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New Melangers are in - new beans on the way

The new stock of Melanger's are in and available.  Last year we had a few with 99 hour timers, but they sold out very quickly.  Those are available again, along with the standard on/off switch ones.  Should you get one with a timer or just an on/off switch?  I get that question a lot.  Personally I like the on/off switch.  There is less to  go wrong, and I have never had a time where a few hours more would make that much difference in a chocolate (i.e. shutting off over night).  But they seem very popular, and work just great. As for something to look forward to, we should have a new crop of Ocumare for 2007, in addition to a little of 2006 left.  I just finished taste testing a new bean from the Dominican Republic different from the Conacado.  The prep in the sample is a little cleaner, and the flavor profile is a little earthier.  And if the samples taste ok (one failed already and I turned it down) I hope to be able to offer some Carenero Superior in the coming months.

Finally, if you are looking for some wholesale quantities (150 lb sacks, thinking of starting local market?) of cocoa beans, I can offer both of the ones from the Dominican Republic (one which you have not tasted yet - see above) at a significant  discount (approximately 50%) off retail.  Drop me a note  and I can tell you more.

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"Don't mess with our Chocolate"

I have been seeing this for a couple weeks now. If you have not heard, it relates to the FDA changing the Standard of Identity for a Typical Chocolate. The primary change that seems to have everyone up in arms (justifiably so in my opinion also) is the change to allow up to 25.27% of non-cocoa butter oil in "chocolate". You can see the full set of proposed changes Here. Oddly, there is another proposed change that on the surface looks just as bad, but in this case, I have to say I agree with to the point that I understand it. It concerns the allowance of milk substitutes. I get emails weekly from people that want to make their own chocolate free of milk products, mostly due to allergies. If I am reading the proposed change correctly, there primary reason there is no milk free "milk" chocolate is it can't be called chocolate. The change would allow this. I think this portion is great. I have made fantastic soy and even rice "milk" chocolate and I see no reason that as long as it is labeled properly, that it should be able to be called chocolate.

So, please follow the link above and tell the FDA what you think. I am personally against the oil substitution, but all for the alternative milk ingredients.

And on a small update, the Panama cocoa beans are almost out of stock, so if you want to try a smooth cocoa bean, you may wish to try it soon. Also, we are also offering Roasted Cocoa beans. Ocumare, Dominican Republic and Madagascar are the ones currently available.

Finally, the new shipment of Santha Melangers  should be in anytime now and available by the end of next week.  I will be sure to announce their arrival.

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A few improvements and changes

Hi, welcome to the new and improved (I sincerely hope) site. A number of months ago, the service we use to manage Chocolate Alchemy site was hacked and became unusable to us. To make a long story short, we are now using Wordpress to handle a portion of the site. That means a number of things to you, my devoted customers and readers.

  • We now have a search feature (look in the right column, and down a little) and as I can get them in, all the old archives will be searchable.
  • Likewise, new announcements will be categorized for easier browsing.
  • I should be posting more updates, because now it is virtually effortless
  • If you wish to leave a comment or question, I will see it sooner as I am notified (but you will have to register - sorry about that, but comment spam is terrible).

As always, I have done my best to catch any errors before you do, but if you do see any broken links, please drop me a note or comment and I will get them fixed right away.

And now onto a little exciting news. We are now offering a selection (Madagascar, Dominican Republic, and Ocumare) of Roasted Cocoa Beans. The "catch" is that they are in larger quantities (10 lb minimum) to make it feasible.  If you want more than we offer (either in quantity [like a full 150 lb bag] or origin], drop me a note and I am sure we can work it out to get you the cocoa beans you want.

Finally, I have started to process of setting up a Wholesale shopping cart that will be clear and distinct from the current one.  Look for it a little after tax season.

So, what do you think?

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Valentine's Day

As promised, we have a new selection of Valentine's Day Molds. There is a new heart mold, decorative filled mold, and Chocolate Kiss. Plus a new Leaf mold I like a lot.We have also put together a simple Education Kit for teachers, home scholars or anyone doing a project on chocolate. There are no further updates on the Melangers. They are still out of stock until mid-March.

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The New Year

Hello, and welcome to the new year. I hope it is going well for you. We are through the holidays, and made it in one piece and getting ready for new things. Due to some unforeseen circumstances at Santha (they are temporarily closed for a trip to India) we are effectively out of stock of the Melangers. At least for USA models. Other models can still ship worldwide (actually, if you wish to pay an $100 or so in shipping, they could be shipped to the USA from India). After that, the latest ETA for the new shipment of Melangers is set the middle of March. Units with the 99 hour timer will then be available.

Are you ready for Valentine's Day? We will have a couple new molds (a couple new hearts and a "kiss") in a week or so. Keep an eye out. Now it the time to start planning that special chocolate to give to your sweety.

Are you maybe looking at starting a little Artisan chocolate company? Sell at the local farmer's market maybe? To help you get going, will are just finishing up the details to offer roasted beans. The "catch" is that they are in 20 pound increments and of only two varieties (Madagascar and Dominican Republic). If you don't need the roasting, then well also offer entire bags (60-65 kg) at a substantial (around 45%) discount off retail. We have always done this, but will soon have pages and links set up.

Finally, I have been testing a small table top rotisserie convection oven. It will roast 3 lb cocoa rather nicely. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but not very expensive either. I will probably be offering these up within the next couple months.

That's it. Let's see what 2007 brings.

Happy Chocolate making.

P.S. The new shopping cart system is going pretty well, and definitely has made my life less hectic. The only two glitches that have been uncovered are this. We have a Flat Rate USPS option. It is for orders under 8 lbs. AND when the order is only cocoa bean and nibs. It will show up if you have other items as it is a weight based system. Please don't choose it if you are ordering other items (molds and cocoa butter seem the most common). They do not always fit. Also, if you desire your cocoa beans as nibs, please select 1 lb as nibs, and increase the quantity to the amount you want. It is NOT like it used to be where you have to leave me notes. If there suggestions how to make these items less confusing, suggestions are welcome. I would hate to decrease options (no USPS or nibs) just to keep the errors down. Thank you everyone.

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