One of the many highlights of the Grenada Chocolate Festival – and perhaps the thing I’d been looking forward to the most – was a trip to the Belmont Estate and the Grenada Chocolate Company factory in the village of Hermitage in the North East of the island.

The Grenada Chocolate Company have pioneered sustainable “tree to bar” chocolate making and have become a model for many small chocolate makers around the world. Their tiny factory is a brightly painted converted house in a residential road. I’d seen many photos of it, but getting a chance to actually visit the spiritual home of ethical chocolate making was a dream come true.

But before we could visit the factory, our tour took us to the nearby Belmont Estate. Belmont is a 17th century plantation that describes itself as an “Agri-Tourism Experience”, but most importantly it’s where the initial processing of beans for the Grenada Chocolate Company’s chocolate takes place. Cacao is harvested from the estate and neighbouring organic farms and brought to Belmont to be fermented and dried.

We were given the full tour of the estate. The chocolate making process was explained in fascinating detail by Dr. Darin Sukha of the University Of The West Indies. We started in the fermentation shed where the harvested beans begin their transformation into chocolate. Piled into large wooden containers complete with the pulp that surrounds them, this is where the chocolate flavours start to develop in the beans.

The piles of cocoa beans are left to ferment in their pulp for about a week, covered in banana leaves to keep the heat of the fermentation process in. Every couple of days, the pile is turned to ensure an even ferment. It might not look particularly appetising at this point, but it’s an essential part of the chocolate making process.

After fermenting, the beans are dried naturally in the sun. This is done by spreading them out onto very large wooden racks that are mounted on rails and can easily be slid away under cover when it rains. To dry the beans thoroughly they need to be turned regularly, and this part is still done the traditional way.

The process of walking up and down the beans, turning them with the feet is called tramping. Care has to be taken not to crush and break the beans, so the technique requires sliding the feet through the beans, rather than walking on top of them.

This might seem a little old fashioned, but it gets the job done and it’s a lot of fun for visiting tourists who want to get their feet dirty! There is another way to dry the beans though, and the Grenada Chocolate Company were pioneers of solar drying. This is basically just a large greenhouse where the beans are spread out on a table. With no room to turn the beans by tramping, a special tool called a rabot is used to turn the beans here.

After a quick cocoa tea, it was time to head out into the plantation and see how the pods are actually harvested – another part of the process that needs to be done manually.

Because of the way cacao grows, it would be impossible to automate the process. Although it can only grow in hot climates, the cacao tree likes a bit of shade, so is always grown with other, larger shade-giving trees like banana. Grenada is also an incredibly mountainous island with hardly any flat land, so simply getting to the trees can be a challenge in itself. There’s no substitute for a bit of skilled labour here.

After harvesting with a simple blade on a long pole, the pods need to be opened. Traditionally, this is done with a machete or cutlass, but for the inexperienced, this is a great way to lose a finger or three.

At Belmont, they use a special wooden mallet to crack the pods open instead. Once opened, the beans and pulp are taken back to the fermentation shed, while the empty pods can be used for fertiliser.

The Grenada Chocolate Company Factory

In most parts of the cocoa growing world, the fermented and dried beans would then be packed into burlap sacks for transportation to chocolate factories around the world. However, the real value is added when the beans are transformed into chocolate.

The Grenada Chocolate Company is one of only a handful of chocolate makers that produce bars right where the cocoa grows, keeping more of the the revenue within the local community. Working directly with the farmers also means they can encourage good practice and have a direct influence on the flavour and quality of the chocolate right from the start. It’s a fascinating model that has resulted in some of the best chocolate in the world.

Given the worldwide availability of Grenada Chocolate Company bars, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s made in a big factory. In actual fact, every single bar is produced from start to finish in this tiny house. Solar panels in the garden power the process and a small, brightly painted van delivers the chocolate throughout the island and to the docs in St. George’s, from where it’s transported to chocolate shops around the world.

Our tour is brief, but magical. First we are shown the old coffee roaster where the cocoa is gently roasted to develop the flavour and help release the papery shells. From there, the beans are broken and the shells are blown away in a custom-made winnowing machine.

Grenada Chocolate Company use a combination of modern 30kg Cocoa Town and vintage Lehmann melanger. The Cocoa Town was in use during our visit and was full to the brim with chocolate. The acidity in the air as the volatiles were driven out of the chocolate made it quite difficult to breathe in such a small room, so we didn’t stay long!

Of course, the challenge with making chocolate in a hot climate like Grenada is that it has a tendency to melt! The heat is actually useful for the grinding and concheing process, but chocolate can only be tempered and moulded below 25°C, so that part of the process takes place behind closed doors in an air conditioned room.

Every bar is moulded then carefully hand wrapped in this small room, before being stored ready for shipping.

The process of making small batch chocolate is virtually the same wherever you go in the world, but making it in a hot climate is especially challenging. Thanks to the vision and dedication of the late Mott Green, the Grenada Chocolate Company have managed to transform this little house into the world’s most ethical chocolate factory.

After our tour of the factory, we returned to Belmont for lunch in their fabulous open air restaurant. We were entertained with traditional Grenadian dancing before dining on a truly wonderful chocolate themed meal, made with plenty of local cacao. Then there was just time for chocolate tasting with a selection of Grenadian chocolates and a spot of shopping at the Grenada Chocolate Company factory shop before heading back to our hotel.

I had such a wonderful time at Belmont and the Grenada Chocolate Company. Their efforts and investment have kick started a whole industry on the island. There is now a second bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Grenada, and the chocolate festival which hosted are visit was one of the best I’ve experienced. I can’t wait to go back, and spend more time surrounded by cacao and chocolate in Grenada.

Belmont Estate Photo Gallery

Grenada Chocolate Company Photo Gallery

Thanks to the Grenada Tourism Authority for organising our chocolate-filled visit to Grenada.

The post Belmont Estate And The Grenada Chocolate Company appeared first on Chocablog.

One of the many highlights of the Grenada Chocolate Festival – and perhaps the thing I’d been looking forward to the most – was a trip to the Belmont Estate and the Grenada Chocolate Company factory in the village of Hermitage in the North East of the island.

The Grenada Chocolate Company have pioneered sustainable “tree to bar” chocolate making and have become a model for many small chocolate makers around the world. Their tiny factory is a brightly painted converted house in a residential road. I’d seen many photos of it, but getting a chance to actually visit the spiritual home of ethical chocolate making was a dream come true.

But before we could visit the factory, our tour took us to the nearby Belmont Estate. Belmont is a 17th century plantation that describes itself as an “Agri-Tourism Experience”, but most importantly it’s where the initial processing of beans for the Grenada Chocolate Company’s chocolate takes place. Cacao is harvested from the estate and neighbouring organic farms and brought to Belmont to be fermented and dried.

We were given the full tour of the estate. The chocolate making process was explained in fascinating detail by Dr. Darin Sukha of the University Of The West Indies. We started in the fermentation shed where the harvested beans begin their transformation into chocolate. Piled into large wooden containers complete with the pulp that surrounds them, this is where the chocolate flavours start to develop in the beans.

The piles of cocoa beans are left to ferment in their pulp for about a week, covered in banana leaves to keep the heat of the fermentation process in. Every couple of days, the pile is turned to ensure an even ferment. It might not look particularly appetising at this point, but it’s an essential part of the chocolate making process.

After fermenting, the beans are dried naturally in the sun. This is done by spreading them out onto very large wooden racks that are mounted on rails and can easily be slid away under cover when it rains. To dry the beans thoroughly they need to be turned regularly, and this part is still done the traditional way.

The process of walking up and down the beans, turning them with the feet is called tramping. Care has to be taken not to crush and break the beans, so the technique requires sliding the feet through the beans, rather than walking on top of them.

This might seem a little old fashioned, but it gets the job done and it’s a lot of fun for visiting tourists who want to get their feet dirty! There is another way to dry the beans though, and the Grenada Chocolate Company were pioneers of solar drying. This is basically just a large greenhouse where the beans are spread out on a table. With no room to turn the beans by tramping, a special tool called a rabot is used to turn the beans here.

After a quick cocoa tea, it was time to head out into the plantation and see how the pods are actually harvested – another part of the process that needs to be done manually.

Because of the way cacao grows, it would be impossible to automate the process. Although it can only grow in hot climates, the cacao tree likes a bit of shade, so is always grown with other, larger shade-giving trees like banana. Grenada is also an incredibly mountainous island with hardly any flat land, so simply getting to the trees can be a challenge in itself. There’s no substitute for a bit of skilled labour here.

After harvesting with a simple blade on a long pole, the pods need to be opened. Traditionally, this is done with a machete or cutlass, but for the inexperienced, this is a great way to lose a finger or three.

At Belmont, they use a special wooden mallet to crack the pods open instead. Once opened, the beans and pulp are taken back to the fermentation shed, while the empty pods can be used for fertiliser.

The Grenada Chocolate Company Factory

In most parts of the cocoa growing world, the fermented and dried beans would then be packed into burlap sacks for transportation to chocolate factories around the world. However, the real value is added when the beans are transformed into chocolate.

The Grenada Chocolate Company is one of only a handful of chocolate makers that produce bars right where the cocoa grows, keeping more of the the revenue within the local community. Working directly with the farmers also means they can encourage good practice and have a direct influence on the flavour and quality of the chocolate right from the start. It’s a fascinating model that has resulted in some of the best chocolate in the world.

Given the worldwide availability of Grenada Chocolate Company bars, you would be forgiven for thinking it’s made in a big factory. In actual fact, every single bar is produced from start to finish in this tiny house. Solar panels in the garden power the process and a small, brightly painted van delivers the chocolate throughout the island and to the docs in St. George’s, from where it’s transported to chocolate shops around the world.

Our tour is brief, but magical. First we are shown the old coffee roaster where the cocoa is gently roasted to develop the flavour and help release the papery shells. From there, the beans are broken and the shells are blown away in a custom-made winnowing machine.

Grenada Chocolate Company use a combination of modern 30kg Cocoa Town and vintage Lehmann melanger. The Cocoa Town was in use during our visit and was full to the brim with chocolate. The acidity in the air as the volatiles were driven out of the chocolate made it quite difficult to breathe in such a small room, so we didn’t stay long!

Of course, the challenge with making chocolate in a hot climate like Grenada is that it has a tendency to melt! The heat is actually useful for the grinding and concheing process, but chocolate can only be tempered and moulded below 25°C, so that part of the process takes place behind closed doors in an air conditioned room.

Every bar is moulded then carefully hand wrapped in this small room, before being stored ready for shipping.

The process of making small batch chocolate is virtually the same wherever you go in the world, but making it in a hot climate is especially challenging. Thanks to the vision and dedication of the late Mott Green, the Grenada Chocolate Company have managed to transform this little house into the world’s most ethical chocolate factory.

After our tour of the factory, we returned to Belmont for lunch in their fabulous open air restaurant. We were entertained with traditional Grenadian dancing before dining on a truly wonderful chocolate themed meal, made with plenty of local cacao. Then there was just time for chocolate tasting with a selection of Grenadian chocolates and a spot of shopping at the Grenada Chocolate Company factory shop before heading back to our hotel.

I had such a wonderful time at Belmont and the Grenada Chocolate Company. Their efforts and investment have kick started a whole industry on the island. There is now a second bean-to-bar chocolate factory in Grenada, and the chocolate festival which hosted are visit was one of the best I’ve experienced. I can’t wait to go back, and spend more time surrounded by cacao and chocolate in Grenada.

Belmont Estate Photo Gallery

Grenada Chocolate Company Photo Gallery

Thanks to the Grenada Tourism Authority for organising our chocolate-filled visit to Grenada.

The post Belmont Estate And The Grenada Chocolate Company appeared first on Chocablog.

For anyone involved in the bean-to-bar chocolate industry, the Caribbean island of Grenada has a special meaning. It’s home to the Grenada Chocolate Company, probably the most ethical chocolate company on the planet.

Mott Green, founder of the company sadly died two years ago, but his vision of a company owned by farmers lives on. His tiny factory, built in a converted house on the island has been an inspiration for many.

Despite its small size, the Grenada Chocolate Company has consistently produced some of the best chocolate in the world. It’s farmer-owned model has helped create a whole new “tree to bar” category that helps keep the profits in the country of origin where they are needed most.

For me, Grenada has been a dream destination ever since I met Mott Green. I never had the chance to visit in his lifetime, but when I was offered the chance to visit the island for the Chocolate Festival this year, I jumped at the chance.

The Grenada Chocolate Festival is now in its second year and is a week long celebration of all things chocolate – and all things Grenada. The festival is organised by Magdalena Fielden of the True Blue Bay Resort Hotel, with events taking place at the hotel and around the island.

Along with a handful of journalists, we had the chance to experience everything the island had to offer. It’s safe to say that most of us knew very little of the delights that awaited us.

Grenada is a small, mountainous island here just about everything grows. Aside from the beautiful beaches, there’s very little flat land at all. It’s known as the Spice Isle, so I had expected to see plenty of nutmeg, cinnamon and tropical fruits growing. What I wasn’t expecting was to see cacao growing wild by the sides of the roads. You only need to travel 5 or 10 minutes inland and it’s literally everywhere.

For me, this really brought home just how much of an impact Mott Green had on Grenada. The cacao was always there, but it was either ignored or simply used to make the local cocoa tea. Mott’s vision, to create a high value product to sell to the world, helped transform lives. What’s more, it’s a vision that seems to be gathering momentum on the island.

Last year, a second bean-to-bar factory opened on the island. Although not organic and part funded by American chocolate maker L.A. Burdick, Diamond Chocolate are producing bars and couverture from locally grown cacao for the local and international markets.

But it’s the festival itself that is most exciting for me. It’s not just great for us foreign chocolate lovers, but it’s a focal point for the chocolate industry on the island; a chance for everyone to come together, to learn and inspire each other.

The excitement was apparent from the start. The opening party was a celebration of chocolate, cacao and Grenadian crafts. There was cocktails (including a rather lovely cacao pulp mojito), handmade chocolates, an array of locally made goods, live music and even a chocolate porter, brewed on site at the West Indies Beer Company’s microbrewery.

Our week was packed full of tastings, workshops, tours, meals and plenty of rum punches. It’s almost impossible to pick out the highlights. I’ll be writing separately about some of them, including our visit to the Grenada Chocolate Factory and Belmont Estate, and a fascinating tour of the Crayfish Bay organic cocoa estate.

Back home in London with the festival over, I’m already longing to go back. It’s safe to say I’ve fallen in love with the Spice Isle and its people. But more than that, I’m excited for the future of the Grenada Chocolate Festival itself. It’s certainly the most exciting chocolate event I’ve ever attended, but it also has the potential to be a focal point for Grenada’s fledgling chocolate industry.

Whether you’re a chocolate lover, or you’re simply looking for the ultimate tropical holiday, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Grenada. The island is beautiful, the people are wonderful and the chocolate is out of this world. So what are you waiting for?

Thanks to the Grenada Tourism Authority for organising our visit to Grenada and chocolate-packed trip to Grenada, to True Blue Bay Resort and Blue Horizons Garden Resort for hosting us, to everyone who made us feel welcome, and especially to Magdalena Fielden and her team for a fabulous festival.

This is the first in a series of posts on our Grenada adventure. Look out for more both on Chocablog and my food & travel blog Taste.Life over the next few weeks.

Grenada Chocolate Festival Opening Party

The post The Grenada Chocolate Festival 2015 appeared first on Chocablog.

For anyone involved in the bean-to-bar chocolate industry, the Caribbean island of Grenada has a special meaning. It’s home to the Grenada Chocolate Company, probably the most ethical chocolate company on the planet.

Mott Green, founder of the company sadly died two years ago, but his vision of a company owned by farmers lives on. His tiny factory, built in a converted house on the island has been an inspiration for many.

Despite its small size, the Grenada Chocolate Company has consistently produced some of the best chocolate in the world. It’s farmer-owned model has helped create a whole new “tree to bar” category that helps keep the profits in the country of origin where they are needed most.

For me, Grenada has been a dream destination ever since I met Mott Green. I never had the chance to visit in his lifetime, but when I was offered the chance to visit the island for the Chocolate Festival this year, I jumped at the chance.

The Grenada Chocolate Festival is now in its second year and is a week long celebration of all things chocolate – and all things Grenada. The festival is organised by Magdalena Fielden of the True Blue Bay Resort Hotel, with events taking place at the hotel and around the island.

Along with a handful of journalists, we had the chance to experience everything the island had to offer. It’s safe to say that most of us knew very little of the delights that awaited us.

Grenada is a small, mountainous island here just about everything grows. Aside from the beautiful beaches, there’s very little flat land at all. It’s known as the Spice Isle, so I had expected to see plenty of nutmeg, cinnamon and tropical fruits growing. What I wasn’t expecting was to see cacao growing wild by the sides of the roads. You only need to travel 5 or 10 minutes inland and it’s literally everywhere.

For me, this really brought home just how much of an impact Mott Green had on Grenada. The cacao was always there, but it was either ignored or simply used to make the local cocoa tea. Mott’s vision, to create a high value product to sell to the world, helped transform lives. What’s more, it’s a vision that seems to be gathering momentum on the island.

Last year, a second bean-to-bar factory opened on the island. Although not organic and part funded by American chocolate maker L.A. Burdick, Diamond Chocolate are producing bars and couverture from locally grown cacao for the local and international markets.

But it’s the festival itself that is most exciting for me. It’s not just great for us foreign chocolate lovers, but it’s a focal point for the chocolate industry on the island; a chance for everyone to come together, to learn and inspire each other.

The excitement was apparent from the start. The opening party was a celebration of chocolate, cacao and Grenadian crafts. There was cocktails (including a rather lovely cacao pulp mojito), handmade chocolates, an array of locally made goods, live music and even a chocolate porter, brewed on site at the West Indies Beer Company’s microbrewery.

Our week was packed full of tastings, workshops, tours, meals and plenty of rum punches. It’s almost impossible to pick out the highlights. I’ll be writing separately about some of them, including our visit to the Grenada Chocolate Factory and Belmont Estate, and a fascinating tour of the Crayfish Bay organic cocoa estate.

Back home in London with the festival over, I’m already longing to go back. It’s safe to say I’ve fallen in love with the Spice Isle and its people. But more than that, I’m excited for the future of the Grenada Chocolate Festival itself. It’s certainly the most exciting chocolate event I’ve ever attended, but it also has the potential to be a focal point for Grenada’s fledgling chocolate industry.

Whether you’re a chocolate lover, or you’re simply looking for the ultimate tropical holiday, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Grenada. The island is beautiful, the people are wonderful and the chocolate is out of this world. So what are you waiting for?

Thanks to the Grenada Tourism Authority for organising our visit to Grenada and chocolate-packed trip to Grenada, to True Blue Bay Resort and Blue Horizons Garden Resort for hosting us, to everyone who made us feel welcome, and especially to Magdalena Fielden and her team for a fabulous festival.

This is the first in a series of posts on our Grenada adventure. Look out for more both on Chocablog and my food & travel blog Taste.Life over the next few weeks.

Grenada Chocolate Festival Opening Party

The post The Grenada Chocolate Festival 2015 appeared first on Chocablog.

Why? Chocolate has taken over my life!

Back in December I wrote in depth about my bean to bar chocolate making experiments. I’ve enjoyed making chocolate from the bean so much that my kitchen experiments have evolved into a proper business.

I was so pleased with some of my early results that (with a bit of help from my friends) I decided to enter the Academy Of Chocolate awards – probably the most prestigious chocolate awards in the world.

Last night was the award ceremony and I was hugely honoured to receive bronze awards for both the bars I entered! To have my kitchen-made bars ranked amongst some of the best chocolate in the world is incredibly exciting, and I hope it will serve to encourage more people to have a go at bean-to-bar chocolate making.

There was a real surprise for me at the end of the evening though. I received a totally unexpected award as “The One To Watch” for my efforts. I don’t know if I’m worthy of it, but it’s wonderful to be recognised for simply doing something I love.

These awards have certainly inspired me to go further with my bean-to-bar journey and I truly hope it will inspire others too. If I can make award winning chocolate from home, then so can you!

If you’d like to follow my journey, you can follow my new business Damson Chocolate on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. We’ll be launching our website and online store very soon, and we’re currently in the process of securing funding for premises and more chocolate making equipment. So if you’d like to invest in an ethical bean-to-bar chocolate company, do get in touch. :)

Finally, I’d just like to take a moment to thank a few of the people that have helped me get this far. So many friends have been supportive, but in particular I’d like to say thanks to Tom, who is investing both his time and money into Damson Chocolate; Hazel, who opened my eyes to home bean-to-bar chocolate making; the HB Ingredients team, who are making both the equipment and ingredients available to everyone; Neil, who put up the funds for my Academy of Chocolate awards entry; Zoe who has offered endless support and encouragement; and everyone else who has helped out. Thank you guys!

The post Bean To Bar Chocolate Making Update appeared first on Chocablog.

Why? Chocolate has taken over my life!

Back in December I wrote in depth about my bean to bar chocolate making experiments. I’ve enjoyed making chocolate from the bean so much that my kitchen experiments have evolved into a proper business.

I was so pleased with some of my early results that (with a bit of help from my friends) I decided to enter the Academy Of Chocolate awards – probably the most prestigious chocolate awards in the world.

Last night was the award ceremony and I was hugely honoured to receive bronze awards for both the bars I entered! To have my kitchen-made bars ranked amongst some of the best chocolate in the world is incredibly exciting, and I hope it will serve to encourage more people to have a go at bean-to-bar chocolate making.

There was a real surprise for me at the end of the evening though. I received a totally unexpected award as “The One To Watch” for my efforts. I don’t know if I’m worthy of it, but it’s wonderful to be recognised for simply doing something I love.

These awards have certainly inspired me to go further with my bean-to-bar journey and I truly hope it will inspire others too. If I can make award winning chocolate from home, then so can you!

If you’d like to follow my journey, you can follow my new business Damson Chocolate on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. We’ll be launching our website and online store very soon, and we’re currently in the process of securing funding for premises and more chocolate making equipment. So if you’d like to invest in an ethical bean-to-bar chocolate company, do get in touch. :)

Finally, I’d just like to take a moment to thank a few of the people that have helped me get this far. So many friends have been supportive, but in particular I’d like to say thanks to Tom, who is investing both his time and money into Damson Chocolate; Hazel, who opened my eyes to home bean-to-bar chocolate making; the HB Ingredients team, who are making both the equipment and ingredients available to everyone; Neil, who put up the funds for my Academy of Chocolate awards entry; Zoe who has offered endless support and encouragement; and everyone else who has helped out. Thank you guys!

The post Bean To Bar Chocolate Making Update appeared first on Chocablog.

White chocolate has always been something that has divided opinion. One of the questions I get asked regularly is ‘Is white chocolate really chocolate?‘, and it’s a question I can’t easily answer.

In reality, it doesn’t matter whether you consider it chocolate or not. The question you should really ask is ‘Does it taste good?‘, and the unfortunate fact is that most white chocolates don’t taste of anything at all. That’s because more often than not, they’re made with cheap, bulk ingredients and lots of sugar.

Like most foods, it turns out that if you make white chocolate with the best ingredients it can taste amazing and if you look hard enough there are some truly wonderful white chocolates out there. La Pâtisserie De Rêves is aiming to showcase some of them with this beautiful themed collection of white chocolates from around the world.

Presented in a stylish (if maybe a little over the top) chest of drawers, it’s a curated collection from some of the world’s best known chocolate makers and chocolatiers, including La Pâtisserie De Rêves’ own Philippe Conticini. The chocolates are:

Philippe Conticini / France
Vanilla White Chocolate With Verbena And Crunchy Pastry

Es Koyama / Japan
White Chocolate With Matcha Tea And Puffed Rice

Galvan / Mexico
White Chocolate With Almond And Figs

Amaz / Peru
White Chocolate With Coffee Bean Pieces

Oberweis / Luxembourg
White Chocolate With Cinnamon

Beschle / Switzerland
White Chocolate With Lemon And Cardamom

Vanderparre / Belgium
White Chocolate With Speculoos

Rózsavölgyi / Hungary
White Chocolate With Fresh Herbs

Domori / Italy
White Chocolate With Mint Leaves

Willie’s Cacao / UK
El Blano White Chocolate

The only unflavoured bar is the El Blanco from Willie’s Cacao. It makes me smile that a personality as strong as Willie would want his chocolate to stand on its own, but it really is very good indeed. When I reviewed it back in 2012 it was probably my favourite white chocolate, and it’s still very high on the list.

The other chocolates were notable for their different approaches, but there were a couple of firm favourites. I liked the freshness of the Rózsavölgyi white chocolate with herbs and the citrus sweetness of Beschle’s Lemon & Cardamom bar. Es Koyama’s matcha tea with puffed rice also proved to be a hit.

At £50 La Pâtisserie De Rêves isn’t exactly cheap, but it is both beautiful and eye opening. If that’s a bit beyond your budget, you can pick up the individual bars for £3.50 each (sans presentation box of course).

White chocolate is always going to appeal more to those with a sweeter tooth, but if you’ve never considered yourself a fan, these bars might just change your mind.

The post La Pâtisserie De Rêves White Chocolate Collection appeared first on Chocablog.

White chocolate has always been something that has divided opinion. One of the questions I get asked regularly is ‘Is white chocolate really chocolate?‘, and it’s a question I can’t easily answer.

In reality, it doesn’t matter whether you consider it chocolate or not. The question you should really ask is ‘Does it taste good?‘, and the unfortunate fact is that most white chocolates don’t taste of anything at all. That’s because more often than not, they’re made with cheap, bulk ingredients and lots of sugar.

Like most foods, it turns out that if you make white chocolate with the best ingredients it can taste amazing and if you look hard enough there are some truly wonderful white chocolates out there. La Pâtisserie De Rêves is aiming to showcase some of them with this beautiful themed collection of white chocolates from around the world.

Presented in a stylish (if maybe a little over the top) chest of drawers, it’s a curated collection from some of the world’s best known chocolate makers and chocolatiers, including La Pâtisserie De Rêves’ own Philippe Conticini. The chocolates are:

Philippe Conticini / France
Vanilla White Chocolate With Verbena And Crunchy Pastry

Es Koyama / Japan
White Chocolate With Matcha Tea And Puffed Rice

Galvan / Mexico
White Chocolate With Almond And Figs

Amaz / Peru
White Chocolate With Coffee Bean Pieces

Oberweis / Luxembourg
White Chocolate With Cinnamon

Beschle / Switzerland
White Chocolate With Lemon And Cardamom

Vanderparre / Belgium
White Chocolate With Speculoos

Rózsavölgyi / Hungary
White Chocolate With Fresh Herbs

Domori / Italy
White Chocolate With Mint Leaves

Willie’s Cacao / UK
El Blano White Chocolate

The only unflavoured bar is the El Blanco from Willie’s Cacao. It makes me smile that a personality as strong as Willie would want his chocolate to stand on its own, but it really is very good indeed. When I reviewed it back in 2012 it was probably my favourite white chocolate, and it’s still very high on the list.

The other chocolates were notable for their different approaches, but there were a couple of firm favourites. I liked the freshness of the Rózsavölgyi white chocolate with herbs and the citrus sweetness of Beschle’s Lemon & Cardamom bar. Es Koyama’s matcha tea with puffed rice also proved to be a hit.

At £50 La Pâtisserie De Rêves isn’t exactly cheap, but it is both beautiful and eye opening. If that’s a bit beyond your budget, you can pick up the individual bars for £3.50 each (sans presentation box of course).

White chocolate is always going to appeal more to those with a sweeter tooth, but if you’ve never considered yourself a fan, these bars might just change your mind.

The post La Pâtisserie De Rêves White Chocolate Collection appeared first on Chocablog.

One of the most interesting perks of my job is being asked to help judge awards. Late last year, one such invitation took me to Lithuania to judge a dessert and wine pairing contest, and I’ve also been lucky enough to help judge both the Academy of Chocolate and International Chocolate Awards.

But an invitation to be on the jury for the UK & Ireland selection of the World Chocolate Masters really got my attention. The World Chocolate Masters is a different kind of chocolate competition that aims to find the best chocolate individual “creator” in the world.

For the UK and Ireland national final, contestants had to create four chocolate works over the course of a day; a chocolate sculpture, a filled praline, a piece of patisserie and a concept for an “on the go” concept chocolate dish that could be served like street food.

The contestants, Richie Heppell, Mary Reid, Norma Kelly and Alistair Birt are all professional pastry chefs at the top of their game, but the pressure was on with everything having to be created and judged on the day. For the showpiece sculptures, individual parts could be moulded in chocolate beforehand, but everything had to be assembled in front of judges.

The World Chocolate Masters is a highly technical competition, and there are strict rules for each round. Additionally, the overall theme for this year’s competition is “Inspiration From Nature”, and that had to be reflected in each of the contestants’ creations. With just four contestants and twelve jury members, its safe to say that it’s one competition where you just can’t hide even the smallest mistake.

The incredible chocolate showpieces were judged by a technical jury, made up of past UK Chocolate Masters Ruth Hinks, Mark Tilling and John Costello. The pieces are the main attraction at the World Chocolate Masters. Made entirely from chocolate, they are as delicate as they are stunning and the slightest mishap can completely destroy them. Thankfully all the sculptures made it through to final judging in one piece!

After presenting their showpieces, contestants had to produce two layer pralines (filled chocolates), using at least one local ingredient and taking their cues from the Inspiration From Nature theme. I’ve judged plenty of filled chocolates in my time, but this is the competition where I had to be most critical. Every aspect of presentation, flavour and texture was considered and of course every piece was checked for strict adherence to the rules.

Next up was the “Pastry Of The Day” round. Contestants had to produce a bespoke piece of patisserie from scratch using fresh ingredients. The quality of the work was stunning, but by this point there was one contestant in my mind whose work was leading the field.

The final round was a new “Chocolate On The Go” category. Contestants produced a chocolate dish complete with packaging that could be consumed on the go like street food. This was the most fun to judge and all the contestants produced fantastic results.

It was Alistair Birt’s entry that was a clear winner for me though. His beautifully made Earl Grey, Mandarin & Coconut pastry was presented in a custom made wooden box and tasted as good as it looked. Judges all scored each round privately and the numbers were crunched. Finally, at the end of the day and in front of a big crowd, Alistair Birt was awarded the title of UK Chocolate Master by honorary head of the jury, chef Michel Roux. A fantastic end to a wonderful day and a worthy winner.

Congratulations to Alistair who will now go on to represent the UK and Ireland in the World Final at Salon du Chocolat in Paris this October. I can’t wait to see how he gets on in this amazing competition.

Photo Gallery

Photos: Cacao Barry / World Chocolate Masters

The post Judging At The World Chocolate Masters appeared first on Chocablog.

One of the most interesting perks of my job is being asked to help judge awards. Late last year, one such invitation took me to Lithuania to judge a dessert and wine pairing contest, and I’ve also been lucky enough to help judge both the Academy of Chocolate and International Chocolate Awards.

But an invitation to be on the jury for the UK & Ireland selection of the World Chocolate Masters really got my attention. The World Chocolate Masters is a different kind of chocolate competition that aims to find the best chocolate individual “creator” in the world.

For the UK and Ireland national final, contestants had to create four chocolate works over the course of a day; a chocolate sculpture, a filled praline, a piece of patisserie and a concept for an “on the go” concept chocolate dish that could be served like street food.

The contestants, Richie Heppell, Mary Reid, Norma Kelly and Alistair Birt are all professional pastry chefs at the top of their game, but the pressure was on with everything having to be created and judged on the day. For the showpiece sculptures, individual parts could be moulded in chocolate beforehand, but everything had to be assembled in front of judges.

The World Chocolate Masters is a highly technical competition, and there are strict rules for each round. Additionally, the overall theme for this year’s competition is “Inspiration From Nature”, and that had to be reflected in each of the contestants’ creations. With just four contestants and twelve jury members, its safe to say that it’s one competition where you just can’t hide even the smallest mistake.

The incredible chocolate showpieces were judged by a technical jury, made up of past UK Chocolate Masters Ruth Hinks, Mark Tilling and John Costello. The pieces are the main attraction at the World Chocolate Masters. Made entirely from chocolate, they are as delicate as they are stunning and the slightest mishap can completely destroy them. Thankfully all the sculptures made it through to final judging in one piece!

After presenting their showpieces, contestants had to produce two layer pralines (filled chocolates), using at least one local ingredient and taking their cues from the Inspiration From Nature theme. I’ve judged plenty of filled chocolates in my time, but this is the competition where I had to be most critical. Every aspect of presentation, flavour and texture was considered and of course every piece was checked for strict adherence to the rules.

Next up was the “Pastry Of The Day” round. Contestants had to produce a bespoke piece of patisserie from scratch using fresh ingredients. The quality of the work was stunning, but by this point there was one contestant in my mind whose work was leading the field.

The final round was a new “Chocolate On The Go” category. Contestants produced a chocolate dish complete with packaging that could be consumed on the go like street food. This was the most fun to judge and all the contestants produced fantastic results.

It was Alistair Birt’s entry that was a clear winner for me though. His beautifully made Earl Grey, Mandarin & Coconut pastry was presented in a custom made wooden box and tasted as good as it looked. Judges all scored each round privately and the numbers were crunched. Finally, at the end of the day and in front of a big crowd, Alistair Birt was awarded the title of UK Chocolate Master by honorary head of the jury, chef Michel Roux. A fantastic end to a wonderful day and a worthy winner.

Congratulations to Alistair who will now go on to represent the UK and Ireland in the World Final at Salon du Chocolat in Paris this October. I can’t wait to see how he gets on in this amazing competition.

Photo Gallery

Photos: Cacao Barry / World Chocolate Masters

The post Judging At The World Chocolate Masters appeared first on Chocablog.

When I was young I spent rather too much time in Great Ormond Street Hospital For Sick Children in London. The hospital was fantastic and I’ve no doubt I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them, but even as a child I knew that me being sick was often harder on my parents than it was on me.

While in hospital, my parents would make a daily hundred mile round trip to come and see me. As if having a sick child wasn’t enough, they had the stress and expense of spending half their lives traveling.

It’s for these very personal reasons that I’ve been keen to support the charity The Sick Children’s Trust. The trust was founded at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1982 when I was 12 and has a simple objective; to provide a safe, comfortable place for parents to stay while their child is in hospital. It’s a little thing that makes a huge difference in people’s lives.

So why am I telling you all this on a chocolate blog? Well, every year the trust organises The Big Chocolate Tea Party, an opportunity for anyone to help raise funds and have a lot of fun in the process.

The idea is simple, you host a chocolate tea party with friends, family, at work, or wherever you want. You eat cake, drink tea and collect what you can for this fantastic cause.

The Sick Children’s Trust will send you a free party pack – just email chocolate@sickchildrenstrust.org for yours – and the rest is up to you. It costs just £28 to provide a ‘Home From Home’ for a parent of a sick child for one night and I can say from experience what a huge difference that can make.

The Big Chocolate Tea Party website has all kinds of ideas for organising and promoting your party, including recipes, posters, invitations and more. And of course, we have our own selection of fantastic chocolate recipes if you’re looking for more inspiration.

The Big Chocolate Tea Party is a fantastic way to make a real difference in someone’s life and have a lot of fun at the same time. So what are you waiting for? Click here to find out more and get your free party pack!

The post The Big Chocolate Tea Party appeared first on Chocablog.

When I was young I spent rather too much time in Great Ormond Street Hospital For Sick Children in London. The hospital was fantastic and I’ve no doubt I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them, but even as a child I knew that me being sick was often harder on my parents than it was on me.

While in hospital, my parents would make a daily hundred mile round trip to come and see me. As if having a sick child wasn’t enough, they had the stress and expense of spending half their lives traveling.

It’s for these very personal reasons that I’ve been keen to support the charity The Sick Children’s Trust. The trust was founded at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1982 when I was 12 and has a simple objective; to provide a safe, comfortable place for parents to stay while their child is in hospital. It’s a little thing that makes a huge difference in people’s lives.

So why am I telling you all this on a chocolate blog? Well, every year the trust organises The Big Chocolate Tea Party, an opportunity for anyone to help raise funds and have a lot of fun in the process.

The idea is simple, you host a chocolate tea party with friends, family, at work, or wherever you want. You eat cake, drink tea and collect what you can for this fantastic cause.

The Sick Children’s Trust will send you a free party pack – just email chocolate@sickchildrenstrust.org for yours – and the rest is up to you. It costs just £28 to provide a ‘Home From Home’ for a parent of a sick child for one night and I can say from experience what a huge difference that can make.

The Big Chocolate Tea Party website has all kinds of ideas for organising and promoting your party, including recipes, posters, invitations and more. And of course, we have our own selection of fantastic chocolate recipes if you’re looking for more inspiration.

The Big Chocolate Tea Party is a fantastic way to make a real difference in someone’s life and have a lot of fun at the same time. So what are you waiting for? Click here to find out more and get your free party pack!

The post The Big Chocolate Tea Party appeared first on Chocablog.

It has taken me a while to even want to appreciate what a 100% chocolate bar has to offer because my first few tries were not very pleasant. After all, when all the sugar is removed there is a really good chance that the resultant chocolate is going to be extremely bitter and unpalatable. But when it is done properly, it can give the real flavour of the beans a chance to shine.

So with that in mind during my last visit to Hotel Chocolat, I made a beeline for their Rabot 1745 Collection because they usually have some rather interesting things hidden away there. And after a little bit of looking around, I settled on three 100% bars from very different geographic locations. The bars themselves are rather small – just 35g – and packaged simply in a cellophane wrapper with a paper label keeping it shut. There’s really not much difference in the look of the bars – all very dark with a nice sheen to them. All come with brief tasting notes on the labels, but I’ve always found those to be unreliable although they can give a rough idea of what to expect. Here’s the rundown of the three bars.

Saint Lucia Island Growers 100%

This is one of those 100% bars that really tastes like a 100% bar. The tasting notes say that its bark is worse than its bite, but I’m not convinced that is the case. It is very bold, aggressive and hard to do anything with except nibble tentatively. Rather than the promised antique oak, I get lots of harsh whisky notes that are not very pleasant. Their other lower percentage Saint Lucian bars are much better, and I can’t help but think some sugar would mellow this right out.

Dominican Republic Conacado Cooperative 100%

Having had bars made from Conacado beans before, this was a bit of a surprise because this was a lot more robust than I was expecting. Again, there’s some whisky with big coffee notes thrown in – it starts strong and stays strong, with just a few fruitier hints right at the end. Not bad at all, but still one best enjoyed in small doses.

Peru Pichanaki 100%

This is the pick of the trio because it doesn’t possess any of those overly hard edges that the other two did. The chocolate has a smooth earthiness that slowly gives way to a red wine richness that lingers for quite a while leaving behind a wonderfully rich chocolaty taste. It is surprisingly moreish for a 100% bar and well worth seeking out.

So the world of 100% chocolate is still a mixed bag which isn’t for the meek, but it does pay dividends if you are willing to take the plunge.

The post Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 100% Chocolate Bars appeared first on Chocablog.

It has taken me a while to even want to appreciate what a 100% chocolate bar has to offer because my first few tries were not very pleasant. After all, when all the sugar is removed there is a really good chance that the resultant chocolate is going to be extremely bitter and unpalatable. But when it is done properly, it can give the real flavour of the beans a chance to shine.

So with that in mind during my last visit to Hotel Chocolat, I made a beeline for their Rabot 1745 Collection because they usually have some rather interesting things hidden away there. And after a little bit of looking around, I settled on three 100% bars from very different geographic locations. The bars themselves are rather small – just 35g – and packaged simply in a cellophane wrapper with a paper label keeping it shut. There’s really not much difference in the look of the bars – all very dark with a nice sheen to them. All come with brief tasting notes on the labels, but I’ve always found those to be unreliable although they can give a rough idea of what to expect. Here’s the rundown of the three bars.

Saint Lucia Island Growers 100%

This is one of those 100% bars that really tastes like a 100% bar. The tasting notes say that its bark is worse than its bite, but I’m not convinced that is the case. It is very bold, aggressive and hard to do anything with except nibble tentatively. Rather than the promised antique oak, I get lots of harsh whisky notes that are not very pleasant. Their other lower percentage Saint Lucian bars are much better, and I can’t help but think some sugar would mellow this right out.

Dominican Republic Conacado Cooperative 100%

Having had bars made from Conacado beans before, this was a bit of a surprise because this was a lot more robust than I was expecting. Again, there’s some whisky with big coffee notes thrown in – it starts strong and stays strong, with just a few fruitier hints right at the end. Not bad at all, but still one best enjoyed in small doses.

Peru Pichanaki 100%

This is the pick of the trio because it doesn’t possess any of those overly hard edges that the other two did. The chocolate has a smooth earthiness that slowly gives way to a red wine richness that lingers for quite a while leaving behind a wonderfully rich chocolaty taste. It is surprisingly moreish for a 100% bar and well worth seeking out.

So the world of 100% chocolate is still a mixed bag which isn’t for the meek, but it does pay dividends if you are willing to take the plunge.

The post Hotel Chocolat Rabot 1745 100% Chocolate Bars appeared first on Chocablog.

Valetine’s Day is one of the chocolate industry’s biggest events of the year, but we don’t often see a great deal of creativity going into Valentine’s products. There are countless heart shaped chocolates in red packaging, but it’s rare to see much attention paid to the flavours themselves.

This collection from Paul A Young caught my attention partly because it looks fabulous (Paul’s chocolates always do), but mainly for the thought and attention to detail that has gone into creating it. The theme of the collection is romantic city destinations, so the first thing Paul and his team is to come up with a set of destinations that both had romantic connotations and distinctive flavours that would work in a chocolate. That probably ruled Cleethorpes and Slough (two of my favourite chocolate destinations) out from the start.

The wonderful thing is that they’ve managed to come up with a set of destinations and chocolates that fulfil both criteria, and they’re really rather good. They are:

Marrakesh – Mint leaves, tea and rose petals, Varhona 72% Venezuelan chocolate.

Paris – Fontaine Absinthe, lump sugar and water, Valrhona 64% Dominican Republic chocolate.

New York – Vanilla cheesecake, Valrhona White chocolate, Madagascan Vanilla bean, digestive biscuit, Valrhona 72% Venezulean chocolate.

Seville – Marmalade ganache, toasted almonds, Valrhona 64% Madaagascan.

Lisbon – Pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart) truffle, Madagascan vanilla bean, Valrhona white chocolate, Caramelized milk chocolate, wafer pieces.

Istanbul – Pistachio, honey and fig caramel, 67% Michel Cluizel Saint Dominique.
Copenhagen – Romkugler, chocolate cake, Appleton estate rum, 70% Valrhona.

Dublin – Guinness truffle with soda bread, 65% Duffys Dominican Republic.

Edinburgh – Glen Moray Port cask whisky, oats and salt, 83% Duffys Ecuadorian.

London – Sacred distillery Gin, Bermondsey tonic water and lime, 64% Michel Cluizel Papua New Guinea.

Venice – Mascarpone, basil and limoncello, Valrhona, 66% Caribbean.

From the descriptions alone, you can tell how much work has gone into this collection, but as is often the case with Paul A Young’s chocolates, the flavours themselves are surprising, delightful and delicious.

I love all these chocolates, both for the flavour combinations and the meanings behind the chocolates. Stand outs for me are the ‘London’ Gin & Tonic chocolate, the ‘New York’, which really does taste like a cheesecake, and ‘Venice’ with it’s creamy texture and subtle Limoncello flavour.

As if creating a unique collection of chocolates wasn’t enough, you can also buy this Pink Praline Brownie. I’m fairly certain the inspiration for this came from chocolate maker Pralus’ famous “Praluline” – a brioche loaf stuffed with sweet, pink praline pieces. The Pralus brioche is one of my favourite foods in the world, and they’ve been replicated faithfully in this brownie.

If I have a problem with it, it’s simply that there aren’t enough praline pieces and it’s difficult to see them, so they don’t have quite the visual impact the brioche has. That’s a minor issue though, and like most Paul A Young brownies, this one is delicious and the praline adds both texture and flavour to the mix.

Also in the Valentines collection is this Dessert Dome. A cute Madagascan chocolate dome with a heart on top that’s packed full of an intense raspberry reduction. It’s a substantial piece that is easily enough to be dessert on it’s own, and something that’s sure to appeal to lovers of fruit flavour chocolates.

Finally, for those who like the traditional, there are solid milk and dark chocolate hearts decorated with gold and silver leaf. They’re very pretty, but if you’re thinking of buying me a Valentine’s gift, I’d much rather have the Destinations box of chocolates… please?

The post Paul A Young Valentines Chocolates appeared first on Chocablog.

Valetine’s Day is one of the chocolate industry’s biggest events of the year, but we don’t often see a great deal of creativity going into Valentine’s products. There are countless heart shaped chocolates in red packaging, but it’s rare to see much attention paid to the flavours themselves.

This collection from Paul A Young caught my attention partly because it looks fabulous (Paul’s chocolates always do), but mainly for the thought and attention to detail that has gone into creating it. The theme of the collection is romantic city destinations, so the first thing Paul and his team is to come up with a set of destinations that both had romantic connotations and distinctive flavours that would work in a chocolate. That probably ruled Cleethorpes and Slough (two of my favourite chocolate destinations) out from the start.

The wonderful thing is that they’ve managed to come up with a set of destinations and chocolates that fulfil both criteria, and they’re really rather good. They are:

Marrakesh – Mint leaves, tea and rose petals, Varhona 72% Venezuelan chocolate.

Paris – Fontaine Absinthe, lump sugar and water, Valrhona 64% Dominican Republic chocolate.

New York – Vanilla cheesecake, Valrhona White chocolate, Madagascan Vanilla bean, digestive biscuit, Valrhona 72% Venezulean chocolate.

Seville – Marmalade ganache, toasted almonds, Valrhona 64% Madaagascan.

Lisbon – Pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart) truffle, Madagascan vanilla bean, Valrhona white chocolate, Caramelized milk chocolate, wafer pieces.

Istanbul – Pistachio, honey and fig caramel, 67% Michel Cluizel Saint Dominique.
Copenhagen – Romkugler, chocolate cake, Appleton estate rum, 70% Valrhona.

Dublin – Guinness truffle with soda bread, 65% Duffys Dominican Republic.

Edinburgh – Glen Moray Port cask whisky, oats and salt, 83% Duffys Ecuadorian.

London – Sacred distillery Gin, Bermondsey tonic water and lime, 64% Michel Cluizel Papua New Guinea.

Venice – Mascarpone, basil and limoncello, Valrhona, 66% Caribbean.

From the descriptions alone, you can tell how much work has gone into this collection, but as is often the case with Paul A Young’s chocolates, the flavours themselves are surprising, delightful and delicious.

I love all these chocolates, both for the flavour combinations and the meanings behind the chocolates. Stand outs for me are the ‘London’ Gin & Tonic chocolate, the ‘New York’, which really does taste like a cheesecake, and ‘Venice’ with it’s creamy texture and subtle Limoncello flavour.

As if creating a unique collection of chocolates wasn’t enough, you can also buy this Pink Praline Brownie. I’m fairly certain the inspiration for this came from chocolate maker Pralus’ famous “Praluline” – a brioche loaf stuffed with sweet, pink praline pieces. The Pralus brioche is one of my favourite foods in the world, and they’ve been replicated faithfully in this brownie.

If I have a problem with it, it’s simply that there aren’t enough praline pieces and it’s difficult to see them, so they don’t have quite the visual impact the brioche has. That’s a minor issue though, and like most Paul A Young brownies, this one is delicious and the praline adds both texture and flavour to the mix.

Also in the Valentines collection is this Dessert Dome. A cute Madagascan chocolate dome with a heart on top that’s packed full of an intense raspberry reduction. It’s a substantial piece that is easily enough to be dessert on it’s own, and something that’s sure to appeal to lovers of fruit flavour chocolates.

Finally, for those who like the traditional, there are solid milk and dark chocolate hearts decorated with gold and silver leaf. They’re very pretty, but if you’re thinking of buying me a Valentine’s gift, I’d much rather have the Destinations box of chocolates… please?

The post Paul A Young Valentines Chocolates appeared first on Chocablog.

Valentine’s Day is something you either love or hate, but if you’re going to give a gift, you’ll want it to be something that makes a bit of an impact. A tin of Quality Street or a bar of Dairy Milk just isn’t going to cut it. But an assortment of French chocolates in a beautiful hardwood box might just do the trick.

Presentation really is everything in zChocolat’s world. These chocolates come in an embroidered bag with a little pocket for your personal message. The bag isn’t strictly necessary, but as well as providing a little bit of extra drama, it does help protect Chocolat’s trademark wooden box inside.

We have reviewed one of these zChocolat boxes in the past, and much of what I said then remains true. The chocolates are very nice, if not spectacular, but the fact that I’m still using that box as a money box and it still looks as good as it did two years ago speaks for itself.

The box is divided into two layers. The first layer contains zChocolat’s signature chocolate range; fifteen numbered chocolates. These chocolates – a range of pralines and ganaches form zChocolat’s core range and are made with a mix of Venezuelan and Ivory coast origin chocolate.

The second layer consists of 12 chocolate hearts. There’s a dark chocolate ganache in a white chocolate shell, a milk chocolate hazelnut praline, a dark chocolate with vanilla caramel and a red-painted white chocolate heart with bergamot ganache.

All the chocolates in this collection are well made and tasty. But the thing you really need to know is the price. These 27 chocolates will set you back a cool £103.36. If you’re judging it on the chocolate alone, that’s over £3.80 per chocolate, and for that money you really could find better quality chocolates elsewhere.

But that kind of misses the point. These aren’t chocolates you buy to eat yourself. You buy them to give as a spectacular Valentine’s gift when you want to make a real impression with someone you love. You could almost say that the chocolates themselves are secondary to the packaging; a visually stunning collection and a box they’ll want to keep forever.

In fact, with all the optional extras available (everything from wrapping, engraving and even a concierge service), you could take the cost of this box to well over £180. There’s no doubt it’s a spectacular gift, but overdo it and it might start to look like you have more money than taste.

That said, if you can afford them, zChocolat’s boxes do make a great gift. You’re not getting the best chocolate in the world, but they’re tasty enough and the presentation is truly wonderful.

The post zChocolat Valentines Day Ruby Box appeared first on Chocablog.

Valentine’s Day is something you either love or hate, but if you’re going to give a gift, you’ll want it to be something that makes a bit of an impact. A tin of Quality Street or a bar of Dairy Milk just isn’t going to cut it. But an assortment of French chocolates in a beautiful hardwood box might just do the trick.

Presentation really is everything in zChocolat’s world. These chocolates come in an embroidered bag with a little pocket for your personal message. The bag isn’t strictly necessary, but as well as providing a little bit of extra drama, it does help protect Chocolat’s trademark wooden box inside.

We have reviewed one of these zChocolat boxes in the past, and much of what I said then remains true. The chocolates are very nice, if not spectacular, but the fact that I’m still using that box as a money box and it still looks as good as it did two years ago speaks for itself.

The box is divided into two layers. The first layer contains zChocolat’s signature chocolate range; fifteen numbered chocolates. These chocolates – a range of pralines and ganaches form zChocolat’s core range and are made with a mix of Venezuelan and Ivory coast origin chocolate.

The second layer consists of 12 chocolate hearts. There’s a dark chocolate ganache in a white chocolate shell, a milk chocolate hazelnut praline, a dark chocolate with vanilla caramel and a red-painted white chocolate heart with bergamot ganache.

All the chocolates in this collection are well made and tasty. But the thing you really need to know is the price. These 27 chocolates will set you back a cool £103.36. If you’re judging it on the chocolate alone, that’s over £3.80 per chocolate, and for that money you really could find better quality chocolates elsewhere.

But that kind of misses the point. These aren’t chocolates you buy to eat yourself. You buy them to give as a spectacular Valentine’s gift when you want to make a real impression with someone you love. You could almost say that the chocolates themselves are secondary to the packaging; a visually stunning collection and a box they’ll want to keep forever.

In fact, with all the optional extras available (everything from wrapping, engraving and even a concierge service), you could take the cost of this box to well over £180. There’s no doubt it’s a spectacular gift, but overdo it and it might start to look like you have more money than taste.

That said, if you can afford them, zChocolat’s boxes do make a great gift. You’re not getting the best chocolate in the world, but they’re tasty enough and the presentation is truly wonderful.

The post zChocolat Valentines Day Ruby Box appeared first on Chocablog.

While I’d never claim to be the easiest person to buy gifts for, there are definitely a few safe bets which will always keep me happy. And that’s probably why every Christmas, one friend always stops off at Toronto’s Soma Chocolatemaker to pick up some bits and pieces for me.

In addition to replenishing my stash of their wonderful Dark Fire chocolate (I was getting a little twitchy not having some in the house for emergencies), she also got me one of their special Chocolate Twigs that they make just for the Festive Season. This year they had Coconut Caramel with Maldon Salt, Mudslide (with Kahlua, Baileys and Whisky) and Pineapple Ginger, which is the one I was given.

The twig came very well disguised in a cardboard mailing tube, making it hard to know just what was hiding within. Whilst the name conjures up mental images of slim, slightly irregular chocolate fingers, that wasn’t the case when I opened up the tube – these really aren’t very twig-like at all. Instead, there was a single chunky bar of chocolate, between six or seven inches in length and an inch wide. More a plank than a twig, but that’s just splitting hairs. Or logs.

There’s a lot to take in from the outside with this particular variety. One side is very knobbly thanks to a layer of souffletine – those small crisp cereal balls – which adds plenty of crunch to the bar. But the real stars here are those advertised on the outside: the pineapple and the ginger because they are the things that dominate the proceedings.

The chocolate is nice and dark – no percentage stated but I’m thinking about 60% – but it isn’t one of Soma’s big bold chocolates because it is happy enough to hold back and let the added stuff do the heavy lifting. Ginger is the most obvious flavour with its distinctive tingle, and then after a bit of chewing there’s the sweetness of pineapple sharing the spotlight. It is a great combination that I wouldn’t necessarily associate with Christmas as it made me think more of sunnier, tropical climes which isn’t a bad thing to be thinking about during a Canadian winter.

It is definitely the kind of bar which needs to be nibbled rather than eaten in one sitting because it is a little on the sweet side. Plus the dimensions of the twig make it easier to cut chunks off with a knife rather that bite at. It might even be designed to be shared, but sharing Soma’s chocolate isn’t always the first thing that comes to my mind at least.

The post Soma Chocolatemaker Pineapple Ginger Twig appeared first on Chocablog.

While I’d never claim to be the easiest person to buy gifts for, there are definitely a few safe bets which will always keep me happy. And that’s probably why every Christmas, one friend always stops off at Toronto’s Soma Chocolatemaker to pick up some bits and pieces for me.

In addition to replenishing my stash of their wonderful Dark Fire chocolate (I was getting a little twitchy not having some in the house for emergencies), she also got me one of their special Chocolate Twigs that they make just for the Festive Season. This year they had Coconut Caramel with Maldon Salt, Mudslide (with Kahlua, Baileys and Whisky) and Pineapple Ginger, which is the one I was given.

The twig came very well disguised in a cardboard mailing tube, making it hard to know just what was hiding within. Whilst the name conjures up mental images of slim, slightly irregular chocolate fingers, that wasn’t the case when I opened up the tube – these really aren’t very twig-like at all. Instead, there was a single chunky bar of chocolate, between six or seven inches in length and an inch wide. More a plank than a twig, but that’s just splitting hairs. Or logs.

There’s a lot to take in from the outside with this particular variety. One side is very knobbly thanks to a layer of souffletine – those small crisp cereal balls – which adds plenty of crunch to the bar. But the real stars here are those advertised on the outside: the pineapple and the ginger because they are the things that dominate the proceedings.

The chocolate is nice and dark – no percentage stated but I’m thinking about 60% – but it isn’t one of Soma’s big bold chocolates because it is happy enough to hold back and let the added stuff do the heavy lifting. Ginger is the most obvious flavour with its distinctive tingle, and then after a bit of chewing there’s the sweetness of pineapple sharing the spotlight. It is a great combination that I wouldn’t necessarily associate with Christmas as it made me think more of sunnier, tropical climes which isn’t a bad thing to be thinking about during a Canadian winter.

It is definitely the kind of bar which needs to be nibbled rather than eaten in one sitting because it is a little on the sweet side. Plus the dimensions of the twig make it easier to cut chunks off with a knife rather that bite at. It might even be designed to be shared, but sharing Soma’s chocolate isn’t always the first thing that comes to my mind at least.

The post Soma Chocolatemaker Pineapple Ginger Twig appeared first on Chocablog.

I recently attended a preview event showcasing some new products from Homedics – a company who also make the well known Salter range of kitchen gadgets. What I didn’t know is that they also make this “HMDX” range of audio products, and I was lucky enough to be given one of these little HMDX Jam Bluetooth speakers to play with.

This is a mono Bluetooth speaker with a rather cute design. Even the packaging is clever, with everything being contained in a “jam jar”. They come in a variety of colours, but I think this purple one is particularly fetching.

Connecting the speaker is simplicity itself. Just flick the switch on the bottom, pair it with your Android or IOS device and you’re good to go. For those with non-Bluetooth audio compatible devices, there’s a simple 3.5mm line in socket along with a short cable. There’s also a standard micro-USB cable included for charging.

I tried the device with my HTC One and it worked as expected. There’s a range of about 10 meters, so I could keep the phone in my pocket and wander around the room without any disconnection.

Having got used to the HTC One’s fantastic sound quality though, I was struck by the fact that my phone’s internal speakers actually sounded a lot better than the Jam. There’s a good volume to this little speaker, but it’s missing a lot of the high and low end, so consequently sounds a little muffled.

But it is significantly better quality than the speakers in some of my other devices. It worked great with my Nexus 7 and Acer Iconia A1 and offered a noticeable improvement over the built in speakers.

Overall, it may not be the greatest sound quality in the world, but it’s cute, well constructed, and gets the job done.

Would I buy this? For £25 (Amazon Link), I’d certainly consider it as a kitchen speaker for a tablet, but I think I’d be tempted to spend a little more to get the slightly better spec’d HMDX Jam Plus model which allows two speakers to be paired as left/right stereo.

The post HMDX Jam appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

As a chocolate blogger, I get invited to all kinds of food-related events. Unfortunately, most of them have little or nothing to do with chocolate and I have to decline them.

But occasionally an invitation comes along that I just can’t say no to. So when I was invited along to have “Breakfast With Gordon Ramsay” to promote his new “Bread Street” range of Royal Doulton tableware, I couldn’t refuse.

As it turned out, there was no chocolate involved at all, so I couldn’t justify writing about it on Chocablog, but I thought I’d write about it here instead.

The event took place at Gordon Ramsay’s “Bread Street Kitchen” in the city of London, somewhere I’d heard about but never been. I arrived bright and early on a beautiful summer moring and was directed upstairs to the restaurant. I drank coffee and ate croissants from the new range, which has been designed to be used in the restaurant as well as to go on sale to the public.

As it turns out it was a small event, with about 10 journalists from mainstream media… and me. I felt more than a little out of place, but still excited to be there. And my fellow journalists seemed genuinely interested in the world of the chocolate blogger (and equally confused by my presence). But I certainly wasn’t complaining. I never complain about free food.

The tableware, like the restaurant is rather attractive, and the two work well together. Everything comes in plain white with grey trim or slate grey with white trim. It’s very simple but also stylish. I was particularly drawn to the grey with white trim.

I ordered the Ricotta Hot Cakes with Banana & Honeycomb Butter which was completely delicious – so delicious that I was too engrossed in eating it to get any photos. As we ate, Gordon Ramsay arrived and talked about the restaurant and the range. I have to say he was incredibly nice and took the time to talk to everyone. I can confirm that he does swear in real life just as much as he does on TV though.

I didn’t stay long, but I did leave with a goodie bag containing a signed book and a single mug from the collection. I have to admit it’s quite tempting to go out and buy the rest of the set.

The post Gordon Ramsay Bread Street Royal Doulton Range appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

This week I was invited to try the new Acer Iconia A1 tablet at an event at London’s W1 Hotel.

The tablet is best described as Acer’s competitor to the hugely successful Nexus 7. It features the latest Android 4.2.2, a 7.9 inch 4×3 IPS screen, MTK, quad core, 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM and 8 or 16Gb of storage. It also features front and rear facing cameras, a Micro SD slot and Micro HDMI for video out.

Acer are pricing the tablet competitively, starting at around £149 for the 8Gb model. That’s £10 cheaper than the base level Nexus 7.

Small But Chunky

Holding the the Iconia A1, the first thing you notice is how chunky it feels in the hand. Despite being just 0.65mm thicker than the Nexus 7, it feels much thicker in the hand. This is probably because the Nexus tapers slowly to its widest point while the Acer is much boxier.

At 11.1 mm compared to 7.2mm, it is significantly thicker than that other 7.9 inch device, the iPad Mini though. Despite being easy to mistake for each other front-on, the difference is obvious the moment you pick them up. The Acer’s plastic back feels cheap and almost toy like in comparison.

Hardware

We were given the Wifi A1-810 model. The 3G model also includes a SIM card slot, pictured.

For a budget tablet, the Acer stands up quite well. It lacks NFC, but features pretty much everything else the Nexus 7 has and more. The most useful addition is probably the 5 Megapixel front facing camera. I tend not to use tablet cameras very much, but there have certainly been times when I’ve wished the Nexus had one. There’s no flash, but quality is pretty good as long as there’s sufficient light.

The 1.2Ghz quad core processor is no speed demon, but it’s perfectly adequate for every day use and the occasional game. I haven’t tried to push it, but general responsiveness is snappy.

The biggest departure from most Android tablets is the screen. The 7.9 inch 1024×768 IPS screen is the real differentiating factor from similar tablets. It’s a lower resolution than the Nexus 7’s 1280×800, but that 4×3 ratio gives you a little more width to play with. It’s clearly no retina display, but it’s bright and relatively sharp.

Battery life is good. Acer claim up to 8 hours of HD video playback. I didn’t get quite that much, but it in every day use, it seemed to outperform the Nexus by at least an hour. Being able to get a full day’s use out of the tablet means I’m much more likely to carry it around during the day as an alternative to a laptop, so that little bit extra went a long way for me.

Software

One of the best things about this tablet is that it features an almost-stock Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2. Of course, there’s no telling if Acer will update this promptly with future Android updates, but it makes a refreshing change to have an almost untouched and up-to-date operating system out of the box.

I say almost untouched, because there are a few pieces of uninstallable bloatware on there, but they can at least be disabled.

The main addition to the OS seems to be Acer’s ‘Touch Wakeapp’, which lets you wake the device and launch a configurable app by touching all five fingers on the screen. By default, a five finger touch wakes the device, and touching both thumbs on the sides of the screen wakes and launches the camera. it’s a handy little addition, although I’m not sure it’s strictly necessary.

One thing I really appreciate is the simple fact that when you put the tablet in landscape mode, the volume up & down rocker reverses, so Volume Up is on the right and Volume Down is on the left. The fact that the Nexus 7 doesn’t do this has always been an annoyance to me.

Specifications

Wrap Up

In summary, this is a great little tablet from Acer. It’s low cost, but not low end.

I’ve been using it a couple of days now, and I’m quite torn between the Acer Iconia A1 and the Nexus 7. Which you choose probably comes down to what you want to use it for. The Acer’s 4×3 screen is great for reading and browsing the web, but not so good for movies. In every day use though, I found the extra physical size more won out over the Nexus 7’s higher resolution.

The SD card slot is nice, but external storage isn’t particularly useful on Android Jelly Bean. The HDMI port is a nice addition, although I did’t have a chance to test that.

It’s certainly not a groundbreaking device, but if your budget is around £150 and you want a decent all-round tablet, then Acer Iconia A1 is certainly worth considering.

You can buy the Acer Iconia A1 on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

The post Acer Iconia A1 Tablet Review appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

The video above is an example of what has happened to every call I’ve received so far on my iPhone 4. From three bars to “call failed” in 20 seconds flat.

Actually, that’s not entire true. I managed to receive one brief call by holding the phone by the tips of my fingers, but nearly dropped the phone in the process. But I can consistently replicate the effect shown in the video above simply by lying the phone on the table and touching the outer rim with my fingertip.

Yet Apple refuses to admit this is a hardware issue. Instead, they’re planning on releasing a ‘software fix’, which will do nothing more than lower the number of bars shown on screen in the first place.

Will it stop the phone from dropping calls? I’m not convinced.

I’ve already tried to get a refund on my iPhone, but Carphone Warehouse have outright refused. They are willing to admit the hardware may be faulty, but simply will not give a refund, as the phone is tied to a non-refundable two year Vodafone contract. So it looks like I’ll be stuck with a phone that doesn’t work as a phone for the next two years.

I could of course spend £25 on a “bumper” case. But that’s not the point. You wouldn’t buy a luxury car, then expect to have to pay extra for a special ‘steering wheel adaptor’ if you don’t want it to automatically drive into walls. The point is that this is a phone that simply does not function as a phone.

Interestingly, in the same press release where Apple offers a software fix ‘within a few weeks’, they also offer to refund the full price for anyone who wants to return their phone. That’s a luxury I’ve been denied.

I may not be able to do anything much to improve things for me, but I can at least offer some useful buying advice:

1. Do not buy an iPhone 4, unless and until Apple releases a fix that’s proven to work and/or recalls the phone.
The problem appears to be a design flaw in the phone and affects pretty much everyone to some extent. People in areas that have particularly good coverage may not notice it, but the problem is still there.

2. Never, ever, ever buy anything from Carphone Warehouse.
Once they have your money, they’re simply not interested in helping you in any way. I learned the hard way.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’m not some mindless Apple hater. This is my second iPhone, I have three Macs and several iPods. I don’t hate Apple – I just want a phone that works.

The post iPhone 4: Call Failed appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

I know these little printers have been around a couple of years now, but I just received one for my birthday and thought I’d write a few words about it,

If you’ve never seen one, the Pogo printer is a pocket sized Bluetooth photo printer with a rechargable battery. It takes special packs of 10 2″x3″ paper which contain heat activated inks in the paper itself. This means that it doesn’t require any ink cartridges and lets you print out photos instantly from your mobile phone or camera (there’s also a PictBridge USB interface).

Most people will use the Bluetooth functionality though, which just requires a mobile phone that can send files over a Bluetooth connection. Unfortunately, that’s the one thing that the iPhone doesn’t allow, so if you’re a stock iPhone user, this printer just isn’t going to work for you.

If however, like me, you jailbreak your iPhone, then you’re in luck. A little app in Cydia called “Bluenova” will allow you to send files to your printer, and after a bit of poking to get set up worked perfectly for me. It’s not a free app, but there’s a demo period so you can check it out and see if it works for you.

I was also able to get my iMac and Ubuntu laptop to print to this thing, and in the end, that turned out to be what I used the most.

(Click to view full sized images)

Unedited iPhone 3G Photo

Scanned Print

The main reason for this is that the quality of the prints is quite poor. As you can see from the example scans on this page, photos lack contrast, colours are off and pictures sometimes contain thin lines where the paper has passed through the print head. Couple that with my poor iPhone camera, and it’s often just not worth taking the printer with me.

The printer also automatically scales and crops photos to fill the 2×3 paper, so for best results you will probably want to crop your photos manually to that aspect ratio before printing. I found an iPhone app called Photogene that works perfectly for this purpose, and is also great for doing simple colour correction and effects.

Compact Camera Photo

Scanned Print

But this printer does have a secret weapon. Every print it makes is a sticker!

That feature alone transforms it from a poor quality photo printer into an awesome toy. Kids (and teens with phones) in particular will love being able to make stickers of all their latest snaps, and even for us semi-grownups, sticker printing is where the Pogo excels. Because the printer works better with solid, garish colours than with photos, it’s perfect for spending two minutes knocking up fun designs in Photoshop before spitting them out as stickers and plastering them to everything. The back of my laptop is proof of this:

So if you want the perfect gift for a kid with a mobile phone, or just love printing out stickers, the Pogo is ideal. Don’t go expecting wonderful photos that you’ll want to keep forever. Treat it as a toy and you’ll love it.

The Pogo is availabe on Amazon.com (US) for $39 and Amazon.co.uk (UK) for £20.40, which I think is great value.

Having completely failed to find a Google Chrome theme that looked how I wanted with the new Ubuntu 10.04 look, I decided to create my own. All I wanted was something simple and minimal that looked good with the default dark title bar when maximised, as that’s the way I normally browse on my netbook.

As it turns out, this is very easy to do and only took a few minutes. This is what it looks like:

If you want to use the theme yourself, click here to install it.

If you want to tweak the theme, you can download the unpacked files here. To edit the colours, simply tweak the manifest.json file and the images in the ‘i’ folder. The “ntp_” entries refer to the browser home screen – everything else should be fairly self explanatory if you’ve ever edited a basic CSS file.

You can install your theme by going entering chrome:extensions in the address bar, enabling developer mode and selecting “load unpacked extension”.

Feel free to play, edit, redistribute, sell this, if you so desire.

The post Lucid Lynx Chrome Theme appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

I’ve been meeting a lot of bloggers at various events lately, and one thing I’ve noticed is that their seems to be more and more ‘affiliate marketing bloggers’ around. You know the kind of person – they usually blog about products in a specific niche and their posts come packed with (often disguised) affiliate links. The blogger makes money when you, the reader, clicks through and buys the product they’re writing about.

The problem with this should be obvious. It’s in the blogger’s interest to talk up the product and make a sale, even if they’re not that into it. Even the most honest writer is going to find it difficult to resist saying something nice about a product when there’s money to be made. No sale, no payment.

And make no mistake, there’s big money to be made in affiliate blogging. There are many people making thousands of dollars a month from very little work. Sounds great, huh?

Well no. In the vast majority of cases, affiliate links on blogs aren’t marked as such. After all, why would you tell your readers that the whole point of your blog post was to try to sell them something? So most of the time, readers don’t even realise they’re just reading one giant ad. It’s a questionable practice at best. In some cases, it may even be illegal with new FTC rules in the US requiring all ads to be clearly marked as such.

Merchants, of course, love affiliate marketing. It’s an absolutely risk free way to sell more product. You let someone else do the selling for you, and you only have to pay them if they make a sale. But for us, the publishers, it can be an altogether more frustrating experience. Inexperienced bloggers often find themselves making no money at all, unless they’re prepared to really get their hands dirty. Experienced marketers can make big money, but it’s a shady, underground practice. There are plenty of ‘secret’ ‘underground’ exclusive clubs where you can find the best way to promote products, but the more you get into it, the shadier and more blackhat it becomes.

One particularly annoying offender is Darren Rowse of Problogger fame. Darren gives advice on how to make money blogging. He will regularly mix useful, interesting content with posts that ‘review’ a particular product. Embedded in these posts are links to buy the product. Affiliate links, of course. Rather than being actual reviews, the posts are simply unmarked ads, and the average reader has no idea. Here’s one example of that, and here’s another. My issue with this is that Darren does not disclose these affiliate links, and the one thing he never talks about on his own blog is that he makes a significant percentage of his revenue from tricking his readers like this.

And people wonder why bloggers are rarely taken seriously as journalists.

Most bloggers never take things that far though. Even I use affiliate links on Chocablog to some extent. But I don’t like doing it. Even when a staff writer has written a post and has no idea what ads will appear around it, there’s still that nagging feeling that it looks as though we’re trying to sell them something. We’re not – we just want to provide a link to the source, and if we happen to be able to make some money from that, then all the better.

But can you imagine a mainstream media source using affiliate advertising to generate revenue? A newspaper? Magazine? Maybe a film review TV show, perhaps, that only made money from people who actually went to see the film after seeing it? They would quickly learn never either to lie or simply never review anything bad. Even if the reviews are accurate and honest, the audience loses out, because they’re not getting the complete picture. But in the long run, the producers lose too. Advertisers have a greater influence on the range of content that can be produced profitably, and often the best, less-profitable content, gets left behind.

The same is true with blogs. Most of us want to make a bit of money from blogging, but if you’re using affiliate ads on your site and not telling your readers, you’re misleading them. You might not care. It’s your blog, not theirs. But if you do happen to care about your audience, you’ll think twice before doing it.

Picture Credit

The post Affiliate marketing must die appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

Today I was banned and removed from Fotothing – the photo sharing site I founded nearly 5 years ago and late sold to ADVFN.

The reason for my ban?

After someone posted saying they wished someone who cared about the site would buy it from ADVFN, I replied with:

I just found 57p down the back of the sofa. I’m in!

And that it seems is all it takes to get you banned from the site. At some point in the last few years it has changed from a fun photo sharing site into a strange communist state where any form of criticism is unacceptable and punishable by “permanent deletion”.

This makes me very sad. And what makes me even more sad is that ADVFN are now systematically deleting any and all criticism from the forums.

Last time I ruffled ADVFN’s feathers, they threatened to sue me. But being removed from the site I founded – by people who neither understand the community or care about it – feels worse than that.

Fotothing took up a fairly big chunk of my life for a long time and I made a lot of good friends there. I find it utterly baffling how a company could deliberately run the site into the ground, squander opportunities and censor the community that made the site such an exciting and vibrant place.

Oh well. Luckily I have another photo site to work on. Anyone who wants to is welcome to join me there, but if you’re a Fotothing user, then personally I think you should stay and fight. Make yourself heard in the forums and with your own photos. It’s your site, not ADVFN’s.

The post Banned from Fotothing appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

The main area of discussion in this show revolves around what constitutes a ‘photograph’. Stephen believes that as soon as you alter a photo in any way it ceases to be a photograph, but becomes a form of digital artwork. An equally valid, but completely different art form.

The whole show is included below, or you can download it in different formats from the Revision3 web site.

The picture is all the more impressive seeing as Lowryn’s main camera broke and she apparently spent most of the week drowning her sorrows with donuts.

Recently, the creator of the Beanpod, Mark Woods, got in touch with me apologising for my experience and let me know that he had since changed manufacturer.  Would I like a newer model free of charge in exchange for a re-review?  I gladly agreed.

So, time to take the latest Beanpod for a test drive…

Comparison

As you can see from the photograph (the Beanpod from the original review is on the left, the replacement is on the right), the new one has a much more professional finish. 

It’s puffier and a smoother shape despite lots of squashing around on its test drive, and has the advertised dimensions of 8in x 5in x 2in, weighing 50g. 

What you can’t see from the photograph is the stitching is much neater and more robust – I don’t feel like it’s going to split apart with a little light use.  It also has a much springier filling, keeping its shape better and giving more support to your camera and/or lens.

So a side-by-side comparison is encouraging.  What’s it like to use?

Test Drive

One of the main reasons I wanted a tripod alternative is for my fascination for small things on the ground. 

Snails, leaves, slugs, random floor debris are all excellent targets for my macro lens (I don’t have any hope capturing any creepy crawly faster than a snail… they run off before I’ve set up). 

The problem is, a tripod doesn’t go that low, if you lay the camera flat on the floor you never get the right angle and I’m worried about scratching the body or getting it wet on the ground.

With the new-improved Beanpod you still have the problems that the viewfinder is impossible to see through, so it’s not a perfect solution (I must remember to bring a bin liner to lie on while sprawled across the floor in future).

However, with the extra padding and springiness of the replacement, it does protect the camera better and gives more flexibility to fine tune the composition. 

Overall though, I’m still on the lookout for a more practical solution to this situation.

Where the Beanpod REALLY comes into its own though, is when you have no tripod, you have a low light situation and a raised surface available. 

Lying it flat on the raised surface would give you totally the wrong angle. 

Enter the Beanpod – squish it, squash it, turn it on its side to create a great lens support for just the right angle and you are away. 

It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, it fits in a pocket. 

Great for an evening out at a restaurant or anywhere that you don’t want to lug a whole load of gear with you.

(Incidentally, as an aside.  Don’t do what I did and let go of your camera on a wobbly surface supported only by the Beanpod.  At least keep the camera strap on.  It was fairly secure and well supported… but just don’t.  Cameras are expensive, ’nuff said.

Also, another tip for macro or low light photography with a Beanpod, normal beanbag or tripod – use a shutter release or the timer function on your camera to avoid blurring the picture as you press the shutter button.)

Conclusion

Overall, I think the replacement Beanpod has resolved a lot of my previous reservations about the product.  It’s much more professionally made and far more robust.  The different interior makes the Beanpod more pliable and gives more support which makes me far more comfortable using it.

At some point I’d still like a full-sized camera beanbag where you can add or remove beans according to situation but that’s obviously not the market Beanpod is aiming for.  For the cost of a tenner, you can have something that you can slip in a pocket and be pretty darn useful.  I’d chucked the old one in the back of a cupboard.  This replacement is in my camera rucksack ready to go (and it’s great as extra cushioning for the camera in the bag too) – I think I’ll end up using it quite a bit.

The Beanpod can be bought from http://www.beanpods.co.uk/ and costs £9.99 including postage.

This is part of a set of stunning lake shots, so be sure to check out the rest of her archive.

It just goes to show, it’s not the equipment that counts, it’s how you use it!

This is just one of many great shots from Kamilla. Take a browse through her archive for loads more.

I just love the colours and details in this one. I think one of the main reasons it caught my eye is because it reminded me of the jigsaw puzzles I used to do as a child. In fact, I’m tempted to take a sharp knife to my monitor and cut this out right now…

This is DGM’s entry in June’s Fotonomy Challenge. The subject is transportation, so why not get on your bike and see if you can do better?

First, a little background.

Geekbrief has a video podcast hosted by Neal’s wife Luria Petrucci (aka Cali Lewis). It comes out roughly three times a week, and it’s a short, fun look at the latest gadget news. It’s well put together, but retains an amateur feel, which is something that appeals to me. Cali is a pretty good host – she knows her stuff, she’s very attractive, and most importantly of all, she never stops smiling.

Geekbrief has been on my subscription list for nearly two years, and I’ve donated money to the show to help out on more than one occasion.

I love my “Shiny, Happy Tech News”, but earlier this year, Cali announced that they were going to buy an RV and spend a year driving around the US, visiting every state.

This immediately didn’t sit quite right with me. My initial reaction was to wonder how they could afford to do this when they were apparently making the show on a shoestring and quite happy to take a few dollars here and there from fans.

Then I saw this video of them looking at RVs:

For this little jaunt, they’re looking at buying a vehicle that costs at least 6 figures – possibly as much as half a million dollars. I started to question not just where my money had gone, but the environmental impact of driving a “house” that does 5-10 miles per gallon around the US for an entire year.

I posted the simple question on a blog post about the trip:

I’m interested to know what you’re doing to offset the carbon emissions from this “trip”.

I had expected a simple response along the lines of “we’re looking into it” – but all I got was Neal’s jokey response “We’re going to eat more cows!”.

After trying to make my views a little clearer, Neal responded with:

The Big Trip is about celebrating American exceptionalism, not about politics. It’s perfectly okay for you not to celebrate with us. Here’s what I think about environmental fascism: http://www.nealcampbell.com/2008/04/20/not-easy-not-being-green/

I don’t know if I’m getting old, but I find the use of the word ‘fascism’ to be a little tasteless. And while Neal didn’t directly call me a fascist personally, he certainly implied that’s how he felt about my views.

I will admit that the phrase “American exceptionalism” did make me laugh though.

But I do want to get one thing straight. I’m in no way a “rabid environmentalist”. But excessive waste does annoy me. And making even the tiniest concession to the environmental impact of driving such a huge vehicle around the country isn’t so much about global warming as it is about cleaning up yourself. Common courtesy.

But there are many other reasons why this “Big Trip” doesn’t sit right with me:

• The fact that they’re happy to take money off viewers on the basis that they have to scrape together the cash to produce Geekbrief. Yet they don’t seem to bat an eyelid at spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a shiny RV.
• The fact that they’re taking donations from fans for the trip, but haven’t said what will be happening to the RV and equipment after they get home. Presumably they’ll be keeping the RV for their own use whenever they want to go away. Nice.
• The fact that it doesn’t seem to have crossed their mind how “insular” it looks to consider your own country to be the be all and end all of technical innovation.
• The fact that the utter extravagance of it all has apparently not occurred to Neal and Cali.

To me, the “Big Trip” sums up everything that’s wrong with America. It refuses to acknowledge the world outside the USA. It’s a display of rampant consumerism that flies in the face of fans who have donated to get this small, amateur tech show off the ground. The lack of any notion of the environmental impact is just the tip of the iceberg.

It seems the whole trip is aimed at fulfilling Neal & Cali’s personal ambitions to drive around their country in total luxury. I don’t know where my personal donations ended up, but it feels like they’re being used to give the show’s producers the holiday of a lifetime. I find that a bit of a slap in the face when I have to scrape together enough money just to pay the rent every month.

I’m not asking them to cancel their trip. All I’m asking is that they be a little more open to the issues.

The post Shiny Happy Environmental Fascism appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

Google are clearly scared by the very notion of Microsoft being in control of Yahoo! This sentence in particular made me fall off my chair:

“While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.”

This, coming from the company that has a total monopoly on web search at the moment and frequently abuses that position. And let’s not forget that all these “open technologies” that Google so thoughtfully invests in are really just more ways to get access to your personal data, so it can show you more ads. Every last one of them.

Sometimes I think that Google has become so self obsessed that it’s losing track of reality.

Having said that…

I can’t think of two worse companies to be involved in right now than Microsoft and Yahoo. MS have failed to make the web work for them time and again, and Yahoo, while having wonderful intentions, have absolutely no sense of direction and just can’t seem to get their act together.

Yahoo constantly launch new products that never quite work with their existing products, yet manage to replicate 50% of the functionality of other parts of their network. They still make a fair amount of money from advertising, but I’m quite sure that’s simply because nobody can ever find what they’re looking for on Yahoo and end up just clicking an ad to get away from all the madness.

If MS and Y! do get together, you can be fairly certain that the result will be chaos. Whether or not the resulting company will survive long enough to take on Google remains to be seen. But I really don’t think Google have anything to worry about for the next couple of years.

The post On Yahoo, Microsoft & Google appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

Just a quick note that I’m giving away my very own iPod Nano (8Gb, 3rd Gen) in a competition over on Money Blogger.

If you want to enter, all you need to is blog about Money Blogger. The competition ends a week on Friday and full details are available here. Good luck!

The post iPod Nano Giveaway appeared first on Dom Ramsey.

Dance more.

Losing weight is a question of changing your lifestyle and there’s no question that I’ve become much more sedentary as time goes on.

I like to boogie when no one can see me although it’s not something I have ever thought of as “exercise”. But why not? I mean, a good track (especially something from my teen years) can have me bouncing all over the room and panting for breath at the end of it.

So I’m making myself a play-list of songs, called BOUNCE, which I’m filling up with tunes that make me want to dance. I was planning to borrow my son’s ipod to play the songs while I’m doing the housekeeping or cooking, although he’s just informed me that dancing to the B52s “Loveshack” while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil is not motherly behaviour, so maybe that’s out. I can always use the laptop, anyway.

Help me out! Recommend songs that are guaranteed to get these toes tapping and I, uh… well, I promise to update Endiet with my dancing escapades. What a deal

We all tend to have turkey meat left over after Christmas/Thanksgiving, but there’s so much more you can do with it than making sandwiches.

Here’s a few ideas:

• Turkey & Lentil Soup
• Turkey Tikka Kebabs
• Oriental Turkey Stir Fry
• Turkey & Parsnip Curry
• Turkey & Spinach Lasagne
• Thai Turkey Salad
• Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti
• Warm Turkey & Pasta Salad
• Low Fat Turkey Soup
• Perkey Turkey Soup

That should be enough to get you started!

Pumpkin is a great source of vitamins and minerals, and as Alanna at A Veggie Venture points out, cooking it couldn’t be simpler. Throw it in the oven.

But if you’re looking for a few more ideas, try these for size:

• Spicy sweet pumpkin seeds
• Low carb pumpkin pie
• Low carb pumpkin cheesecake
• Pumpkin ravioli
• Pumpkin risotto with crispy sage
• Swiss chard tart with roasted pumpkin and basil
• Caramelised pumpkin and orange pie
• Pumpkin soup
• Pumpkin curry
• Pumpkin pancakes

My favourite food in the whole world is in season right now: mushrooms! I had chanterelles at almost every meal during a recent trip to Germany, if you can find these small wild mushrooms, I highly recommend them. iVillage has posted ‘Shroom 101: The shopper’s guide to mushrooms with three pages of helpful tips and tricks, followed by a set of mushroom recipes. Go get inspired.

And then there is another favourite of mine: artichokes. Steam them gently and then just serve, letting everyone dip the leaves in home-made mayonaisse or just plain melted butter for a good and fun starter.

Fennel is an oft overlooked autumn vegetable: slice it thin and serve it in salads, cut it into chunks and add it to your soups, braise it whole or even roast it alongsie the root vegetables: it’s very versatile and gives a lovely accent to any meal. Squashes are starting to appear which you can roast or mash or even grill. Leeks and onions are in season now too and late season sweet corn is, in my opinion, at its sweetest and juiciest right now. Don’t get the shrink-wrapped stuff, find it fresh, still in the husk. I love to eat this off the barbecue: pull of the husk and remove all the strings, then wrap the cobs back up in the husks and put them on the coals (or under the grill) for 10 minutes. Yum!

My least favourite food is in season this month too, just to balance things out: parsnips. These are commonly roasted and sometimes cut into squares to allow the unsuspecting guest to believe they are roast potato. Cruel practice, and I recommend none of you do such a thing. I’ll concede they aren’t bad in a stew, but that’s all.

This is also a great time to go out and pick your own: blackberries, damnsons, elderberries and greengages are all ready for picking and often you can find them there for the taking in the English countryside.

This is also the time to stock up on apples. Leave them lying around as a tasty and healthy snack. As the weather starts to get a bit chillier you might find yourself inspired to make hot apple pie – especially if you take a look at this American site about making the perfect apple pie.

My boyfriend and his mother suddenly came down with summer colds, coughing and spluttering all around the house. I went off in search of something simple yet filling to offer them for dinner, using various search terms, including “healing”. It was a good search, I ended up on a site I probably would not have paid attention to normally: Karina’s Kitchen – “recipes from a gluten-free goddess.”

No one in our household needs a gluten-free diet but the dish, A Healing Curry, sounded just right: vegetables and garbanzos (chick peas) and lots of broth, just the thing for my unhappy patients. I don’t have a crock pot but cooked it at a very low simmer on the stove, which worked just fine. The only other change I made is to use home-made chicken broth instead of vegan broth, hoping for some more goodness to combat the evil viruses around the house.

The curry was a hit, even my carnivore boyfriend asked for more. And from my point of view, it was great to be able to prep everything in the morning and then just throw in in the pot. I cooked it for just over 3 hours, stirring it now and again during the evening. The next day I reheated it again and it was just as good, so the next time I’ll make a double batch so I have a pot full to freeze.

This was a timely reminder that “restricted diet” doesn’t have to be a dirty word and specialist sites can have some wonderful recipes too. I’ll be spending more time on Karina’s site!

Probably the most useful one is not to obsess over the numbers. Concentrating on making small changes to your lifestyle that change the way you feel is far more effective than worrying about what the bathroom scales are telling you.

Hands up: how many of you have never had fresh peas. Although frozen peas are very convenient, you really should try them straight from the garden! This is the time to buy fresh peas and cook them only briefly – fry them up quickly with a bit of bacon or boil them for just one minute — you will know they are ready when they turn a brighter green.

Meanwhile, get your fill of peppers: chopped in salads, roasted for a sweet side dish or stuffed to make a full meal! Tomatos and aubergines/eggplants should still be readily available — if you are dreaming of holidays in the sun, maybe you should try some Greek recipes.

You might also consider heading out to a Pick-Your-Own farm for the summer berries — seasonal and a fun day out for all ages!

Once a month not often enough? Get a tip for a seasonal food every week from www.eattheseasons.co.uk

Fennel comes into season and I recommend trying this as a for a wonderful salad on its own: sliced very thinly and served with parmesan shavings and just a touch of olive oil. Or if you find the anise flavour too strong, mix thin slices in with your green salads to add extra bite and a touch of coolness. Then head over to GoodFood for six pages of recipes, both with fennel as the star and in a subsidiary role.

Tomatos are deep red and juicy now. We could eat them all week: served in salad, sliced with garlic and oil, pureed into gaspacho, chopped up into a light sauce for pasta. We love them although sadly it’s quite clear that not everyone agrees.

You can still go mediterranean this month though — with a focus on the beautiful purple vegetable. Whether you know it as aubergine or eggplant, you will find it a tasty and versatile addition to your meals. Simply brush slices with oil and grill for a quick and healthy side dish or try one of the 3000+ recipes over at Ashbury’s Aubergines.

For afters, you are spoilt for choice with berries: strawberries and raspberries are naturally sweet this time of year: eat them on their own or with just a touch of double-cream. Red currants are lovely added to fruit salads or made into a sauce. Cherries are juicy and lush and will bring smiles just by putting out a bowl full of them for people to grab.

Get the family involved. The Woodcraft Folk have written up an activity called Eating seasons with worksheets for the UK to test your knowlege of local foods and seasons.

But advertising watchdogs were having none of it. They have banned the egg industry from showing the ads on TV because they “fail to promote a varied diet”.

The ads feature legendary comedian Tony Hancock and the slogan “Go to work on an egg” – promoting eggs for breakfast.

Now, we’re all for promoting a varied diet, but banning these fun, nostalgic ads is probably going a bit far. After all, nobody’s suggesting you only eat eggs. And nobody’s banning ads for sugary breakfast cereals.

Until the advertising watchdogs change their minds, you can watch them all here. There’s even a petition you can sign if you want to have your say.

We are told that we should eat ‘5 portions’ to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. If there really is a dose-response whereby 4 portions, say, aren’t good enough, then surely the size of the portion and the number of portions would be important. It is odd, therefore, that both the numbers of portions and their quantity vary widely across the Atlantic. Other scientists must have thought so as well, because over the last few years several studies into the 5-a-day claim have been conducted to test the advice – with disappointing results.

The prestigious CARDIO2000 study published its results in 2003.^[i] This study was looking at intakes of fruit and vegetables specifically in relation to acute heart disease. They found that vegetables did reduce the risk of heart disease. But, significantly, it didn’t need ‘5 portions a day’ for the maximum effect. In their conclusions the researchers say:

‘Our findings support that even low consumption of fruits and vegetables (1-2 servings per week) is associated with about 45% lower coronary risk. Consumption of 2 or more servings per week is associated with about 70% reduction in relative risk.’

The Daily Mail reported the study’s results.^[ii] The Mail interviewed Professor Sir Charles George, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, about the obvious conflict with the 5-a-day guidelines. Sir Charles answered ‘There is some argument about how much you need; I think five may be an arbitrary figure’ – and, by so doing, admitted that this was yet another example of dietary advice which was based on nothing more than guesswork or wishful thinking. So we don’t need to eat anything like 5 a day to derive benefits in terms of heart disease.

But is there a benefit in terms of cancer the other major disease it is aimed at? This was considered in another study of over 100,000 people published in 2004. This study, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, showed that, ‘Increased fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with a modest although not statistically significant reduction in the development of major chronic disease’. They continued: ‘The benefits appeared to be primarily for cardiovascular disease and not for cancer.’ ^[iii] And concluded: ‘Consumption of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables has been recommended . . . but the protective effect of fruit and vegetable intake may have been overstated.’

Not surprisingly, supporters of the ‘5-a-day’ campaign were outraged by the findings, repeating their mantra that eating the recommended number of fruit and vegetables has numerous health benefits – without specifying what those benefits might be.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that a very large study found no benefit in breast cancer from eating ‘5 portions’. In this study, 20 named researchers investigated 7,377 incident invasive breast cancer cases and a wide variety of fruit and vegetable intakes among 351,825 women at 17 cancer research centres in the USA, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden. They found no association for green leafy vegetables, 8 botanical groups, and 17 specific fruits and vegetables. They concluded:

“These results suggest that fruit and vegetable consumption during adulthood is not significantly associated with reduced breast cancer risk”.^[iv]

Whenever studies such as these are reported, the diet police repeat their dogma that eating the recommended number of fruit and vegetables has numerous health benefits; they say that the evidence is ‘overwhelming’. But they never seem able to quote any of that evidence or to specify exactly what the benefits are. In view of the above studies, that will probably come as no real surprise. The point is that, just like almost all the health advice we have had forced down our throats and come to believe over the last few decades, there is practically no basis for ‘5 portions’ advice in science.

Dr Barnett Kramer, of the National Institutes of Health in the US, said of the healthy eat­ing message: ‘A lot of the public is completely unaware that the strength of the message is not matched by the strength of the evidence.’ That we are still kept unaware of it demonstrates just how strong an influence the diet dictocrats have on our minds and the news media.

References
[i]. Panagiotakos DB, Pitsavos C, Kokkinos P, et al. Consumption of fruits and vegetables in relation to the risk of developing acute coronary syndromes; the CARDIO2000 case-control study. Nutr J 2003; 2: 2.
[ii]. ‘Three fruit and veg are still healthy.’ Daily Mail, 2 September 2003, p 8.
[iii]. Hung H-C, Joshipura KJ, Jiang R, et al. Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Major Chronic Disease. J Nat Canc Inst 2004; 96: 1577-1584
[iv]. Smith-Warner SA, et al. Intake of Fruits and Vegetables and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Cohort Studies. JAMA 2001; 285: 769-776.