Yesterday The New York Times published a big package about my favorite subject, chocolate, including a story called “How to Taste Chocolate,” featuring yours truly! Melissa Clark writes, “Megan Giller, the author of ‘Bean to Bar Chocolate’ and a judge for the International Chocolate Awards, gives guided chocolate tastings to help the sweet-toothed fully appreciate their bars. Here are some of her tips.” Oh, happy day!
What I'm Tasting at the Salon du Chocolat NYC
This weekend the Salon du Chocolat finally comes back to NYC, and I’m super excited to see what the new company running the festival does with it. I’ll be there on Saturday making the rounds and stuffing my face with chocolate and thought I’d share my cheat sheet of the places I’m most excited to hit up.
In addition to my usual favorites like Fruition, Dandelion, Antidote, and Charm School, I’m beelining for American bean-to-bar makers I don’t get to see that often, like Chequessett and Goodnow Farms as well as international superstars Amedei, Hogarth, the Swedish Cacao Company, and Marou (they might even have their much-coveted inclusion bars, which are basically impossible to find in the U.S.!). I’m also interested in checking out Askanya, the first bean-to-bar maker in Haiti, who uses Haitian beans. If you’re interested in seeing the machines many makers use, stop by Cocoatown and Diamond.
After my single-origin binge, I’m going for all the bonbons. Top of the list: chocolatiers Christopher Elbow, Eclat, Laurie & Sons, Mademoiselle Miel, and Obsessive Chocolate Disorder. Also don’t miss Hakan Martensson, who is the force behind Fika and currently sculpting massive chocolate extraterrestrials. Word on the street is he’s opening his own shop soon too.
So what are you excited to taste this weekend?
Read More Stories!
Why That Bar of Chocolate Is Worth $10
Q&A With Maricel Presilla, Culinary Historian and Chocolate Expert
The 5 Best Team-Building Activities in NYC for Foodies
NYC is home to some of the best food in the world, and so it makes perfect sense that as someone with excellent taste, you’d want to explore it during your next company outing. From chocolate to pizza to cocktails, here are the best team-building activities for foodies in NYC.
1. Develop Your Chocolate Knowledge With Chocolate Noise
Everyone loves chocolate, which is why these guided tastings are perfect to build a sense of camaraderie while you eat many, many delicious things. In addition to the best artisan chocolate bars in the country, you’ll also be treated to fresh cacao fruit juice and single-origin roasted cacao beans. Your guide Megan Giller will bring everything to your office for an easy transition during a day of meetings, or she can help you find the right venue for your getaway. Plus, she knows what’s up: She’s been a food writer for more than a decade (find her work in Slate, Food & Wine, and Fortune), and she’s the author of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution.
2. Hone in on Your Pizza Passion With Scott’s Pizza Tours
Scott Wiener is serious about pizza, and he wants you to be too. Whether you embark on a big bus tour or a more manageable walking tour, he will tell you everything you never knew about the history of pizza, its many styles, and how to judge your slice. Skipping to the front of the line at historic places like Lombardi’s ain’t bad either.
3. Cook With the Institute of Culinary Education
The country’s best chefs teach at the Institute of Culinary Education, and they will create a bespoke private class for your group at their school in Manhattan or even come to your office. Whether your colleagues want to learn how to make pasta or pastries, they’ll get first-class instruction and recipes they’ll use for many years afterward.
4. Mix Drinks With Apotheke Academy
Sure, you could take your group out to a bar and order some cocktails, but it’s a lot more fun to learn to make them yourself! Apotheke brings its hands-on mixology classes to your place of business to teach you the fanciest cocktails you’ve ever heard of. Choose from themes like Prohibition Era and Agave Master.
5. Pair Chocolate and Cheese With Chocolate Noise
Chocolate and cheese aren’t obvious bedfellows, which is why it’s so exciting when you taste the delicious pairings food writer and chocolate expert Megan Giller puts together for these over-the-top events. You’ll taste some of the best artisan chocolates and specialty cheeses in the world, learn about how they’re made, and play fun games like chocolate trivia. First question: Do you think milk chocolate and blue cheese match? (Spoiler alert: They do!)
Is your mouth watering? Book a private chocolate tasting event today!
When in Cacao Country
You may have noticed it’s been pretty quiet around Chocolate Noise lately, and that’s because I was hanging out in South America for a few weeks. Obolo Chocolate in Santiago, Chile, invited me to visit their bean-to-bar factory and store to celebrate the launch of their new Chilean inclusion bars (an idea I’d mentioned at Chocolate Summer Camp last year), and I decided to throw in a little trip to Peru to eat everything in Lima and the rainforest.
Here are some photos from my trip, which, you’ll notice, is heavily slanted toward everything cacao and chocolate, even though I wasn’t there for “work.” Obolo is the first bean-to-bar maker in Chile, and I was pumped that because there’s such a strong wine culture there, people seemed to understand terroir, origin, and so on. (P.S., if you’re in NYC, they’re launching their bars on Saturday, August 24, at a party at the Meadow from 5-8 PM. See you there!) In Peru, I was particularly excited to see all of the craft chocolate made at origin, as well as how cacao fruit is being incorporated into fine dining there.
Obolo has created quite a community in the Barrio Italia neighborhood in Santiago, and does quite a bit to educate about bean-to-bar chocolate. Recently they started working with a hip new restaurant called La Mesa, which uses Obolo in all of their desserts, like this chocolate mousse “sandwich” with cacao nib cookies, coffee cream, and mushroom powder on top.
Here are two of my favorite bars from their new line of Chilean inclusion chocolates, one made with maqui berries from Patagonia and another made with a minty herb called Rica Rica from the Atacama Desert.
Obolo owner Mark Gerrits and I visited the desert to meet up with Patricia Perez, the owner of La Atacameña, who forages for herbs like Rica Rica in the desert. She and her mother, grandmother, and so on have done so for centuries. Because it was our first time to visit the desert, Patricia arranged a ceremony for us to honor the land. On the left, Mark is taking a moment to honor pachamama (the earth) and our ancestors.
After that life-changing experience, I flew to Lima, Peru, to meet my husband, Marcus. First stop, Central, one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, where they served a fresh cacao juice cocktail, cacao husk tea, copoazu dip (copoazu is genetically related to Theobroma cacao) and a dessert that they said focused on the cacao fruit more than chocolate. From left to right: fresh cacao pod display, house-made bean-to-bar chocolate with some sort of local nut syrup, cacao-husk infused ice cream, cacao fruit jelly. Below, milk chocolate mousse made with cacao pod skin, topped with coca leaves and herb granita
Next stop: El Cacaotal, a Peruvian-focused bean-to-bar shop run by A.J. Wiley, an anthropologist who is possibly more obsessed with chocolate than I am. Her store in the Barranco neighborhood only sells bars made in Peru with Peruvian beans, and it’s divided by origin. Check out the flavor wheels divided by origin too! Her coffee barista made us a brilliant pour-over coffee and a latte made with toasted Theobroma bicolor, a relative of cacao, which kind of looks like a cracked white cocoa bean or weird almond. Roasty and delicious. The collection of bars on the table are all of the tree-to-bar brands available at El Cacaotal, which is quite a lot. And that last image is roasted cacao beans at the Surquillo Market.
I also met up with Carolina from Conciencia Chocolate, a Peruvian raw brand that works closely with farmers and oversees every step of the process. Here she is holding a very marked-up copy of my book! And on the right is a guy promoting the Choco Museo, a very disappointing store that’s included here because I LOVED his shirt. I hope the chocolate industry will start to be more playful with images of cacao pods, etc. like this.
Last but least on this non-chocolate-related part of the trip, Marcus and I flew to Puerto Maldonado in the rainforest to stay at InkaTerra Hacienda Concepcion. Of course we visited a cacao farm! Here we are, plus the grinder they use to make chocolate liquor, which InkaTerra bakes into its cacao bread and desserts. Last but not least, here’s my pile of chocolate to take home. Not pictured: the Marana bar we shared with our tour guide at the cacao farm, one of my favorite moments. And now, back to Brooklyn!
Cocoa Percentage Measures Quantity, Not Quality
And now, a public service announcement:
Cocoa percentage simply measures the amount of the bar that comes from cocoa beans (including cocoa butter). It does not have anything to do with quality. I’ve tasted wonderful low-percentage bars and terrible high-percentage bars. Here are two bars with the exact same percentage (70 percent) that are a great example of this point. Craft makers like Dandelion Chocolate use the highest-quality cocoa beans (and other ingredients), while industrial chocolate like Lindt uses cheap beans and cover up the off flavors with sugar and vanilla. When you pay more for a craft bar, you’re paying for quality, regardless of the percentage.
Try Breast-to-Bar Chocolate: One Day Only!
You’ve heard of dark, milk, and white chocolate. And of goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, and even camel’s milk chocolate. But the world will never be the same, because today Callebaut and I are revealing the REAL fourth type of chocolate: breast milk chocolate!
Because we only created 200 of these nanobatch bars, they are only available for sale today.
We started with fine flavor cocoa beans sourced from a shaded area under Cerro Tres Tetas in Potosí, Bolivia.
Then we added breast milk sourced from my local Brooklyn women’s collective after my most recent bean-to-bar event. If you taste carefully, you can pick out the distinct terroir of Madagascar beans that has been translated into the breast milk itself.
You’ll also find notes of melons, grapefruit, and Almond Joy (or is it Mounds?) in this unique bar.
7 Unique Bridal Shower Ideas in NYC
Throwing a bridal shower can be tricky! Your sister, best friend, or new daughter-in-law deserves something as special as she is, and an Eiffel Tower-themed brunch just won’t cut it. That’s where this list comes in. Here are five ideas for a totally unique bridal shower in New York City.
1. Taste Chocolate With an Expert at Chocolate Noise
Food writer and chocolate expert Megan Giller recently shared how to taste chocolate with The New York Times, and now her team wants to share her favorite artisanal bars with you! Megan will lead you through a guided tasting of chocolates and pair them up with wine, beer, tea, and cheese for more fun. Megan says that for bridal showers, she likes to feature chocolate made by women, and to send guests home with cute tote bags full of more sweets for later. The tastings can take place at your house, a restaurant, or one of several private spaces she has available. Email events@chocolatenoise.com to learn more!
2. Make Pottery at Wilcoxson Brooklyn Ceramics
This Brooklyn-based design studio specializes in handmade porcelain pieces that are designed to be as functional as they are beautiful. Every month, they offer a variety of workshops that you can join, or you can book a private party. Your new favorite coffee cup awaits you.
3. Find the Venue of Your Dreams With Peerspace
So many sites online talk about the perfect place to host a bridal shower, but sometimes you want something a bit more unique than a regular restaurant’s spare room. Hello, Peerspace! The website showcases unusual venues throughout the city, ranging from cool Soho lofts to meditative yoga studios in Williamsburg to loft spaces in Queens. Especially when our NYC apartments are so tight, this is an easy way to find an intimate space you love.
4. Listen to Live Music at Public Records
This hip listening room in Gowanus features several different areas with several amazing performers almost every night. It’s the perfect opportunity to host a co-ed shower and to hang out with your friends and family in a less-formal environment.
5. Take a Graffiti Tour
New York City boasts some of the most impressive street art in the world. You could wander around the city streets and hope to find some, or you could go on one of these organized tours and see some real gems. They also offer workshops to create your own graffiti, if that’s more your speed.
6. Cook With Your Friends at My Cooking Party
Cook a gourmet meal from hors d’oeuvres to dessert with the chefs from this local company that specializes in all things bridal and bachelorette. (They even have a Battle of the Brides!) Or if you’re more into raw than cooked, check out their special sushi party menu.
7. Check out CityGuideNY’s List of Bridal Shower Brunches
Want more ideas? This list hits all of New York’s hottest spots for a special brunch. Whether you’re looking for a classic Upper West Side soiree-type spot or a trendy downtown locale for people-watching, they have you covered.
Let’s Plan Your Event!
Here's What 7 Kids Thought of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate
I’ve volunteered with kids for as long as I can remember, usually as a mentor or a tutor, and twice a week for the past three years, I’ve tutored children at READ718, a literacy nonprofit in Brooklyn. (Right now I work with a bright, dedicated girl named Khylie.)
But when I read Shawn and Lawren Askinosie’s book Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul in 2017, I was inspired to bring chocolate into the picture. On February 19, READ718 and I hosted our second chocolate tasting for kids together, and it was a smashing success!
Our tasting crew, plus READ718 volunteer Ken Clinton
Me pointing out Madagascar on the map, because we tasted Ritual’s single-origin Madagascar bar
With a group of seven children aged 5-13, we focused on using the senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, touch) to evaluate roasted cocoa beans from Fruition and three different types of chocolate: Ritual’s 70 percent Madagascar, Divine’s milk chocolate, and Askinosie’s white chocolate. (Pretty fancy stuff across the board!)
We played chocolate bingo for a break, and then the kids got to write their own food reviews of the chocolate they loved or hated the most. Everyone chose to write about their favorite bars (those optimists!), and today I’m publishing the finished reviews on my site, so that all of the kids are now published authors. ;)
About half of the kids liked the cocoa beans, and they described them as “chocolate peanut,” “coffee,” “tastes like something left in the fridge for a long time.” Another person said he liked the beans because “it didn’t make my lips pucker.” Watching these children think about and evaluate food in a different way than usual, especially with such a common ingredient as chocolate, was so rewarding and thought-provoking, and I hope they took something away from it too.
But I’ll let them tell you in their own words! Here are photos of a few of their reviews and typed versions of all of them (below).
“I like the dark chocolate because I like the texture of it and the taste of it because it tastes edible.”
—Ishmayel Antoine, age 7
Justin Adams, 6th grade
“I love the milk chocolate because it had a creamy, sweet, smooth taste of the milk chocolate. It tastes different from other milk chocolate, I will give it 10 stars for the milk chocolate.”
Ziting Zeng, age 8
“I like the milk chocolate because the chocolate is very, very, very good. I would recommend people eating milk chocolate because it is good. I will grade this chocolate a ten star.”
Ariane Alcide, age 6
“My favorite was the white chocolate because it was sweet and tasty. I wish I can eat it everyday.” (Ariane drew 12 stars)
“My favorite chocolate was the milk chocolate. I loved it because I liked the smooth texture that felt good when it melted. Another thing I liked about the milk chocolate was the taste because it tasted very sweet. One more reason I loved it is the smell the chocolate smelled like caramel and I enjoy caramel. I would recommend this to someone else because I like most of its quality. I would rate this a 9 out of 10.”
—Zion Dockery, age 12 (left)
“My favorite chocolate was the white chocolate. I loved it! I loved it because I liked the flavor. I also liked the texture, which was smooth. I also liked the way that it smelled!”
—Gezale Dockery, age 5 (center)
“There were 3 chocolates. #1 is dark, #2 is milk, and #3 is white, I loved the milk chocolate because one I always eat it so I’m used to it. It reminds me of chocolate milk, the texture and flavor of it is nice and also it feels really good. If I had to rate it I would give a 9/10 because it is not something that I would eat everyday it is like for an occasion.”
—Maeyel Dockery, age 13 (right)
Thanks so much to READ718’s Emily Kirven and Rachel Fucci, and READ718 volunteer Ken Clinton!
If you’re in the NYC area and would like me to do a chocolate tasting with your group, email me at megan@chocolatenoise.com!
(Note: There are affiliate links in this post.)
Celebrate Valentine's Day With Me — And Chocolate!
Delicious melted chocolate from Map Chocolate
Whether you love or hate Valentine’s Day, there’s no denying that it’s a super chocolatey holiday — which makes it top notch in my book. This year I’m writing a series of chocolate stories for Chowhound and hosting about a billion chocolate tastings in NYC.
The ones I might be most excited about? Fresh has asked me to help them put on three luxury chocolate tastings at their New York stores: Think champagne to start, followed by a guided tasting of five chocolates in an intimate setting (6-12 people, tops). The best part? IT’S BASICALLY FREE. Fresh is asking people to RSVP and reserve their spot by buying a $25 gift card, which I’m positive you’ll then use at the tasting to buy a mini mask, sugar treatment, or something else delectable.
Here’s the info; hope to see you there. It’s going to be delicious!
Saturday, 2/09/2019, 2-3 PM
159 Columbus Ave, New York, NY
RSVP to columbus@fresh.com
2/09/2019, 5-6 PM
872 Broadway, New York, NY
RSVP to union@fresh.com
2/10/2019, 4-5 PM
265 Lafayette St, New York, NY
RSVP to lafayette@fresh.com
And here are my chocolate stories for Chowhound so far!
When It Comes to Chocolate, What Does Cocoa Percentage Actually Mean?
Take a Look at a Fresh Cacao Pod
What’s in a cacao pod? If you haven’t been to a place where cacao trees grow, that’s probably your first question. Here’s a little infographic I made using a gorgeous photo from T’oak Chocolate that provides an inside look. Have you tasted fresh cacao pulp before?
4 Ethical Chocolates for Trick or Treaters This Halloween
My friend’s house gets stampeded on Halloween. The entire neighborhood turns into an extended haunted house, and after spending weeks putting up elaborate fake cemeteries and brainstorming how to dress up as a crazy ghost with a chainsaw, my friend spends the evening handing out hundreds of pieces of candy to kids.
Seriously, like 300 pieces of candy.
The thing is, my friend is also an incredibly conscientious person. She’s not the kind of jerk who hands out raisins or floss on Halloween, but she also doesn’t want to perpetuate the status quo of cheap, unethical candy. There's a reason those chocolates are so cheap, and it's because farmers are paid pennies for their hard work (think 80 cents per pound of cocoa beans) , which means you'll find extreme poverty and sometimes even child slave labor behind those sweets.
But when my friend asked me earlier today where to buy ethical Halloween candy that won’t break the bank, I was stumped. Well, for a minute.
Here are four solutions I found for her that I thought you, as an awesomely conscientious person, might want to hand out too. Each is reasonably priced and kid-friendly, and the pieces come individually wrapped, perfect for trick or treaters on Halloween.
Askinosie Itty Bitty Bars
Owner Shawn Askinosie is hands down the most ethical person I know. He devotes almost all of his time to sourcing cocoa beans directly from farmers, working to improve living conditions in Tanzania and the Philippines, in particular. Think building schools, buying textbooks and computers, and so many other initiatives that I can't even keep track. The bean-to-bar chocolate is also as high quality and delicious as it gets.
$127.50 for 150 bars (7 grams/bar) $.85/bar
Raaka Chocolate Mini Bars
I love this new trend of bean-to-bar makers coming out with mini versions of their badass bars. These come in pink sea salt or coconut milk, perfect for those too-cool-for-school vegan children (or, really, all children). If you’re looking for true candy, spring for Eat Chic’s nut butter cups, made with Raaka Chocolate and pretty much irresistible, though they’re a bit more expensive.
$80 for a box of 100 mini bars (8 grams/bar) $.80/bar
TCHO Dark Chocolate Mini Bars
These lil' minis taste as cute as they look: Think an assortment of bean-to-bar maker TCHO's dark chocolate bars in "nutty" flavor, for the discerning trick or treater. There aren't any nuts in the bars; rather, the chocolate itself tastes nutty because of the cocoa beans' natural terroir. The Berkeley-based company practices direct trade, buying cocoa beans directly from farmers and investing time, money, and energy into improving their living conditions.
$42.99 for 120 bars (8 grams/bar), $.35/bar
Equal Exchange Minis
Honestly I don't know that much about this company, but what I do know impresses me. The chocolate is not bean to bar, but it is fair trade and comes from a worker-owned co-op. Plus Equal Exchange worked with TCHO to create chocolate-making labs near cocoa farmer communities so that farmers can see how their beans taste, and make them taste even better. Try the minis with a hint of hazelnut, reminiscent of Nutella. $60 for 150 pieces.
$43.75 for 1 pack of 150 bars (4.25 grams/bar), $.29/bar
(Note: This post contains affiliate links.)
Notes From the Underground Chocolate Salon
Last week a colony of chocolate lovers gathered in the private room at Voila Chocolat for a very special Underground Chocolate Salon.
I’ve always been jealous of Paris in the 1920s, when artistic and literary luminaries gathered at Gertrude Stein’s house to talk and hang out: Picasso, Cézanne, Joyce, Eliot, Cocteau. Only one thing would have made it better: chocolate. That’s why I started what I’m calling the Underground Chocolate Salon, for like-minded (or not so like-minded) people to get together and talk chocolate, as well as enjoy one another’s company.
This was a different sort of salon, because I’m trying out a new format. Rather than leading a guided tasting, I set up three different tasting areas with lots of goodies. (Of course, I ended up talking for most of the time, but in the future I’d like to change this. Send me ideas if you have ‘em.)
One table featured Wilbur Buds, a gift from the folks in Lititz, PA, from when I visited on my book tour. Legend has it that these bites of dark and milk chocolate predate the Hershey kiss — and that when Milton Hershey visited Wilbur Chocolate, he had a Eureka moment. He created chocolate bites that looked similar, added a few other fats and ingredients to keep them from melting naturally, and packaged them individually. Behold, the birth of the Hershey kiss!
The other two tables featured the exact opposite of this industrial chocolate: On one, three types of Mestico Chocolate from Brazil interested (and in some cases, confused) our taste buds. In general we tasted a strong roast and a little bit of fruitiness, but possibly some Brazilian funk as well. Read my recent story about the trials and tribulations of Brazilian cacao here.
And then we had a table with Dandelion’s new Sierra Leone bar and Ara Chocolate’s Tolita, Colombia, bar. The color difference between the two staggered us: Ara’s bar looked as light as milk chocolate while Dandelion’s was the darkest brown. (Check it out at the top of this post!) Both makers most likely roasted the beans lightly, so in this case we were really noticing the difference between the cocoa beans. The tastes were opposite as well: Ara’s Tolita bar tasted like tropical fruit while Dandelion’s Sierra Leone bar tasted like fudge fudge fudge.
The Sierra Leone bar is especially worth noting because it’s the first bar made with these beans, sourced with the help of Professor Kristy Leissle and Meridian Cacao. I hope that now more American makers will venture beyond Tanzania in terms of using African beans.
Then Voila chef Christophe Toury showed us how he’s been making chocolate from scratch — Crankenstein, blow dryer, and all. We tried three of his bars, and my favorite by far was the single-origin Peru, which had a distinct raisin and prune fruitiness that differed from other single-origin Peruvian chocolates I’ve tasted.
The evening ended with a cup of hot Ruby chocolate, thanks to the packaged mix I picked up in London from Fortnum & Mason. It was a treat to try this ahead of the U.S. launch, though I’m still convinced Ruby chocolate is all marketing. It tasted super sweet and milky (since it was made with milk, obviously), with a stronger note of raspberries than cocoa. “Would you call this chocolate?” Chef Christophe asked me. What do you think?
The Underground Chocolate Salon will not be held at regular intervals, but if you’d like to put your name in the lottery to attend, please email me at megan@chocolatenoise.com and tell me about the best chocolate you’ve ever tasted.
What Women Ate: CHOCOLATE!
Hello, chocolate lovers!
As you might have guessed, in 2018 I’m working on some BIG projects, like this 5,000 word feature about the conspiracy behind Brazilian cacao’s demise.
I’m super excited to share a little bit about another big project I’m working on, called What Women Ate! It’s a series of short, funny videos where a comedienne and I cook — and eat — the food of the past and look at the lives of the WOMEN of every race and creed and culture who made it.
First up? CHOCOLATE, OF COURSE. Here’s a still of me with some of my enormous chocolate supply. I’ll be posting more photos from our shoots as well as other historical and hilarious material on Instagram, under @whatwomenate.
Can’t wait to share more with you soon!
Chocolate, Bioterrorism, and the Birth of Brazilian Funk
Healthy pods at Vale Potumuju, photo by Greg D'Alesandre
You may have noticed that it’s been a little quiet around Chocolate Noise lately, and that’s because I’ve spent the past six months or so working on an enormous story about Brazilian cacao and the conspiracy behind its demise in the early '90s. Engadget published it on Friday, and I’m super excited to share it with you here.
I’ve rounded up some photos of Brazilian beans, chocolate makers, and farms that Engadget didn’t use in the story, which means you can exclusively view them here.
Witches' broom in Bahia, photo by Greg D'Alesandre
Pods with witches' broom at Vale Potumuju, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Beans infected with witches' broom being fermented, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Farmers at Vale Potumuju opening healthy pods, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Brazilian bean-to-bar makers Juliana and Tuta Aquino consulted cacao whisperer Dan O'Doherty of Cacao Services to improve their growing and processing methods, including transforming their traditional drying area into a solar drying tunnel. Here's a cool video that Tuta made about it.
The schoolroom at Vale Potumuju, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Juliana choosing beans at Vale Potumuju, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Baiani's pretty molds, photo by Baiani Chocolate
Brazil swept the Academy of Chocolate Awards this year. Baiani Chocolate, the Aquinos' brand, won silver in the tree-to-bar category, and here are all the other Brazilian brands that won awards!
From left: Mission Chocolate (available at these places in the U.S.), Luisa Abram Chocolate (available here), and Mestico Chocolate (available here)
It’s exciting to see Brazil’s bean-to-bar movement blossoming, and to see American makers start to use their beans.
What country do you think is next? Tell me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter!
Listen To This Music From Chocolate Supergroup the Cocoatowns
Bean-to-bar chocolate bars have always been music to my mouth, and now I’m excited to announce that it will be music to my ears! American chocolate makers have formed a musical supergroup called the Cocoatowns and are releasing their first album! The band consists of Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor of Dick Taylor Chocolate on guitar and vocals, Greg D’Alesandre of Dandelion Chocolate on bass, and Mackenzie Rivers of Map Chocolate on drums.
The first album includes the following cover songs, with a chocolate twist:
You Can’t Always Get (the Chocolate) You Want (Rolling Stones)
Eight Tonnes A Week (the Beatles meets a scathing commentary on how much big chocolate produces)
Sweet Chocolate Bar of Mine (Guns N Roses)
Papa’s Got a Brand New Origin Bar (James Brown)
Sultans of Sweets (Dire Straits)
Winnow ‘n Grind (R. Kelly)
My Kind of Cocoatown (Frank Sinatra)
Chocolate Maker’s Paradise (Snoop Dog)
(Cocoa) Beans for Breakfast (Johnny Cash)
Melangeur Rhapsody (Queen)
Total Eclipse of the 100% Bar (Whitney Houston)
All of My Valentine's Day Stories in One Place
Stick With Me's fabulous bonbons (image courtesy the Kitchn)
This year the mainstream media has wholeheartedly embraced bean-to-bar chocolate, which has made this an extra-special Valentine’s Day for me. In fact, I’m going to let their stories speak for themselves. Here they are!
Stories I Wrote
The Best Milk Chocolate Treats for Grown-Ups (The Kitchn)
How Chocolate Gendered Packaging (Print Magazine)
A Beginner’s Guide to Craft Chocolate (Wine Enthusiast)
How to Build the Ultimate Chocolate Tasting Plate (Tasting Table)
Chocolate Truffle Torte (Tasting Table)
Stories That Feature My Book and Me
Bean-to-Bar Trivia Everyone with a Sweet Tooth Should Know (America’s Test Kitchen)
These Local Bean-to-Bar Makers Have You Covered for Valentine’s Day (Los Angeles Magazine)
Book Giveaway (Edible Nashville)
Caramelized White Chocolate Is for People Who Hate White Chocolate (Eater)
‘I get so tired of pink’: female chocolatiers turn to death for Valentine’s day (The Guardian)
Chocolate Pairings: Tips from a Fine Cacao Expert (Perfect Daily Grind)
8 High-Quality Chocolates You Should Buy for Valentine’s Day (Men’s Journal)
Episode 27: I Love You So Much Podcast (Austin American-Statesman)
Stephen Fries: Show your love with fine chocolate (Middletown Press)
Surprise your valentine with homemade truffles (Bucks Local News)
Visions of (Chocolate-Coated) Sugar Plums
People keep sending me photos of their babies reading my book, and I love it! This is from Arcelia Gallardo, the founder of Mission Chocolate. She says she's been carrying my book around in her diaper bag for easy access.
This has been a fantastic year for bean-to-bar chocolate, and I can’t wait to see what next year brings. But before I peace out for the holidays, I wanted to share a couple fun things with you.
Collaboration with Zingerman’s
Zingerman’s calls my book "the definitive guide to American craft chocolate making," which is such a nice compliment! We've put together a delicious bundle of my book with three of my favorite chocolate bars, Fruition’s Brown Butter bar, Askinosie’s Single-Origin 72% Tanzania bar, and Dick Taylor’s 72% Single-Origin Belize bar. It’s a perfect gift for the holidays and will be available through Valentine’s Day as well.
Bean-to-Bar Chocolate in the Press
My book has been getting more great press!
"Sweet Move for Chocolate Maker" (featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, December 2017)
"Drinking Chocolates for Winter" (featured in Imbibe magazine, December 2017)
Small Bites — Episode 71 (featured on Small Bites radio show, at 43:50 mark, December 2017)
"Have an Interest in Craft Chocolate? Join the Revolution" (featured in The Daily Herald, November 2017)
"New Book Highlights Craft Chocolate, Shops, Makers" (featured in Luxury Travel Review, November 2017)
"Bean-to-Bar Chocolate" (featured on KATU morning show in Portland, November, 2017)
"Bean-to-Bar Chocolate" (featured on 9News morning show in Denver, November 2017)
"Author Visits Winston-Salem to Promote Craft Chocolate" (featured in Winston-Salem Journal, November 2017)
"The Ultimate 2017 Holiday Product Gift Guide" (featured on BuzzFeed, October 2017)
"'Bean-to-Bar Chocolate' author shares her favorite NYC chocolatiers" (featured on amNew York, October 2017)
"Fruition, All About the Flavor" and "Fruition's Olive Oil Sourdough Truffles" (featured in Edible Hudson Valley, October 2017)
"The Most Delicious Chocolates to Buy Now, According to America's Best Craft Chocolate Makers" (featured on Forbes.com, October 2017)
"Woodstock Radio: Episode 158" (featured on Woodstock Booktalk Radio with Jennifer Egan and Dermot Meagher, October 2017)
Meanwhile I’ve been writing about chocolate makers, their obsession with technology, and the fantastic books they publish for Engadget and Forbes.
"Geeks Are Using Science to Make the Best Chocolate Ever" (Engadget, about Dandelion, Amano, Fresco, Patric, and more!)
“4 Lessons for Entrepreneurs to Make Work Meaningful — and Profitable” (Forbes, about Shawn Askinosie’s new book)
“Here’s How to Change Your Industry With a Branded Book” (Forbes, about Dandelion’s new book)
Results From the Chocolate Quiz
The talented folks at Storey Publishing put together this fun quiz based on my new book, Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution, to help you find your favorite type of craft chocolate bar.
I’m pleased to say that everyone has found it pretty dang accurate so far; here are some results that people sent me:
Deborah Kwan (Guittard’s PR rep): “Dark Milk Chocolate, which is surprisingly accurate!”
Morgan Reed: “This was a nice surprise to see in my email inbox and the thought of quizzes take me back to my middle school days when all I wanted to do was answer fantasy or animal Quizilla quizzes and find out more about myself. Baha. I love it. Anyway! The quiz results told me I love nutty chocolate and I cannot say that is wrong. :) Though I’m also curious what the other craft chocolate results were. I’m really looking forward to the chocolate bar recommendations (Amano Chocolate’s Ocumare Village bar and Dandelion Chocolate’s Mantuano, Venezuela bar). The chocolate suggestions were very appreciated. I wonder if The Meadow will have these…”
WKND Chocolate: “She's @MeganGiller outed me! I got milk chocolate :) What's yours?”
Dormouse Chocolates: “Karen got dark milks and I got nutty darks, pretty accurate!”
Charmaine McFarlane: dark milk chocolate; “...Collecting and tasting chocolate is becoming my new pastime.”
And to All, a Good Night
I hope you are all able to take some time off this season and enjoy what you’ve accomplished. I for one am going to take a week-long nap. I’m brainstorming my next season/series on Chocolate Noise, and you may notice that it’s a little quieter than usual around here in the beginning of 2018. Rest assured that something fun is coming.
See you next year!
(Note: This story contains affiliate links.)
Find Your Craft Chocolate Match
The talented folks at Storey Publishing put together this fun quiz based on my new book, Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution, to help you find your favorite type of craft chocolate bar. Tell me what yours is and I'll publish it in my next Chocolate Today blog post and newsletter! Write me at megan@chocolatenoise.com or on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
New Chocolate Books for the Holidays!
Hello, chocolate lovers. I’ve missed you! I finished up my book tour in November in Seattle and Portland, but I’ve been sleeping for a couple of weeks (eating chocolate is hard work) and haven’t posted. But before I tell y’all how the rest of the cross-country tour went, I have an announcement…
While I Was Sleeping… Three New Chocolate Books!
This is a joyous moment, because 2017 is officially the Year of the Craft Chocolate Book. In addition to my book, MORE chocolate books have been published, each unique and quite different in its focus.
Dandelion Chocolate’s book, Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more, is a gorgeous glimpse into the Dandelion process. It reveals in exacting detail just how to make chocolate, the Dandelion way, and will be immensely useful for all of you nascent chocolate makers out there. (For example: There are plans for how to build your own winnower with PVC pipe.) Also don’t miss the section on sourcing as well as mouthwatering recipes from their café.
Dandelion celebrated its opening in New York with a one-week pop-up featuring hot chocolate, baked goods, and books, and it was truly delicious.
Askinosie Chocolate also just published a book. Called Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul, by Shawn Askinosie with Lawren Askinosie, it details Shawn’s journey to create a business that changes the world for the better and shapes his life in a positive way. The best part: Shawn teaches you along the way how to create this kind of life for yourself, with advice that rings true and exercises to help you get there. It’s about the chocolate, but so much more.
Meanwhile Professor Kristy Leissle (aka the Doc of Chocolate) is publishing a book called Cocoa that examines chocolate from a sociopolitical point of view. It’s part of Wiley’s Polity Resources Series (other titles include Cotton and Oil), and I cannot wait to read it. It comes out in the spring and promises to be a game-changer.
The Northwest Junction of the Cross-Country Tour
A few weeks ago at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, I chatted about those chocolate books on a panel with Greg D’Alesandre of Dandelion Chocolate, Lawren Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate, and Professor Kristy Leissle. Jael Rattigan of French Broad Chocolates was the best moderator any of us had ever seen and asked us smart, informed questions about our new books.
We also hung out with the whole industry at Indi Chocolate, where Dandelion and I had a joint book release party. So much good food and conversation!
Then in Portland it was a party, with a chocolate and beer pairing night at Ex Novo Brewing featuring Cocanú and BatchPDX with some kickass beers and a fun open house with chocolate and coffee at Ranger Chocolate with Trailhead Coffee Roasters (of course he served his coffee off of his bike).
The three-week extravaganza ended with a bang at Creo, with an Underground Chocolate Salon featuring every Portland chocolate maker and a full house.
Now I’m back in New York, hosting a few more events and hanging in until the holidays.
Speaking of the Holidays: Get Your Chocolate + Book Bundle
Bar & Cocoa has packaged my book with some of my favorite bars, which obviously makes a perfect holiday present. Think Askinosie Dark Chocolate w/ Crunchy Sugar & Vanilla, Amano Dos Rios, Dick Taylor Madagascar, Dandelion Mantuano Venezuela, Fruition Maranon Canyon Dark Milk, and Raaka Ghost Pepper.
(Note: This story contains affiliate links.)
Watch Me on TV, and More Book Tour Dates
Me, the open road, and lots of chocolate: That pretty much sums up the past week or so, as long as "lots of chocolate" also includes all the people who have been helping me eat it along the way.
First I indulged in a three-course chocolate dinner in Richmond, Virginia, at Camden's Dogtown Market, co-hosted by Fountain Books: Think a chocolate and cheese course featuring Harper Macaw and Point Reyes blue cheese, pasta in a chocolate-lamb ragu, and a single-origin brownie trio (recipe from Dandelion, in the book!). Then I was off to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for a chocolate and spirit pairing evening with Black Mountain Chocolate and Broad Branch Distilling, including tours of both factories.
Next I visited Videri in Raleigh, North Carolina, for a quick tour and to sign some books (get your copies at their cafe!), then moved on to Asheville. French Broad Chocolates rolled out the red carpet with me for a jumpin' open house at their factory with cupcakes, hot chocolate, savory treats from the Rhu, and guided chocolate tastings by yours truly. After that FBC and I walked over to Catawba Brewing for a night of chocolate and beer pairings, featuring their gorgeous bonbons.
I capped off my tour of the South with a four-course chocolate dinner at Asheville's James Beard Award-winning restaurant Rhubarb, featuring French Broad Chocolates. We devoured rye bread made with cocoa nibs and 100% chocolate, smeared in cocoa nib butter; delectable cocoa-nib-crusted bison in a light but hearty mole sauce; and Nicaraguan chocolate budino under a shiitake mushroom cake with candied shiitakes and brown butter ice cream, to name a few dishes.
Then I moved on to Colorado, where I popped in to 9News to hang out on Colorado and Company, the video you watched up at the top of the post.
I had a great time with WKND Chocolate and Cultura Craft Chocolate at my talk and tasting at Tattered Cover in Denver, and a blast with Nuance Chocolate at Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins.
Now I'm in Seattle for an over-the-top chocolatey weekend, aka the Northwest Chocolate Festival and other fun plans in Emerald City. Then I'll be finishing up this leg of the tour in Portland. Here are some upcoming events!
11/11/2017, 12 PM: Panel at Northwest Chocolate Festival: "Hot Off the Presses: 4 New Must-Read Chocolate Books" (Seattle, WA)
11/13/2017, 5-7 PM: Chocolate Tasting and Book Signing at Indi Chocolate (Seattle, WA)
11/14/2017, 11 AM-12:30 PM: Guided Chocolate Tasting at Fran's Chocolates (Seattle, WA)
11/16/2017, 7-9 PM: Chocolate and Beer Pairing at Ex Novo Brewing (Portland, OR)
11/17/2017, 5-7 PM: Book Signing at Serra Dispensary (Portland, OR)
11/18/2017, 1-3 PM: Book Release Party With Chocolate and Coffee at Ranger Chocolate (Portland, OR)
11/18/2017, 7-9 PM: Underground Chocolate Salon Featuring Portland Chocolate Makers at Creo (Portland, OR)