Club News D151

Club News

The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club

Issue 1207

MAKE MINE A DOUBLE! The most recent edition of our infamous Fortified Selection is ready to order and it’s brimming with exciting recipes.

See page 5

CAN YOU DIG IT? What’s the latest exciting news from Ghana? There’s only one way to find out…

Turn to page 7

If you love chocolate, then why not embark on an adventure?

Is there a Tasting Adventure

near you?

Hotel Chocolat’s Tasting Adventures have previously only been available in the flagship Covent Garden store in London. But now they’ve gone on an adventure themselves and could well be appearing in a town near you!

1207NL

Just in case you’re not familiar with Chocolate Tasting Adventures, they are exclusive events specially created for chocolate lovers to take their appreciation of chocolate a step further. Through approximately two hours of expertly guided chocolate tasting, guests can add to their knowledge of cocoa and chocolate, but before you start imagining some sort of classroom affair, think again – this is learning through lots of hands-on tasting. continued on page 8...

score Draw Now that we have the All Milk Selection scores to fit in – there’s a whole new look for the scores pages!

See pages 10-11

scores

ioN se l e C T C i s s a l C No. Cho

– D147

ou sse berr y M 1 Ra sp er er Pow ow Fl 2 fee pso Cof 3 Caly é el Souffl m ra a 4 4C Raisin & c a n 5 Cog

le DarK se

Choc

g pe eD

ame colate N

eD e

e

C T ioN

ame colate N No. Cho aisin R & Cognac

– k8 0

Editor

“

All was going swimmingly well until we were all asked to taste three chocolates and guess which was the one from Rabot Estate. I got it wrong.

“

Letter from the

T

he last time I went to a Tasting Adventure I had a great time. There were quite a few Tasting Club members present that evening and all was going swimmingly well until we were all asked to taste three chocolates and guess which was the one from Rabot Estate. I got it wrong. Much to the delight of our tasting host for the evening! I did hear subsequently that the chocolates had been mixed up by mistake ‘backstage’ and so I had in fact guessed correctly – but that would sound like sour grapes now, so I won’t mention it…

If you would like to learn a little more about chocolate, cocoa and how to taste it in a fun, hands-on 2 hours, then I would highly recommend a Tasting Adventure, despite my embarrassment that evening.

Also in this edition, you’ll see that with your help we have sunk another borehole in Ghana as part of our Engaged Ethics programme. As you’ll see on page 6, this one is right by one of our most successful satellite nurseries and could even double its output!

And finally, turn to pages 10-11 for our brand new scores pages, completely redesigned to accommodate the All Milk scores, which join us for the first time this month.

Until next month, happy tasting!

Have you reserved your out of this world Planets Collection yet? Hurry – last chance on page 4.

Simon Thirlwell Club News Editor

Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email me on simon@hotelchocolat.co.uk or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk We are waiting to hear from you!

Club News Editor: Simon Thirlwell; Contributors: Simon Thirlwell, Terry Waters.

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© The Chocolate Tasting Club plc 2012

How do we...

GET THE SWIRLS IN CHOCOLATE SLABS

M

odern chocolate making machine is capable of filling the moulds with several different types of chocolate if necessary involves the use of state-of-

the-art machines as well as more traditional methods. And making these iconic chocolate slabs involves both ends of the chocolate making spectrum. First comes the high tech bit, whereby chocolate moulds, which have incidentally been designed by hand but recreated through computer aided design (CAD), are filled with the chosen chocolate, or chocolates – because the

(in stripes for example). They are filled to a pre-determined level depending on what will happen next‌ And what happens in this case is that they take a more conventional route, with one of our chocolate finishers pouring a good strip of white chocolate into the middle of the still unset slab, while another swirls the chocolate by hand to create the pattern. Each slab is, therefore, a one-off masterpiece!

This month’s Prize Draw

Winners

Classic Selection prize draw winner is Mrs C McCafferty from Newport Pagnell who wins a Taste of Summer Sleekster Selection.

Next month’s prize is a White & Light Sleekster Selection.

Dark Selection

prize draw winner is Ms L Barnes from Steyning who wins a selection of 85% & 70% Dark Batons.

Next month’s prize is a Dark Signature Collection.

Elements Selection

prize draw winner is Mrs M Bell from Cleveland who wins a Mississippi Mud Pie Giant Slab.

Next month’s prize is an Eton Mess Giant Slab.

Purist Selection

prize draw winner is Mrs C Beer from Nottingham who wins a Rare Collection.

Next month’s prize is a Super Boosters Desk Pot.

All Milk Selection

prize draw winner is Mrs M Edwards from Hailsham, who wins Classic Milky Liquid Chocolat.

LAST call…

the Planets Collection The Planets Collection is an amazing one-off special edition in the Tasting Club’s inimitable style.

I

t’s a collection that is boldly going where no chocolatier has gone before – featuring 18 chocolates, 2 hefty chocolate slabs, a limited edition CD of Holst’s The Planets and a guide to the heavenly bodies in our Solar System.

As a Tasting Club member you already know that we’re not averse to doing things a little bit differently.

This time, however, we think we might well have outdone ourselves with something completely out of this world!

So if you’d like to join us for this unique trip to the final chocolate frontier – please reserve yours now for just £22 (plus £4.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/PLANETS or call 08444 727 070.

Next month’s prize is a Milk Oblivion Sleekster Selection.

Don’t forget

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– score by post or online at www.chocs.co.uk and you’ll be automatically entered into this prize draw.

The fortified SELECTION

Don’t miss the next delicious instalment of our quarterly Club – including fine Cognac & Raisin, Champagne & Cranberry, Glenmorangie Whisky, Lychee Martini and more!

The legendary Fortified Selection is now in its sixth year and more popular than ever – featuring 28 exclusive recipes and a set of four unique Provenance Cards.

Join the Fortified Club now to make sure you get the next box for £16.00 (plus £3.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/FORTIFIED or call 08444 933 933.

EASTER Collection Scores Easter may well have been and gone, but hopefully these results will bring back some delicious memories.

MILK egg No. Chocolate Name 1 2 3 4 5

The Easter Tablet Smiley Face Raspberry Mousse Tiddly Easter Chicks Dizzy

10/10

Average

63% 46% 45% 44% 43%

8.8 8.4 8.6 8.7 8.6

10/10

Average

45% 40% 38% 35% 29%

8.7 8.5 8.5 8.8 8.6

10/10

Average

53% 53% 50% 39% 38%

9.1 8.8 8.8 8.6 8.8

The Easter Tablet

dark egg No. Chocolate Name 1 2 3 4 5

Espresso Egg Black Cherry Truffle Tiddly Easter Chicks The Easter Tablet Golden Rum Egg

Espresso Egg

Mixed egg No. Chocolate Name 1 2 3 4 5

Tiddly Easter Chicks The Easter Tablet Raspberry Mousse Espresso Egg Dizzy

Tiddly Easter Chicks

AND SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS… Some fantastic eggs in this selection – only problem was we had to cut each of them in half so we could both taste them! An excuse to buy an egg each next year, I think.

Sonia Hobson, Holmfirth The whole Egg was delicious, and the Tiddly Chicks went to an unexpected visitor, who was delighted.

Sarah Freedman, Swansea Presentation faultless, delivery the same – the chocolates are, as always, superlative.

Richard Tidey, Brigg I don’t think I’ve ever had a selection where everything got 9 or 10 before. More like this please!

Isabel Stainsby, Glasgow

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Above – digging boreholes is best done in the rainy season, which makes it a very muddy job.

Right – the finished borehole, pristine and ready to use.

SUNK! NEW BOREHOLE now in operation Last year, you might recall, we sank a borehole to support a brand new seedling nursery. That was our second in Ghana, but now there’s a third!

W

ith the last of the funds from the Tasting Club ‘Farmers’ Account’, which is money donated directly by members, plus a little top up from our own account, there’s now a third borehole to tell you about. This latest one is situated in the small village of Kofi Dede, right next to one of our largest and busiest satellite nurseries.

Nursery Manager, Moses Apah, not only grows 10,000 seedlings every year, he also regularly takes unsold seedlings from quieter satellite nurseries in the region because he is so busy – which can be as many as 8,000 more.

Isaac, who heads up The Green Tropic Group, our partners in Ghana, told us that Moses had the capacity to grow and distribute 20,000 seedlings in his nursery, he just didn’t have the water to do so.

When we met Moses a couple of years ago during a visit to his nursery, he told us that the village was unhappy about him using the community borehole to water his seedlings, despite the fact that they were being raised for the good of the community.

It later emerged that the village had started to charge him to use the borehole, which was not a sustainable situation.

We’re delighted that Moses now has his own supply of water so he and his four volunteers can now get on and reach their full potential. Thank you once again for your kind donations, some of which have gone to make this new borehole possible – we look forward to telling you how he is getting along in future editions.

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cover story – continued

Is there a Tasting Adventure

“

near you?

We firmly believe that tasting chocolate should be open to all, not just an activity for those experts ‘in the know’, which is precisely why we have created these Tasting Adventures.

Now, as well as at the aforementioned Covent Garden store, these Tasting Adventures are now available in Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cheltenham and York. Unfortunately, not all Hotel Chocolat stores have the requisite space or facilities to host Tasting Adventures – hopefully there’s one within striking distance.

So what happens at these evening events?

Well, guests are welcomed with a chilled glass of prosecco, which itself has impeccable provenance credentials, being from a boutique winery in the Dolomite foothills. But this is about chocolate, so it is merely the prelude to an exciting evening of comparative tasting, which includes 12 different chocolates and a taste of some signature filled chocolate recipes too.

This comparative tasting format has been specially created to be a fun and enjoyable way of discovering fine cocoa and chocolate.

Angus Thirlwell, Hotel Chocolat CEO and Tasting Club Founder told us, “I know that I am preaching to the converted here, but it bears reiterating that we firmly believe that tasting chocolate should be open to all, not just an activity for those experts ‘in the know’.

Which is precisely why we have created these Tasting Adventures – to cut through the mystery and secrecy that often surrounds such foodie areas, so anyone can further their knowledge of chocolate. Just like our Tasting Club, these Tasting Adventures are aimed at democratising access to this exciting world because, as we all know, chocolate tasting isn’t just fascinating, it is also hugely enjoyable” Left – scenes from the most recent Tasting Adventure held at Hotel Chocolat’s Roast+Conch in Covent Garden

”

As Tasting Club members we certainly do know all about that! But what of the chocolates themselves that are tasted and how does the comparative tasting work? Without giving too much away, there are a series of comparative tastings throughout the Tasting Adventure, in which interesting grades of dark and milk chocolates are tasted – including single estate and origin chocolates as well as some exciting blends and chocolates with inclusions.

Each comparison is designed to reveal something different about chocolate – be it regional variances, the flavours of different types of cocoa, the influence of terroir, conching times and much more. For example (and here we must issue a Spoiler Alert if you’re attending a Tasting Adventure soon), guests compare a 66% Rabot Estate Chocolate and a single estate 66% Madagascan Chocolate – this helps to highlight what are the major influences on flavour, like fermentation, roasting time, length of conching and the nuances of terroir. Guests also nibble their way through an Island Growers 50% chocolate from Saint Lucia and Hotel Chocolat’s house 50% milk chocolate to illustrate the differences in flavours between an origin chocolate and a blended chocolate – by which time they are all experts of course!

So if you fancy a spot of chocolate tasting adventure, don’t forget you’ll get a 5% discount with your Tasting Club membership card.

The 2-hour Tasting Adventure evenings are £45 and can be booked online at www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/tastingadventures or by calling 08444 93 10 10 9

scores

Classic Selection – D147 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

1

Raspberry Mousse

G Pereira

43%

8.9

2

Flower Power

E Desmet

41%

8.5

3

Calypso Coffee

E Desmet

37%

8.6

4

Caramel Soufflé

E Desmet

37%

8.5

5

Cognac & Raisin

E Desmet

36%

8.5

10/10

Average

Raspberry Mousse

DARK Selection – K80 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

1

Cognac & Raisin

E Desmet

40%

8.7

2

Raspberry Mousse

G Pereira

39%

8.5

3

Calypso Coffee

E Desmet

36%

8.6

4

Flower Power

E Desmet

32%

8.1

5

Caramel Soufflé

E Desmet

29%

8.3

10/10

Average

Cognac & Raisin

Elements Selection – S58 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

1

Raspberry Mousse

G Pereira

39%

8.3

2

Crackle & Crisp

K Kalenko

39%

8.2

3

Strawberry & Coconut Cup

O Coppeneur

37%

7.8

4

Flower Power

E Desmet

36%

8.4

5

Vanilla Custard Slab

The Tasting Club

34%

8.1

10/10

Average 9.6

Raspberry Mousse

purist Selection – p12 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

1

Smooth Chuao

O Nicod

42%

2

Soft Coffee Caramel

R Macfadyen

37%

8.5

3

Salted Caramel Praline

K Kalenko

36%

8.4

4

66% Sambirano Dark with Cranberries E Desmet

5

Hazelnut & Ginger Bûche

The Tasting Club

34%

7.9

31%

6.7

Smooth Chuao

ALL MILk Selection – M02 No. Chocolate Name

10

10/10

Average

1

Flower Power

E Desmet

Chocolatier

39%

8.8

2

Calypso Coffee

E Desmet

30%

8.1

3

Camaretto

A Gittings & G Pereira

26%

8.0

4

Blackcurrant Milk Chocolate Batons

G Pereira

22%

8.0

5

Hazelnut Kiss

R Macfadyen

17%

8.0

Flower Power

feedback

Your Tasting Comments!

Raspberry Mousse – Classic WOW YUM WOW YUM WOW YUM. This is my new favourite.

Blueberry Bombe who??? Jayne McSparron, Ashington

Bouquet

Calypso Coffee – Dark I normally pass over coffee filled chocolates, but mixing it with hazelnut made it complex and compelling. Katrina Voysey, Surrey

Bouquet

Blackcurrant Milk Tasting Batons – All Milk These actually made me giggle. I was expecting a fruity note, but this was more of a symphony. Clare Hockley, Stockton-On-Tees

Bouquet

Flower Power – Classic Too sweet for me but very pretty!

Maureen, Devon

Brickbat

Crackle & Crisp – Elements The crunchiness compliments the smoothness of the choc, and the popping candy feels like a party in my mouth! Sean Bailey, Lincoln

Bouquet

Yoghurt & Honey – Dark Weird – I like honey and yoghurt but they don’t go with chocolate.

Alison Dale, Folkstone

Brickbat

in the postbag…

Dear Simon We were so pleased to read in the latest club magazine about the chocolate cooperative farms along the Napo River.

We sailed from Coca, a town on the Napo River, up to an ecological settlement about 52km about 18 months ago and passed many of these small farms with only the river to connect them. There are many people working in this area to persuade the indigenous people not to sell out to the oil prospectors but to keep the forest intact and it was lovely to read

about yet another example of this with the cocoa growing. We had a marvellous, albeit strenuous, few days viewing the ecology and wildlife and, as you said, many marvellous birds from the top of the canopy. We will certainly never forget this experience. We are both in our early seventies but feel it is never too late for new experiences though we needed a week to recover.

Maureen & Bob Wood

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IT’S COMING! Excellence is our annual collection that brings together the very best of the best from the last year of tasting, covering a whole array of categories and genres.

But while you may have enjoyed an Excellence Collection or two already, you might not know how we go about choosing which chocolates make it into this exclusive box. The first tranche of ‘work’ is done by you, our Tasting Club members. And by ‘work’ we mean that arduous task of tasting the chocolates in your monthly boxes. Using your scores and comments, we are able to identify the highest performing chocolates of the year and pull together a shortlist of contenders.

Next, we embark on what can only be described as a series of ‘frank discussions’…

This involves Club Founder, Angus, and his tasting team looking at each chocolate in turn to determine which of these contenders will make it through to be a chocolate superstar.

This ensures that there’s a good balance of recipes from every genre in each Collection.

Did your favourites make it into the final box?

There’s only one way to find out… don’t miss the chocolate event of the season!

update

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) was founded in 1999 and has evolved into a key support and hotbed of entrepreneurship and innovation.

C

UE is one of the most successful student-run business creation competitions in the world.

Since 1999, CUE has awarded over £500,000 in prize money to more than 40 start-ups and has seen many of them develop into successful companies. These companies have contributed greatly to the local region and beyond, producing over 110 full time jobs. Collectively, CUE alumni companies have gone on to secure over £42 million pounds of investment.

CUE runs several competitions each year in different categories and Hotel Chocolat Co-Founder, Peter Harris, has been a judge for the Social Enterprise category for the past three years. Peter said, “It is amazing to see the breadth of ideas that are presented and the ways that the entrants are endeavouring to solve social problems through creating good sustainable businesses.” Peter has also lectured to the Cambridge University MBA undergraduates.

Results

THE Fortified Selection F08

O

ur latest quarterly Fortified Selection included a good mix of all-time classics and exciting new recipes – featuring comforting notes of Madeira, Bowmore single malt whisky and warming bourbon in the classic Manhattan cocktail. That’s as well as fresh and frisky Raspberry & Prosecco, a Tropical Dream with plenty of rum and coconut, the potentially incendiary Molotov Cocktail and the refreshing cocktail, White Lady, which also turned out to be our winner.

1.

White Lady by O Coppeneur 43% scored 10/10 (8.6) 2.

Kraken Rum by R Macfadyen 38% scored 10/10 (8.7) 3.

Molotov Cocktail by R Macfadyen 36% scored 10/10 (8.8) 4.

Manhattan by O Nicod 35% scored 10/10 (8.6) 5.

Chartreuse Truffle by K Kalenko 33% scored 10/10 (8.4) 6.

Tropical Dream by K Kalenko 32% scored 10/10 (8.6) 7.

Brandy Marzipan by O Coppeneur 31% scored 10/10 (7.8) 8.

Grand Marnier Cup by E Desmet 30% scored 10/10 (8.5) 9.

Prince Charles Coffee by O Nicod 29% scored 10/10 (8.4) 10. Raspberry & Prosecco by M Meier 28% scored 10/10 (8.2)

1st White Lady

2nd Kraken Rum

3rd Molotov Cocktail

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news

CUTHBERT’S organic pesticide If you visit Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia and take the Tree-to-Bar Experience, then you’re bound to meet Cuthbert Monroque.

H

e’s the knowledgeable and characterful Nursery Overseer and what he doesn’t know about cocoa really isn’t worth knowing! Rabot Estate is run on organic principles, although for technical reasons it cannot be ‘certified’ organic and this is something that Cuthbert is passionate about. So much so, that he has invented his own recipes for a highly effective pesticide and fertiliser.

For the fertiliser he cultivates special weeds, which he mulches down to an

Cuthbert shows us how his organic pesticide is brewed

extremely fertile looking green gloop. But it’s his pesticide that is perhaps the most inventive – for this he concocts a mixture of chives, wild garlic and water, with a drop or two of lemon washing up liquid to finish it off. It will probably also work as insect repellent, we just need a willing volunteer to try it…

We’re off

to Ghana!

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Regular visits to Ghana are an integral part of our Engaged Ethics Programme and Club Director, Terry Waters, is busy planning his next trip.

Pleasant and not so pleasant occurrences during Terry’s last trip to Ghana

This time he’ll be going without Club News Editor, Simon, who for the first time in six years cannot make this trip. Instead, he’ll be joined by Hotel Chocolat Head of Quality and Development, Adam Geileskey, who cannot wait to get there! He told us, “There’s nothing quite like breaking open a fresh cocoa pod and talking to the farmer that grew it – I find it truly inspirational and it helps give the chocolates we make real soul.”

These visits to Ghana are invaluable for two

main reasons. The first is that we can see our projects in action and see the results.

The second is that we can see for ourselves the problems that cocoa farmers face and hear direct from the farmers themselves.

This gives us unique insight into what our next projects should be. Terry is hoping to finalise plans for an extremely exciting project while he is there this time – but we’ll have to wait for his return to hear how he got on!

feature

Provenance cards The spirits, liqueurs and fortified wines that we all know and enjoy more often than not have fascinating stories attached to them. And that is exactly what our Provenance Cards that accompany every Fortified Selection are all about.

Each box includes a set of four brand new cards that lay bare all the must-know facts about four different alcohols. For instance, did you know… that the cider apples used in making Normandy’s famous apple brandy, Calvados, originally came from the Biscay region in the 13th century… Legend has it that one of Sicily’s best known exports, Marsala wine, was really a British invention…

That the secret of Hendrick’s Gin lies in the blending of two strikingly

COINTREAU

Grey Goose

different gins made using two extremely rare stills… And that Chambord liqueur was inspired by a wild raspberry liqueur enjoyed by King Louis XIV on a visit to Château de Chambord in 1685…?

All of these facts and much, much more have already been revealed in past Provenance Cards. And with the next Fortified Selection being readied for despatch in September, there are four more fascinating cards to discover – Cointreau, Grey Goose Vodka, Pimm’s and St Remy Brandy.

St REMY

PIMMS

So if you’d like to know who created Cointreau, what makes Grey Goose different, why Pimm’s was invented and where St Remy is made, then don’t miss the next Fortified Selection!

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Cool, Cool, SUMMER

Bright and sunny summer chocolates to make everyone’s day – with zippy fruit recipes, melt-away pralines, celebratory truffles and more. hotelchocolat.co.uk Tel: 08444 93 13 13