Club News
The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club
Issue 1112
FOR MILK CHOCOLATE
lovers…
If you love the mellow flavours of milk chocolate with a passion, then we’ve got some excellent news for you! See page 7
FREE NIGHT At The Hotel! Fancy a winter getaway? Then there’s a rather special offer for you at The Hotel Chocolat right now. Find out more on page 13
Rabot Estate is Saint Lucia’s oldest working cocoa plantation – no wonder it’s full of fascinating strains of cocoa!
finding The Lost Cocoa of trinidad In 1727 something catastrophic hit the island of Trinidad that changed the complexion of cocoa forever…
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Some say it was a hurricane, others suggest it might have been drought or disease. Whichever way you look at it, however, the “blast” that hit the West Indian island of Trinidad in the 18th century all but destroyed the island’s cocoa industry. It was the Spanish who first brought cocoa to Trinidad around about 1525 and they brought with them the fine flavour Criollo trees. But it wasn’t until the beginning of the 18th century that Trinidad’s continued on page 8...
GOT A
Good Idea? If you’ve tasted something that you think should be made into a chocolate… then you need the Chocolate Suggestion Box!
See page 15 for more
Letter from the
Editor
W
elcome to your latest edition of Club News, this month we lead with an intriguing story about the cocoa we grow on Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia. One of the first things we did was to examine the genetics of the trees to see what exactly we were growing and amongst the fine old Trinitario trees it seems we may well have unearthed an extremely rare strain. Many Trinitario strains identified back in the early 1930s are now presumed to be lost, but we may well have found one thriving on our plantation. The most exciting aspect, of course, is that when the trees produce more pods, we will discover how this ‘lost’ cocoa tastes. Also this month we delve into the world of champagne truffles and examine what exactly is and isn’t in them – and the answer to that may well come as a surprise to you. It was all prompted by a letter we received from one of your fellow members – so if there’s something on your mind, do write in and let us know!
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The most exciting aspect is that when the trees produce more pods, we will discover how this ‘lost’ cocoa tastes.
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Elsewhere in this issue, there’s some news of the new Milk Selection that is coming soon, as well as a sneak preview of an iconic collection that is also on the way, plus there’s a special offer of a free night at The Hotel Chocolat in Saint Lucia. Until next month, happy tasting! Don’t forget your Christmas goodies! See pages 4 & 5
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 2011
Improve your chocolate knowledge
terroir
T
erroir is A term taken from French and borrowed from wine
making, which describes the external influences that help define the character and flavour nuances of cocoa – including the geographic location, the topography, the type of soil and the climate. Each type of cocoa has its own flavour traits – ranging from fruity flavours like red berries, raisins and tropical fruits; floral notes
like jasmine or blossom; roasted nuances that include nuts and coffee; and there are and even such diverse notes as leather, tobacco or toast. But these flavours aren’t just influenced by the variety of bean, the terroir also plays a large part. Unblended, single origin chocolates, much like fine wine, reflect the environment in which the cocoa was grown – capturing those notes and enjoying them is what tasting chocolate made from fine cocoa is all about.
This month’s Prize Draw
Winners
D140 Classic Selection
prize draw winner is Mrs J Speight from Leeds who wins a Truffles Sleekster Selection. Next month’s prize is a Classic Signature Collection.
LAST CALL FOR…
YOUR CHRISTMAS
COLLECTION
K73 Dark Selection
prize draw winner is Miss A Cave from Exmouth who wins a Dark Adventure Peepster. Next month’s prize is a Serious Dark Fix Selection.
S51 Elements
prize draw winner is Dr P Gardner from Huddersfield who wins a Triple Chocolate Wham Bam Giant Slab. Next month’s prize is a Caramel & Co Giant Slab.
P04 Purist Selection
prize draw winner is Mrs L Clark from Marlborough who wins a Purist Super Boosters Collection.
This year there are three Christmas Collections to chose from – Classic, Dark and, new for this year, the no-alcohol Elements – which means you’ll be sure to find your perfect match.
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nd don’t forget that our Christmas Collections also make exciting presents for your nearest and dearest, but you might need to find a bigger stocking… But please hurry as the big day really is just around the corner and our Christmas Collections are available by pre-order only! To make sure you get yours, please pre-order now for the special members-only price of £24.95 (inc delivery) – at www.chocs.co.uk/ CHRISTMAS or call 08444 72 70 70.
Next month’s prize is a Purist Collection.
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
THERE’S SOMETHING SPECIAL
for everyone
This Christmas!
Freshly made and ready to order now! Whatever your plans this Christmas, there’s something for absolutely everyone in our festive special editions – from our exclusive Fortified and Excellence Collections that are perfect to pass around to share, to our new recipe book, Tasting Experiences and more that make rather exclusive gifts. View and order our Christmas Special Editions at www.chocs.co.uk/RESERVE or call 08444 72 70 70.
More
Champagne?
It may come as a surprise, but for technical reasons the vast majority of champagne truffles don’t contain champagne – apart from our new recipe that is!
Our brand new Champagne Truffle recipe didn’t just provoke high scores and comments from members, it also prompted Jill Cramphorn to write to us, raising several interesting points:
Dear Simon
As a long-standing member of the Chocolate Tasting Club, and a wine lover, I’ve been meaning for some time to write to you on this topic. Your note on ‘The Chocolate Aristocracy’ in the latest magazine has finally kicked me into action. Judging by earlier things I’ve read, a lot of members think that marc de champagne is a variety of the wine. In fact, as you point out, it’s a spirit. It’s distilled from what’s left of the red grapes after they have been pressed. In my experience, it’s pretty powerful and can be quite rough, though there is some good stuff around. But the important point is that it bears absolutely no relation to the wine itself. As a result, the taste of a champagne truffle is closer to a cognac truffle than anything else: it certainly has no hint of the flavour of champagne. I recognise - with regret - that the use of this misleading name is so widespread that there’s no chance of getting rid of it. But your comment that “our most recent recipe uses a drop of the real thing for more delicate flavours” surely just adds to the confusion. I don’t understand what it means: does the chocolate contain marc and champagne? If so, I’d be surprised if anyone could taste anything of the latter! I should perhaps add that, this minor irritation apart, the Chocolate Tasting Club continues to provide me with a vast amount of enjoyment, for which my thanks. Yours sincerely Jill Cramphorn 6
Thank you, Jill, for raising some important points. When it comes to making Champagne Truffles the vast majority of chocolatiers do, indeed, use marc de champagne. The reason is purely practical – there’s a limit to the amount of liquid that can be included in a chocolate recipe and a relatively small amount of marc de champagne can impart a good amount of flavour. When we began developing our new champagne recipe, however, we were determined to capture the lightness of flavour and the uplifting, celebratory feel of the drink itself by using as much real champagne as we could. There is no marc de champagne in our recipe. As you rightly point out it would simply overpower the delicate champagne notes. Instead we have given our recipe a boozy tingle and warmth by adding culinary alcohol, which is flavourless and so does not overpowering anything.
The Milk Selection is coming soon – more details in the next issue
AND THE SURVEY SAID… Our members’ views and opinions are at the heart of everything we do here in the Tasting Club. Which is why, whenever we’re toying with a new idea, one of the first things we do is to ask our members.
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nd that is exactly what we did when we had the idea of creating the forthcoming Milk Selection. After all, we already have the Classic Selection, which is a mix of milk, dark and white chocolate and the Dark Selection, which is, of course, devoted to dark chocolate. What about those milk chocolate lovers who don’t want anything but milk chocolate? So in the great chocolate democracy traditions of the Club, we put that very question to the members and here’s what happened.
Q – If we were to offer a totally milk chocolate regular selection, how interested would you be?
Extremely interested Likely interested Not very interested Uninterested
So it’s pretty clear that the Classic Selection members we surveyed are overwhelmingly interested in an all milk selection. And as our Classic members make up over three quarters of the entire Club, you can see that the new Milk Selection could easily become a major part of our Tasting Club. More on the arrival date of this new selection soon!
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE! You can still cast your vote on the colour for the new Milk Selection, but hurry! Choose from the shortlist of gold, violet or yellow and let us have your vote – online at www.chocs.co.uk/milk or send it to CTC Milk Selection, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL.
20% 40% 31% 7% 7
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continued from page 1
finding The Lost Cocoa of trinidad
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We’ve managed to identify many of the types of cocoa growing on the estate, but there’s one in particular that has got us very excited...
cocoa industry really took off – thanks to the French who colonised the island after the Spanish. So when the “blast” hit, it devastated the fledgling industry. In 1757, efforts to rebuild the industry began in earnest with Forastero trees imported from nearby Venezuela – known for their resistance to disease. The new trees then interbred with the remaining Criollo trees and formed a brand new strain of cocoa, which was called Trinitario. The new strain combined the best of both parents – the hardiness of Forastero and the fine flavour of Criollo. The hybrids quickly multiplied and formed the basis of most of the estates that needed replanting. After that, there was no looking back and over the next 150 years cocoa came to dominate the Trinidadian economy. The vast array of trees in Trinidad contained just about every combination of characteristics known to cocoa, so it was no surprise that they attracted a world famous expert from Imperial College, FJ Pound. His thorough studies over a period of years culminated in his identification of 100 different strains of Trinitario tree, selected for high yield and good quality beans. They were called the Imperial College Selections (ICS) and were numbered from 1 to 100. The next step was to carry out field trials at the San Juan Estate in Trinidad to further refine the selections – it became the most successful
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cocoa breeding programme in the world. However, by 2001 only 57 of the original 100 ICS clones remained… We now travel up the West Indian island chain, as Trinitario cocoa trees must also have done, passing Grenada and Saint Vincent and arriving at Saint Lucia. Here, on the Rabot Estate, we’ve been conducting our own studies into the cocoa found on our plantation. With the help of university experts in cocoa genetics we’ve managed to identify many of the types of cocoa growing on the estate, but there’s one in particular that has got us very excited and not only because we’ve just seen the first pod produced by the cloned trees that we have planted out. We have confirmed that it is definitely Trinitario, however, there is no exact match with any of the survivors from the original ICS clones. But it does share some ancestors, so it could well be part of the lost ICS 100 selected by FJ Pound. Furthermore, it’s known that FJ Pound collected some upper Amazonian trees and later produced some more hybrids using the ICS strains. So our trees could also be part of this lost Pound selection. We’re sure that, eventually, it will be fully identified. But from wherever it has been lost, it has now been found on the Rabot Estate and we’re hoping for some exceptional beans in the near future.
The rare Trinitario cocoa in its various stages on Rabot Estate – with Imperial College, London (top right) 9
scores
Classic 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Dark 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Selection – D140
Raspberry Smoothie by R Macfadyen 8.60 (38% scored it 10/10) Chocolate Cheesecake by E Desmet 8.59 (35% scored it 10/10) Mocha Shot by M Meier 8.47 (33% scored it 10/10) Macadamia Royale by M Meier 8.33 (30% scored it 10/10) Butterscotch Bliss by E Desmet 8.30 (26% scored it 10/10) Orange & Cherry by O Coppeneur 8.25 (32% scored it 10/10) Buck’s Fizz by O Nicod 8.18 (22% scored it 10/10) Absolute Nut by R Macfadyen 8.17 (25% scored it 10/10) Bourbon Truffle by K Kalenko 8.13 (22% scored it 10/10) 40% Milk Tasting Batons, Ivory Coast 8.07 (21% scored it 10/10)
Selection – K73
Coffee & Hazelnut by K Kalenko 8.59 (28% scored it 10/10) Raspberry Smoothie by R Macfadyen 8.52 (30% scored it 10/10) Absolute Nut by R Macfadyen 8.51 (32% scored it 10/10) 65% Dark Tasting Batons, Ivory Coast 8.47 (19% scored it 10/10) Bourbon Truffle by K Kalenko 8.34 (19% scored it 10/10) Chocolate Cheesecake by E Desmet 8.32 (23% scored it 10/10) Mocha Shot by M Meier 8.31 (25% scored it 10/10) Butterscotch Bliss by E Desmet 8.29 (18% scored it 10/10) Orange & Cherry by O Coppeneur 8.22 (30% scored it 10/10) Macadamia Royale by M Meier 8.22 (24% scored it 10/10)
Elements 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
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Coffee & Hazelnut
Selection – S51
Lemon Cheesecake by R Macfadyen 8.35 (42% scored it 10/10) Macadamia Royale by M Meier 8.29 (40% scored it 10/10) Raspberry Smoothie by R Macfadyen 8.13 (34% scored it 10/10) 40% Milk Chocolate, Ivory Coast 8.11 (35% scored it 10/10) Coffee & Hazelnut by K Kalenko 7.46 (28% scored it 10/10) Cherry Buttercream by JC Vandenberghe 7.49 (21% scored it 10/10) 65% Dark Tasting Batons, Ivory Coast 7.28 (13% scored it 10/10) Strawberry & Black Pepper by G Pereira 7.17 (19% scored it 10/10) Lemon Cheesecake Time for Thyme by O Nicod 7.08 (11% scored it 10/10) Chilli Milk Chocolate Tasting Batons 6.76 (20% scored it 10/10)
Purist 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Raspberry Smoothie
Selection – P04
78% Dark Chocolate, 8.29 (27% scored it 10/10) Chilli & Almond Crunch 8.17 (40% scored it 10/10) Extreme Dark Praline 8.02 (26% scored it 10/10) Dark Toffee Pudding 7.98 (20% scored it 10/10) Orangettes 7.79 (20% scored it 10/10) 60% Madirofolo Dark, Madagascar 7.38 (20% scored it 10/10)
78% Dark Chocolate
feedback
Have Your Say! Bouquet Time for Thyme – Classic Lovely balance between the sweetness of the chocolate and the savoury hint of thyme. I really enjoyed it.
In The Postbag… General Comments
Mary Haden, Southsea
Bouquet Raspberry Smoothie – Classic I never want to eat anything else again!
Vicky Fitzpatrick, Plymouth
Brickbat Chilli Milk Chocolate Tasting Batons – Classic Please stop subjecting us to chilli & chocolate – it doesn’t work.
Michael Goodman, Isle of Man
Bouquet Absolute Nut – Classic Luscious, creamy and with one heck of a kick! Would love to scoff more, but might get tipsy.
Verity Allan, Cambridge
Brickbat Time for Thyme – Dark I have no Thyme for this one. Weird taste, strange concept. Sorry. Dave Dobbin, Rochford
Bouquet Strawberry & Black Pepper – Dark Excellent! Pepper & strawberry - not a mix that would instantly spring to mind but BRILLIANT.
Richard Tidey, Brigg
Brickbat Coffee & Hazelnut – Elements The coffee completely overwhelms the hazelnut, disappointing.
Michael Field, Coventry
Bouquet Lemon Cheesecake – Elements Glorious, so good I rationed it to last longer!
Jeneva Paul, Thame
I am really enjoying the Purist boxes and am so glad I switched over to them! Rachel Mardle, Wymondham I really look forward to receiving my selection box and trying them so this was no exception. Now we are planning what to have for Christmas. Anne Pegum, Barnet Very good, as usual - your packaging and delivery cannot be faulted. Richard Tidey, Brigg Why not let your excellent chocs and their fillings speak for themselves without all the unnecessary icing sugar and extra bits on top? David Cameron, London So glad I upgraded to the trio selection. Now I can delve straight into the first chocolate, take time to score the 2nd chocolate, then relax and enjoy the 3rd chocolate. Geraint Thomas, Chelmsford Some outstanding chocolates, and also some interesting ones. I do like boxes that challenge my taste, even if I don’t like the resulting chocolate. Verity Allan, Cambridge The inventiveness of all the chocolatiers involved in making these chocolates is breathtaking. Helena Brown, Dunfermline
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The icons Collection
Over the last 13 years we’ve tasted well over 2,000 chocolate recipes. Only a select few have gone on to reach iconic status…
These six true icons of The Chocolate Tasting Club represent the best of their genre – including the mellow caramel of Billionaire Shortbread; the fortified fruit of Griotte Deluxe; the boozy delights of our Champagne Truffle; the dessert-inspired Caramel Cheesecake; and the silky smooth praline, Dizzy. Released in February – for your sneak preview see www.chocs.co.uk/ICONS 12
updates
Stunning views of the Piton Mountain from the hotel guests’ infinity pool
Enjoy a FREE night at The Hotel Chocolat If you fancy a winter getaway, then this could well the perfect time to discover The Hotel Chocolat in Saint Lucia – book a stay of five nights or more and you’ll receive an extra night FREE.
B
eing situated in the beautiful surroundings of Rabot Estate, you can simply relax and unwind, or you can discover cocoa like never before – exploring the sun dappled cocoa groves and taking the Tree to Bar Experience, where you’ll find out all there is to know about cocoa, harvest your own pods and make your own chocolate. And all whilst enjoying the stunning blend of luxurious plantation chic, natural beauty and wellbeing offered by The Hotel. Please book by 31st December 2011 to take advantage of this offer – holidays can be taken at any time. Call reservations on 0844 544 1272 or see www.thehotelchocolat.com for more.
New operators starting their 2-week training programme
SANTA’S Extra Helpers With the run up to Christmas now upon us, the Tasting Club and Hotel Chocolat have been readying themselves with extra helpers. As you might imagine, there’s a huge peak of activity in the months immediately preceding Christmas and, in the case of Hotel Chocolat, right up to Christmas week itself – with those who’ve left their shopping to the last minute! This includes the Post Room and our Call Centre, both of which are located in our Royston offices. The Post Room alone handled 130,000 pieces of mail between October and December last year and are braced for more this year. Which is why there are already 28 new operators who have completed their two weeks of training, plus an additional week of shadowing an existing operator – so they’re now ready to be let loose on Tasting Club members!
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and finally
EUREKA!
Winning intern Max Scott packing his own creation, Fire & Ice
Earlier this year, the University of East Anglia set its students the Eureka Business Plan Competition and amongst the prizes for the winners was an internship at Hotel Chocolat.
T
he competition itself was part of a global project involving universities and companies and was designed to help inspire and promote entrepreneurial thinking. The lucky intern was Max Scott who spent a week at Hotel Chocolat’s Huntingdon factory. While he was there, one of his projects was to come up with a new chocolate recipe and he created something
rather special – a double layered praline with chilli in one layer and peppermint in the other, called Fire & Ice. Our chocolatiers are busy working out how we can include this chocolate in a future selection – at the moment the recipe contains peppermint oil, which would taint the other chocolates in the box with minty flavours.
One Members INFORMATION is anothers member’s bumph … Every now and then we get the odd complaint about the number of leaflets and flyers that we send to members. We do apologise if you are one of those who objects, however, one members’ bumph is clearly another members’ important information. For example, the vast majority of information we send members is about Tasting Club special editions – so that members know what’s coming up, what’s inside the box and how they can order them. More recently we’ve also created personalised booklets for members, which sets out clearly what they have on order, special offers that they may have missed and a voucher to say thank you for being a member.
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And if you’re not interested in something, then please be assured that everything we send you can be recycled!
competition
HAVE YOU GOT AN IDEA FOR…
Inspiration for a new chocolate can strike anytime!
The Chocolate Suggestion Box We love it when members send us their ideas for chocolates, so we thought we’d make it a little more official with our Chocolate Suggestion Box.
W
e have a whole team dedicated to creating new recipes and we have literally hundreds that are just waiting to be developed, but as far as we’re concerned, you can never have too many ideas. However, we’re not asking for fully-fledged recipes – please save those for our Create a Chocolate Competition!
✁
No, what we’d like is just the mere hint of an idea that may have prompted you to think – that would go well in a Tasting Club recipe. It could be your favourite dessert, a taste of childhood remembered, an unusual combination of flavours you’ve discovered, a cocktail you tried recently, an exotic fruit you discovered on holiday… The list is endless because it could be absolutely anything. And not just new ideas either, new takes on old ideas or existing recipes with a new twist are all welcome too.
So if you’ve ever thought to yourself – that would make a nice chocolate – but you weren’t sure if we’d be interested, yes we are! And now it’s easy to send us your suggestion and all we need is a couple of words to set us thinking. For example – I think you should try… a brandy snap chocolate. Because… my mother used to make them every Christmas.
Tear or cut along dotted line
The Chocolate Suggestion Box PLEASE PRINT
I think you should try… Because…
Send your suggestion to us in your payment envelope or email your suggestion to suggestions@chocs.co.uk 15
Be an ANGEL...
Send someone something luxurious this Christmas
View our full Christmas Gift Range online at hotelchocolat.co.uk or call for a full catalogue 08444 93 13 13