tyra Hogben

PRIZE DRAW

PRIZE DRAW

Our prize draw winner is Mr Brian Swallow from Hull who wins a Sleekster Milk Selection.

Our prize draw winner is Mrs C Moyle from Richmond who wins a Triple Chocolate Wham Bam Slab.

*Not currently available in the United States

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