We have the newest crop of an old favorite and two (soon three) new direct trade in.
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Whats New and Updates
Have you heard about those new fancy meal services like Blue apron that delivers pre-portioned ingredients right to your door every week or month and you just have to follow the recipe and cook it up for a fresh meal?
Well, this is Chocolate Alchemy's version. I have put together everything you need (minus the Melanger) to make chocolate on a monthly basis and get your fix of fresh homemade chocolate!
Roasted cocoa nibs, sugar, and other ingredients as needed - all weighed out and ready to go.
And it is Subscription based (that's the club part) so you only need to order once and it shows up until you decide to stop it.
There are lots of details so check them out.
Chocolate Making kit of the Month Club
In addition, since we brought the software online to offer Subscriptions, you can now get a steady supply ofBrewing cocoa at whatever frequency you desire....with a discount for subscribing.
What do you think? Is there anything else you want to to show up to your door every week or month?
That goes doubly true for an issues you find. It's new software after all.
Please let me know.
The last day we will be shipping is Friday December 23. And hopefully if you need anything by that Sunday (December 25 – Christmas) you will have ordered well in advance.
Today is just a small laundry list of announcements, some of which I would like your opinions on. There is no Ask the Alchemist because my queue is empty.
Let’s start off with saying this bean ranks in my top 10 favorites ever. It has virtually everything I love about chocolate rolled into one. Just look how it pegs the chocolate category in the spider graph! And sweet. And fruity. And nutty. The flavors just keep coming and coming.
Yeah, I’m that impressed.
A very limited supply of Belize from Maya Mountain has arrived.
Belize 2016 Organic/Direct Trade: Smooth, silky chocolate. The raw beans have an odor of fresh pineapple. While roasting there is toasted macadamia nuts, warm proofing spelt bread and a lovely savory quality with a touch of tang from fermentation.
The four *new* old favorites from Venezuela are also here. Sur del Lago, Cuyagua, Guaniamo and Canoabo.
Sur del Lago 2016 - It is a complex, well-rounded cocoa that can make a luscious chocolate bursting with flavor accented by bold red berry fruit, dry cashew, toffee, malt, caramel and most important, chocolate.
Cuyagua 2016 This is what Criollo is all about and what everyone claims to have (but rarely do). It is fruity, delicate, with walnut and plum skin. The aroma is plum and vanilla, with both coming through in the taste along with a nice back drop of current, vanilla and cream.
Guaniamo 2016 This is a wild harvest Forastero and the most elegant I've ever tasted. Actually, very atypical for a Forastero. That's what natural selection can get you. There is rose and gardenia in the nose. The flavor is distinctly chocolate with undercurrents of loam and soft leather. It is rather low in bitterness but has a nice balancing astringency, but not overpowering. There is distinct acidty, but soft like a malic acid grape nip. The lasting impression is succulent.
Canoabo 2016. What it is is a study in balance and elegance. Like a lot of the beans in this region, there is cream and soft red fruits. Red currant comes to mind. There slight tang of mineral molasses for balance. A touch of roasted brazil rounds out the flavor.
I'm not quite sure why spambots have it in for us currently, but we are being hit hard and barely keeping our head above water. When we don't keep up, you are going to see the main site lag pretty bad and not load. We are working on it.
This is just so you know we know.
Thanks.
Every Tuesday, for the next few months we are going to be putting out a new video on our youtube channel, How to Make Chocolate at Home. In a similar manner to my walls of words in text, I ramble a bit, taking this or that side path as it suites what I am attempting to convey. All about cocoa beans is new.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYEGb3f5ps[/embed]
I hope you enjoy it.
It's more like cocoa-tea-time but you get the drift I suspect. May I present Alchemist's series #7 - The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul.
TLDTTOTS is replacing Fire and Brimstone #4. It is a semi-dark, richly chocolate, brewing cocoa. Very possibly the best yet (at least I like it the best). I really enjoy it at 202 F in the Brazen Brewer.
New Direct Trade India is in. It also makes a killer Brewing cocoa. Hot or cold.
4 new Venezuelan are on the way. Fruity Sur del Lago, delicate Cuyagua, silky Canoba, and rich Guanino.
Most likely Belize and Maranon....still finishing the tasting and evaluation.
Testing and Evaluation beans are back.
Finally, I am now offering the Behmor 1600 plus with free shipping (lower 48 USA only and with no beans).
Oh, and some of you may have noticed that Ask the Alchemist went AWOL last week. That happens from time to time when no questions are in the queue. So, what do you want to know?
This is almost, but not quite, an 'it's back' moment. I have offered a wild Bolivia in the past. That was from the Alto Beni region. This time the beans are from the Beniano. Basically the same local native (heirloom?) stock but a different elevation and soil type. And still very small and full of flavor. Also, a brand new origin has cleared customs and is in route to the warehouse. Direct trade India. I'm very excited working with a group of about 20 farmers there. Stay tuned.
We have a lone bag of 2016 Organic Belize in. At this point, given how the supplier is handling distribution, I'm not confident we will be seeing any more available any time soon. For those unfamiliar with it, the raw beans have an odor of old school juicy fruit hard candy. While roasting there is toasted macadamia nuts, warm proofing spelt bread and a lovely savory quality with a touch of tang from fermentation. Once in chocolate form (75% for my tests) there is sweet caramel......go read about it.
Today is all about Direct Trade. It's been six months coming, but 3 new beans are finally here from Vietnam. And all of them are big, bold, intensely flavored beans. Just look how round the displays on all the spider charts are. They are just big everywhere. Ben Tre - The flavor is big and intense. It is tangy and the deep sharp flavor of raisins and a hefty doses of chocolate.
Lam Dong - Fruit cake. In so many ways that sums up this bean. Chocolate aroma with a touch of allspice. I have to admit, I actually moaned (just a little) with my first bite.
And Tien Giang - This chocolate is high in spice, tobacco and nutty flavors.
And on the chance you missed it, go check out the other new Direct trade bean that is in.
Honduras Wampursirpi. In particular, check out the Details tab. I just updated a bunch information about Biosphere and what they are actively doing to support the farmers and communities in the region long term. I'm really stoked about all they are doing.
http://shop.chocolatealchemy.com/products/ecuador-2015-puert-quito-organic http://shop.chocolatealchemy.com/products/ecuador-2015-pequino
Both are brand new beans that I've not had in before. Lush chocolate and nutty flavors. And very clean. Check them out.
First and foremost, I want to present the NutraChef 'cocoa press' oil expeller. You can now make your own cocoa butter at home at the press of a button. I tasted the most amazing milk chocolate made with some fresh pressed Madagascar cocoa. The caramel notes were amazing and fully due to the single origin butter, as it was totally missing from the 'control' made with the natural cocoa butter we offer.
The next new product is a variation on whole milk powder. This is Heavy Cream powder. So, instead of milk chocolate, you can make Cream Chocolate. At 72% butter fat, you can add it directly to an existing dark chocolate recipe without adding any extra cocoa butter like you would with a milk chocolate.
Finally, a new origin. A lovely base note cocoa bean from Trinidad and Tobago. The taste that comes through for me is dried mission fig, date sugar and toasted pecans.
Might I suggest a Single Origin Trinidad Cream chocolate?
2 lbs Trinidad and Tobago roasted cocoa, winnowed to 24 oz.
5 oz Trinidad and Tobago home pressed cocoa butter (results from a 500 gram batch)
1 lb Heavy cream powder
1 lb sugar
This should be unlike ANY chocolate you have ever tried.
No Ask the Alchemist today. The queue is empty. Mind you, I thought I was setting a new record this week for submissions, but somehow things have become confused. All the messages were general questions to me. Do you ship here? Can you ship this out today? Do you sell tempering machines? Where can I buy a Champion? To clarify, question@chocolatealchemy.com is for 'in depth' questions generally about the chocolate making process. Not like the above.
So, have I really answered everything you want to know out there?
And to give you something to look forward to, three new products should be available tomorrow.
- Whole cream powder
- A deep, chocolatey bean from Trinidad
- An electric oil press so you can make your own cocoa butter. I've been having quite a bit of fun testing it out.
Stay tuned and get those questions in.
I have a couple bags of the incredibly rare (and unique tasting) Venezuelan Porcelana beans in. Tangy lemon/lime. There is also a larger amount of rich Venezuelan Guasare in - personally my preference is for this one, with it's lush, sweet nutty notes.
Go check them out. I actually did a three way roast level evaluation for the Porcelana.
We are kicking the new year off with three new beans. First, the brand new one, and maybe my favorite of the bunch (since I just finished writing up the review, it is of course the last chocolate I ate, so of course it is my favorite).
Peru FT/Org Norandino 2015/16 - There is orange marmalade, molasses and dried pear competing for dominance.
Madagascar Sambirano Valley Organic 2016 - We ran out briefly last year. This is the newest crop. Still a powerhouse. This year instead of raspberry, it is virtually exploding with cherry and raisin.....
Uganda Org 2015 - There is an undeniable roundness to the flavor profile this year. Very base and solid chocolate. I find an inherent sweetness that contributes to the perception of a full flavor.
And lastly, I want to remind you of one we put up last month. Honduras Wampusirpi. We are down to the last bag, so get it before it is gone.
Honduras Wampusirpi 2016 Direct Trade/"organic" The first aroma I get is of soft leather, like a supple piece of deer skin. Buttery almost. With that comes along flavors of bright dried fruits. This just might be my favorite bean from last year and this lot is imperceptible in it's differences.
We are doing some admin updates to the site today and it may or may not go down from time to time.
No Ask the Alchemist this week as the queue is empty. And we are packing like crazy for getting your packages out for the holidays. As a reminder, yesterday was the last day for Ground deliveries to easily make it for Christmas. But we are accepting orders through Sunday night for Monday shipping. Dominican Republic Rizek is back in stock.
Finally, I had REALLY hoped to be able to tie something into Worldbuilders foundation and their current donation run. They are raising money for Heifer International. Really positive, concrete support. They say it best:
"We empower families to turn hunger and poverty into hope and prosperity – but our approach is more than just giving them a handout. Heifer links communities and helps brings sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a long history of poverty. Our animals provide partners with both food and reliable income, as agricultural products such as milk, eggs and honey can be traded or sold at market. "
I personally donated. Two goats get new homes and help a people and community. If you can help this season, please do. You will have to follow the up coming link to get the reference, but Bilbo it up!
Happy Holidays all.
With the amazing response (orders went up an order of magnitude) to the first ever Thanksgiving appreciate ‘Thing’ I was not able to keep up with a current Ask the Alchemist. We will see how this week goes. From the Appreciation Thing you can see we are moving some time soon. To be able to manage that (permits, holiday rush, contractors, the holidays and certification inspections) we are going to close down a little longer than usual. As always I’m going to keep the on-line stores open, but there will be no shipping for a couple weeks.
The last day we will be shipping is Monday December 21. And hopefully if you need anything by that Friday (December 25 – Christmas) you will have ordered well in advance. It would of course be in your best interest to have your last orders in Wednesday December 16. That will allow us processing and packing time to get it out by that Friday. We will do our complete best to get any order out on Monday December 21 if you have your order in by midnight the day before (Sunday the 20th). To summarize:
December 16 – recommended ‘polite’ last order date for shipping.
December 20 – Last day we will guarantee shipping before closing.
December 21 – Last day of shipping.
December 22 – January 3 – Closed for moving and holidays – no orders will ship out but the online stores will remain active.
One final item. When you are choosing your shipping method for the holidays, it is best to add in 3 WORKING days for processing, packing and general mayhem. So if your estimated transit time is 5-7 days (sorry, my software won’t tell you this, you will need to look it up on either UPS or USPS), then you would be well advised to order 10 days before you need it. i.e. December 14 for delivery by Christmas if you live across the country (we are in Oregon). That means, if it isn’t clear, if you order something Monday December 21, Next day Air (or ground or anything) it will NOT make it for Christmas. It will be held until 2016 when we re-open.