Our tentative plan is to be closed for two weeks and reopen in a limited capacity on Saturday, April 4.

With much HOPE, our plan is as follows:

• If you would like to stock up on any chocolate items or even Easter products before our closing on Friday, March 20, here is what we are offering: Quick purchases and pick ups in-store with contactless pay options. Over the phone & online ordering for in-store pick up. Complimentary, next day doorstep delivery in Madison for orders $20 and over, placed before 3pm. Mail orders placed prior to Friday, March 20, will be shipped via UPS. Friday, March 20 at 6pm, ALL operations will be shut down.

• During the 14-day shut down, our staff will be HIGHLY encouraged to self quarantine and social distance themselves from others. These two weeks will be extra paid sick leave for all employees. After 14 days, those who are unable to maintain social distancing will be asked to stay home. If any symptoms of illness are present, they will continue to stay home. Those that are uncomfortable coming back are encouraged to stay home.

• RE-OPEN, Saturday, April 4 with curbside pick up, mail order shipping, and complimentary to your door delivery in Madison. Our storefront and in-person purchases will be on hold until further notice.

In the 14 days we are closed, we ask that you do what you can to support all local small businesses and staffs that make Madison so EXTRAORDINARY! This is a challenge unlike anything we have faced before but together (6ft apart ?) we can get through it.

Over the past 15 years we have turned this place into our home and you, our family. We have much to be thankful for but at the very top is every person that has shared our passion for chocolate!

Take care of yourselves, stay healthy, and be kind to one another! We look forward to seeing you soon…

The post Dear Chocolate Lovers Near and Far… appeared first on Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier.

Elevate your wedding reception with new trends and fine chocolates

Fine chocolate may not be thought of as a big industry. Yet, it represents around 5% of chocolate market sales. Fine chocolate is defined in distinct ways. The flavor must be there, along with texture and appearance. You would also see limited ingredients, and how they are sourced and processed. Incorporating fine chocolate during your reception, paired with wine creates a memorable sensory experience. Gourmet chocolate favors bring an exciting and sumptuous look to your wedding décor. Couples can take the time to display them in various ways. This could be strawberries dipped in fine chocolate or a beautifully designed chocolate tower.


The presentation of these fine chocolates makes them look as good as they taste. The tables can be displayed with bouquets of gourmet chocolate. Edible wedding favors for your guests to enjoy. After selecting your venue through TheRing.org, you may want to consider adding this sensual sweet. Fine chocolate makers are committed to bringing the unique flavors from each bean to the forefront. They want the person eating it to experience complex flavors. These flavors will come from various regions and countries. Fine chocolates represent a guilty pleasure. A carefully placed gourmet chocolate wedding favor reminds your guests of the simple pleasures in life. This combined with a small thank you note shares in the personal experience.

Offering your guests fine chocolates is a long-standing wedding trend. And each year, trends like this change, becoming more personalized. Along with this, it continues to be about bucking old wedding traditions, while bringing in unique and interesting ideas. Whether this is playing with new floral arrangements, unique ways to display food or bright fresh color arrangements, wedding trends continue to change. Couples are bringing more of themselves to their wedding. They want to incorporate aspects of their lives. This is creating a more personal experience for everyone.


Bright Colors and New Styles


Bridal gowns with asymmetrical designs, crop tops, and grooms-wear featuring suites that pair different fabrics and patterns. Fashion changes, styles leave an old one comes back. Fashion trends within the wedding industry are always evolving. Most couples are going for something unique and staying away from the traditional wedding garb. Wedding gowns in 2019 have showcased sleeves making a statement, mini-dresses, and vibrant colors. There is, of course, the Meghan Markle effect. Starting new trends with wedding fashion will bring something special to your wedding. And much of this is because couples are getting personal, and hiring vendors they connect with on an individual level, while selecting the fashion that showcases who they are.


Having Fun with Food and Drink


Whether it is choosing the perfect dress from someone you connected with, or bonding over a meal from the caterer you want to hire. Most couples are taking the time to get to know their vendors when selecting them from thering.org. This is has created many trends, such as with wedding food. Artistic edible food displays are something quite popular. Couples are turning food into art, making it enjoyable to look at and fun to eat. The guests are also being fed all day and night. Grazing tables are an excellent way to keep your guests well fed. They can look forward to snacking on different items such as bread, meats, cheeses, chocolates, fruit, and other things.


There is no better way to say thank you for coming than an edible wedding favor. This could be a bottle of wine, special spice blends, custom hot sauce, an artisan oil or even a box of fine chocolates. This combined with a personal note has been a strong trend within the wedding industry. Even traditional wedding buffets have become no more. Couples are searching for more memorable options for their guests. Interactive food stations, custom menus, and create your cocktail bars are popular trends. You could even top the night off with a whiskey and cigar bar. Or something fun to please that sweet tooth.


Unique Décor and More Color


Any couple will want their wedding reception to stand out. Velvet décor and vibrant colors are trendy. This is creating a warm and cozy atmosphere or one that says fun and youthful. Designers are getting creative with structural floral installations. Couples are doing away with the standard floral arrangement. They are wanting to add drama to the floral centerpiece and incorporate structural elements. This adds a wow factor to an outdoor wedding, or elegance to an indoor, small intimate wedding.

Many couples are incorporating art into their wedding. Whether these are custom art pieces at the reception showcasing the couple’s personality, or a stand-in artist painting a live portrait of the ceremony or reception. Couples are wanting to create something unique for their big day. Wedding industry trends are always changing. They are becoming more personal and intimate, creating a memorable experience for the guests. Each couple is bringing more of themselves to the wedding, while making it their own, and starting exciting new trends for others.

Learn more about bringing Gail’s fine chocolates to your wedding…

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The trip began in Guayaquil, then we traversed across the country from the lowlands of Costa Pacifica to the Highlands over the Andes at Quito, to the jungles of Amazonia. The purpose was to visit cacao farmers in Ecuador who grow some of the finest flavored cacao of the Nacional or Arriba variety. In 2011 Ecuador surpassed production of 130,000 metric tons annually.

One of our first stops was a farmer in the Los Rios area, Samuel Von Ruut, a Swiss man that had worked for Nestle 30 years ago, he then fell in love with Ecuador and has stayed on to farm some very fine flavor cacao. He and his wife hosted us for an afternoon, showing us his fermenting and drying techniques, we had a great lunch prepared by his wife and then walked the fields. After the farm, we visited a few collection centers and a farmers’ cooperative in order to understand the commercial chain for cacao in Quevedo, Limon, La Mana, and El Empalme.

The following day we made a stop at INIAP, Institute for National Autonomous Agricultural Research. This is a research agency that is developing Nacional clones for distribution to farmers. They also test beans for their genetics to ensure Ecuador will continue to produce the Nacional variety of cacao.

From the lowland areas we drove north to the town of Mindo in the foothills of the Andes. Mindo is enchanting, it is an area known for it’s ecotourism we all wished we had more time there. Mindo is the home of Mindo Chocolates owned by Jose Meza and Barbara Wilson from Dexter, Michigan. They fell in love also with Ecuador and began making chocolate with beans from a local cooperative. They pay above fair trade wages for their cacao which they also ship to Michigan where they have another small factory in the US.

After too short a visit in Mindo we travel to Quito the capital which is in a high river basin 9,350 feet (2,800 meters above sea level), to the east is Pichincha an active volcano of the Andes. In Quito we visit Ecuatoriana Chocolate Factory. They do bean to bar processing there as well as packaging for others’ private labels. We then begin our travels into Amazonia. Our first stop along the way is for a soak in thermal pools. If you’ve never experienced this pleasure, take note next time you travel and take a pause to relax and enjoy the hot springs when ever you find them. Back in the bus we go and soon we are at an incredible vista looking into the Amazon Basin. The whole drive this day is spectacular, we travel through many ecosystems all more scenic than the next. As we approach nightfall, (which is 6:00pm, because we are on the equator the days have equal length all the time! sunrise 6:00 am sunset 6:00 pm) we find our lodge on the end of a gravel road nestled into the jungle. I have to admit I am a fit freaked out when I am shown to my bungalow which is #1 and on the end of the grouping of bungalows, I feel isolated and scared in the complete darkness surrounded by very noisy tree frogs. What to do but put on my big girl underpants and deal with it, heck I’m in paradise.

Morning comes and wasn’t attacked in the night by wild animals and I breath a bit easier. This is my favorite day. We drive to Tena and visit the Kallari Cooperative. In November the day before Thanksgiving, Roberto, a farmer from Kallari and Judy who has ties to Spring Green, WI pay me a visit in my shop. They tell me about the Cooperative and we taste their chocolate which is organic and fair trade, I order 500 lbs. on the spot, I like it so much. Before Roberto has a chance to invite me to visit, I ask if I can come meet the other farmers and see the cooperative. He beams at my interest, we all feel like we won the lottery.

First stop is the office of the Cooperative where they present to us a slideshow on their goals and the work being done to help the 850 families in 21 communities that belong to the Cooperative. One of their objectives is to share ancestral knowledge which includes crop rotation, working with handicrafts and all generally referred to as “chakra” or family garden plot. Being from Madison and a crazy gardener and farmer’s daughter, I was digging this. Kallari stands for conservation and cultural rescue, a pretty nobel cause if you ask me. They are not only producing fine flavored cacao but tea, furniture (from the trees they grow), soaps, essential oils, and fibers. In Tena they have a processing center for the cacao. They go to the farmers to pick up wet beans (after opening the pods, the beans are removed which are covered in a white slimy pulp, but oh so tasty) and bring them back to the center for fermentation, drying, sorting and bagging for sale.

We then drive to visit a farmer who lives on a small island in a river. On the way we stop at the Kallari’s future factory for processing the beans into chocolate. The factory will have a dry room for storage of beans, dirty room where they sanitize and clean the beans, winnower, grinder, roaster, conche and packaging areas. Also included would be offices, a cold room for storage of chocolate, reception, and a restaurant upstairs, by 2014 they hope to complete the project. Behind the factory they are also building a bio-knowledge building which will explore other local items they could manufacture or sell with value added. The dream is to have a weekly farmers market in front with lodge in back. The location is central to the farmers.

Next stop is the river’s edge to hop on a flat bottom boat and cruise down the river to Ceasar’s paradise island. There, Ceasar proudly welcomes us and tells us about many of the other trees growing there and their uses before we even get to the cacao. He and his wife then take us through their farm and demonstrate how they harvest cacao and manioc which is a staple of their diet. We end our visit with a toast of chicha a local drink. I thank Ceasar when we leave for growing such incredible cacao, and tell him I use Kallari chocolate in my shop in Madison, he then takes my hand again pulls me in for a hug and a kiss, he is beaming with pride, this is why I travel to farms!

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On April 20-28, 2013, I traveled with a small delegation of the Colombia Support Network (CSN) to Colombia a few weeks ago. The Colombia Support Network is a national grassroots organization based in Madison, Wisconsin, with 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status, created to provide support to Colombian communities and organizations in areas of conflict which seek to construct a just social and economic order using non-violence means.

Dane County, WI, has a sister city — the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado — which was the first stop of our trip after arriving in Medellin. There we met with the Internal Council of the community and listened as they shared their experiences. We were there to show support and be a witness to their struggle to stay out of the military and government conflicts. They have declared themselves neutral and will not collaborate with either the FARC, paramilitaries or the Army. They refuse to provide information to any group that could jeopardize their safely. Since a massacre in 2005 that left many dead, there have been dozens of murders and threats to civilians. It is their wish to remain neutral and to live in peace, the delegation was there for support and to bear witness to their experiences and then to share that information with the Colombian government, military, and police forces.

My involvement began when Cecilia Zarate approached me a few years ago to talk about CSN as well as that the community also produces cacao. She brought me samples and asked my opinion, at the time it was rustic and needed a bit more finesse to become fine chocolate. She did have my attention however and curiosity. Since then she has brought me cacao beans which my friend Pierrick has turned into bars for me. When I visited the community they showed us their cacao production, it was more than I had thought it to be. They have good stock, great drying racks, and small scale processing equipment. The chocolate they make is very good. My quandary however is how to get it out of the country safely? The concern is that the farmers could be robbed of the cost once I leave, or if I can even get it out of the country safely. The community is in the Uraba region which is very close geographically to Panama as well as the Caribbean Sea, which make it an area prone to drug trafficking and the violence that goes along with it.

After visiting the community and learning about their challenges, we met with the local police force, local Secretary of Agriculture, a UN Representative, and the 17th Brigade of the Army who patrols the area locally. In each visit, we relayed the information we were told by the Peace Community. Our information sadly seemed to fall on deaf ears, the Peace Community appears to be seen by the authorities as a nuisance and unwilling to cooperate. We then flew to back to Medellin where we had a short tour of the beautiful city and then caught our flight to Bogota. In the capital of Bogota, we had several meetings with government officials including; the Defense Ministry, the Attorney General, the Vice Presidency, the General of the Army, and the U.S. Embassy. Once again we retold the incidents and information we gathered from the Peace Community. We repeatedly were told that things have changed, the danger is over and that the FARC and paramilitaries have de-mobilized and that the trouble is all coming from the “bacrim” or criminal gangs involved in drug trafficking. This is not what we heard from the community. It is very confusing, frustrating and saddening.

The most moving meeting we had was with the Mothers of Soacha. This is a group of mothers who have lost their sons to the terrible conflict that goes on in Colombia. The families are from poor areas of Bogota where there are not many prospects for employment for young men. The sons are “recruited” with the promise of wages higher than usual, they are given a small advance in salary then taken away, murdered and dressed as guerrillas with weapons put in their dead hands. The military uses these young victims as statistics to prove that the FARC is being subdued. This was the most heinous act I could imagine. The Mothers were just trying to get justice for the crimes and acknowledgment that their sons were taken away and murdered with a price over their heads. These women are incredibly strong, yet the tears still flow when sharing their stories.

With one day left before our return we needed a day to decompress and process what we had heard. We visited the Botero Museum and the Gold Museum. Botero is famous for his well proportioned subjects done in playful way, the Gold Museum displays an extraordinary selection of its pre-Hispanic gold work, the collection is the biggest in the world and fascinating to learn about.

This was a very moving trip, the more I learned the more confused and frustrated I became. It was well worth the effort and I am grateful I was able to participate. Hopefully, I will be able to visit the Peace Community again as well as meet with dignitaries to share what I heard. The only thing I know for sure is we have to try to make a difference whether if feels like we are making an impact or not, we have to try.

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The Eiffel Tower

Earlier this month I had the extreme pleasure of visiting my favorite city:  Paris! The trip also included a visit to Bruge, (no sign of Colin Farrell, darn!) and Brussels the home of some magnificent examples of Art Nouveau.

Paris is truly a movable feast!

On the agenda the first day was a bateaux mouches tour on the Seine! it was a new experience for me, with jet lag it was great to just sit en plein air  and see all the beautiful sights from the river and enjoy the view. Last time here, I rented an apartment which I did again only this time went big, I got a loft overlooking the Seine, and the Cathedral de Notre-Dame! What a view! It was worth all the pennies I saved.



One of my favorite things to do (no surprise) is to visit as many chocolatiers and patisseries as possible. Some of my favorites are; Angelina, Jean-Charles Rochoux (in the photo below), Pierre Herme, Laduree, Gerard Mulot, Pain des Idees and so many more too numerous to mention plus all the ones I just happen to walk by. So delectable!

Cathedral de Notre-Dame

Gail and Jean-Charles Rochoux



Walking the city is the highlight for me, you never know what is around the next corner, and getting lost or disoriented is part of the fun. When I’m open to wandering I usually come across some of the  places that I had mapped out in advance to visit, it is a great treat to find them serendipitously!

Farmer’s Market

Shopping of course is magic, so many wonderful things to see, total eye candy everywhere you look. Crazy as it sounds I bought an umbrella, or parapluie in French. There is a shop that has been around forever on Blvd Saint-Germaine that makes them by hand, they are exquisite. Unfortunately for my wallet they also make incredibly beautiful and well make gloves. eh bien!

Bruges

OK let’s talk about food, the Farmers Market on Sunday at Place de Bastille is not to be taken lightly. It was huge, and had everything from fruits and veggies to oysters, escargot, cheese, meats, flowers, nautical striped shirts, cheese knives, you name it! I got some hand made soaps for employee gifts, and tasted some pastries, while watching an acrobatic show performed with an accordion accompaniment. 



Victor Horta Museum, Brussels

On to Bruge! Wow it was like being in a storybook! the city was so clean and very Flemish and beautiful, canals, mussels, frites, and beer!
Brussels was a bit more cosmopolitan, people from everywhere. While in Brussels a marathon was taking place, so as I walked to see some of the sights on my list I encountered closed streets and then the mass of runners, quite spectacular!

Eiffel Tower at Night

I love Art Nouveau architecture, so it was a real treat for me to visit the Victor Horta Museum in Brussels. Photos were not allowed but imagine sinuous curves, stained glass, and artistry everywhere your eyes could see. I was in heaven! Just walking in certain neighborhoods, (I had them scoped out) there were such wonderful examples of the style. One of the most stunning happened to be Place de Ambroix! Perhaps some long lost ancestor, my fathers family was from southern Holland, not so far away.



The last night back in Paris on Rue de Cler, the hotel wasn’t much but the view, incroyable!

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Packing up chocolates and sharing a laugh with the Amazillia ladies

On March 16, I left for my seventh trip to Costa Rica! It had been a year since I last saw my cacao growing friends. The first night I met with Hugo and Hubertien Hemerlink, and Julio and George of Sibu Chocolates, as well as Elsa from Debelis in Belgium. We were all excited to be seeing each other again and the conversation and laughter flowed.

A farm tour courtesy of my friend Cola

After a bit more visiting, it was off to Finmac: Hugo’s organic cacao farm. There I met with some of the women of Asociacion de Mujeres Amazillia, who live on and near the finca. They make chocolates to sell in San Jose. We shared the latest news and talked about our current projects. I offered some of my parlines and salted caramels, they returned the favor with their latest: a solid morsel with a washed and dried cacao bean inside. Delicious!

Cola, one of the farm workers, gave me a tour of the farm. It was great to be walking among the trees. The farm was finishing a harvest, so I was able to see the trees just after pruning, which happens a week or two after the pods are harvested. The leaves and opened pods are left under the trees to decompose, adding organic matter to the soil. The processing facility was not operating the day I visited, but they were conching a batch of chocolate. Conching is grinding the cocoa liquor with sugar until it gets finer and finer. The sugar shears against the cocoa to become nice and smooth.

Walking amidst the just-pruned trees after the harvest

On to Thermales del Bosque! This is one of my favorite places to stay and soak in the thermal pools in the forest and relax. From here, if you are lucky and it is a clear day, you can see the Arenal Volcano. This was my lucky trip: every time in the past I have visited it has been under the clouds, but on this day I was able to see the volcano in all its conical glory.

Next, I traveled to Upala. I presented a workshop demonstrating how to use the tempering machine I donated to the Cooperative located here. The Cooperative is hoping to make artisanal chocolate from their own beans. The instruction went well with the help of two botany students from Paris (who just happened to be studying in Upala). The students helped me with my Spanish, translating when I had gaps. Everyone had the opportunity to fill one of the molds I brought and use the tools. They were excited and eager students.

The view of the Arenal volcano from the Thermales del Bosque pools

Afterward, we visited a sustainable agro-tourism farm. Two years ago I visited the same farm, as it was just getting established. Ernesto, the owner, has since built two cabins, a gathering pavilion, a cookhouse and dining area, and added so many gardens, animals and cacao trees, all with a beautiful stream running through the farm. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Demonstrating how to use a tempering machine during a Upala workshop

The last leg of the trip was a short travel to the Guanacaste area on the Pacific Coast. I relaxed on the beach, swam, watched howler monkeys in the trees and got my groove back. I couldn’t have dreamed a better trip, I only wish I had longer to explore, relax and laugh with my Costa Rican friends.

The post My Return to Costa Rica appeared first on Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier.

Aran and I at our booth

This past Saturday was the 25th anniversary of the Great Taste of the Midwest! This wonderful event has been graciously sponsored by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild since 1983. It isn’t always easy to remember with an event like this, but I believe this was my 10th year volunteering and my 3rd year presenting a chocolate and beer pairing session.

For this year’s chocolate and beer tasting, I teamed up with Aran Madden of Furthermore Brewing and we paired four of our chocolates with four of his great brews. The idea is to have fun but to also see how chocolate and beer can have similar characteristics and finding the right bridge that brings out the distinct flavors and subtle qualities in both. For instance, for one of our pairings we tasted our caramel with sea salt with Furthermore’s Knot Stock, an American Pale Ale that has a hoppy zing but a nice amount of caramel malt to tame any bitterness. With this pairing, the kick for me continues to be the bit of black pepper in the beer that comes forth and plays off well with the sea salt of the caramel. In turn, our caramel rounds out the flavors of the caramel malt in the beer. The sweetness of caramel also softens any bitter hops one may experience. It is a lovely marriage of sweet and salty, and salt and pepper.

The Great Taste of the Midwest event is all about tasting great beer from the many ( >124) craft brewers in the Midwest who sample their wares (>500). The best part is getting to meet the brewers and to taste their wide selection of beers that vary greatly in styles and flavors. O.K., that being said and given the vast amount of beer there is to sample, a confession is in order: I did carry around the program this year and took detailed notes of my focused interest this year, IPAs, Belgian style ales, and some bourbon barrel offerings.

My crew and I began tasting at 11:00 a.m., before the gates opened at 1:00 p.m. (one of the perks as a presenter is to get in before the crowds), so imagine my disappointment this morning when I discovered that I had swapped programs with someone and lost all my notes! With all the great beers available and all the fun being had, I can’t be too disappointed – it just means I have to start my research on IPAs and Belgian style ales all over again! This time, though, on my own and with more time! I have a program and many of the beers are available at our favorite liquor stores around Madison, or perhaps a road trip to the breweries themselves for even more fun

If you enjoy a good brew get out and support your local craft brewery but please do so responsibly. Have fun and be good to yourself!

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The clouds lift at Machu Picchu

Wow, where to begin? I am fresh from my first trip to Peru. For nearly three weeks in May, I witnessed amazing scenery and met wonderful people.

The main purpose of my trip was to volunteer with the Becky Fund. The foundation raises money to buy and deliver school supplies to children in need in the remote areas of the Sacred Valley of the Inca, not far from the Peruvian city of Cusco.

New school supplies, smiling faces

If the countryside were not enough to stop you in your tracks, the children are. Most of these kids walk miles to school everyday in sandals made from recycled tires. With altitudes that range from 10,000 to 14,000 feet, it can be cold, cold, cold. The diet is mainly potatoes and people frequently sleep on dirt floors, doing the best they can with what they have. It is heartbreaking to see the kids in such dire straits. Yet when you hand them a pencil, a notebook and a toy, the smiles that lights up their faces are heartwarming. It was hard for many of us to hold back our tears.

Another aspect of the trip for me was a visit to the cacao growing area of Quillambamba. I met some great people, including an agriculturist who has specialized in cacao for the past 40 years and my new friend, Monolo. Monolo is working on buying wet beans from farmers to ferment and dry for more consistent resulting chocolate.

Visiting with a fellow entrepreneur

The entire trip took place on lands that made up the ancient Inca empire, civilization that dates back early 13th century Peru. No matter where we were, there always seemed to be some remnant of this ancient society that thrived over 800 to 600 years ago reminding us of its presence. From terraces built for agriculture to ruins of stone so perfectly cut that no mortar was necessary, the landscape was a history lesson made real.

What trip to Peru would be complete without a visit to Machu Picchu? It began in a cloud … at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, it felt as if there could be no other beginning. Like a dream, within a few hours the clouds burned off and amazing views emerged. It was magical.

The trip ended as it began in Cusco, a gorgeous city in its own right. It was filled with parades and fiestas, and, of course, visits to the ruins of Sacsayhuaman high above the city.

A fantastic trip, it filled my dreams for at least five straight nights upon my return. I will never forget it. Traveling is great, but I am so happy to be home in Madison.

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Cuddling with a sloth

I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica. It was pura vida! This is the latest of several trips to the country. My first trip was in 2008, through an Ecole Chocolat tour that included visits to CATIE (a tropical agriculture research center), an organic cacao farm, and several smaller cacao farms stewarded by indigenous Bribri and Shiroles of the Valle de Talamanca. It was the first time the tour was offered and I signed up immediately.

As they say it was love at first sight! On the larger farm northeast of San Jose, Finmac, I learned that there were two researchers from UW-Madison on the farm just a week before. They were studying biodiversity focusing on sloths and agroforestry. When I returned home, I met the researchers. They encouraged me to help the Costa Rican cacao farmers in anyway I could.

Over the last three years, it has been both heartening and frustrating to see one step forward, two steps back for many of the farmers. But I keep coming back because of the people I have met. They are warm, hardworking and dedicated. Many of them feel like family now.

At Finmac, the women of the farm have formed a working group called Amazilia to make chocolate bars to sell in San Jose. The group is named after the hummingbirds that hover around the tree opposite their workshop. I have done several workshops with Amazilia. It’s always a wonderful experience.

Visiting with the Amazilia women

On subsequent trips, I have visited the Upala area near the Nicaraguan border. Cacao used to be a major crop in this region until a disease called monillia wiped out 60 to 80 percent of the trees about 20 years ago. The farmers have been actively replanting and trying to revive that way of life. The women in the area also wanted to make chocolate. To help out, I donated a tempering machine, molds, wrappers, various tools and a laptop. I also gave workshops over the past two years, teaching them how to make bars from their cacao beans.

After several fits and starts, I sadly report that they are having a difficult time getting organized and finding a central location that is cool enough to make chocolate. For my efforts, I was awarded an honorary membership in the Upala Organic Cacao Growers Cooperative. Unfortunately, this group is also having growing pains. There are issues that need to be worked out among the farmers.

Amazilia chocolate bars

Since the Upala women were not making use of the equipment, I loaned it to Amazilia. The women were thrilled to have equipment that could help streamline their workload. Unfortunately, like all machinery, it broke down after much use. While in the repair shop, a critical piece was lost. Only after this recent visit did I understand what they needed to get the machine working again. Luckily, there is a student working on the farm testing an organic pesticide made from citrus. Her parents will be visiting her in May and if all works out they can bring the spare part.

If I have learned anything from my work in Costa Rica, it’s that nothing is simple and straightforward. But that’s okay. That’s how you learn and grow. I support and encourage these women because I can see the sense of pride and empowerment that making chocolate provides. The Amazilia women invest their profits into the children of their small community. Last Christmas, they gave a party for the kids,. Each child received a unique gift–they were overjoyed. Whether you’re eating it or making it, I really believe chocolate is good for soul. Life isn’t easy for the Upala and Amazilia women, but they are trying to make a difference. That means a lot.

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I add the spice to our Chocolate City Saison.

Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting at a beer and chocolate tasting at the Marina Grand Resort in New Buffalo, Michigan. The event was in conjunction with a local chocolate festival.

My friends at New Holland Brewing invited me to pair up with them again. New Holland’s “beervangelist” Fred Bueltmann and I have done pairings together since the first educational tent at the Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison in 2008. We had another great turnout. By the second pairing the noise level rose considerably!

The next day, Fred and I ventured further north along Lake Michigan’s shoreline to arrive at New Holland’s brewery and world headquarters. I got the amazing opportunity to create a beer with their brewmaster John Haggerty.

Fred and I chop lemongrass and spices to add to the brew.

John is an artist as well as a brewing scientist. Here were his thoughts about what sort of beer we should brew:

“I am thinking a Saison base. These typically have a fruity quality to them with some naturally occurring phenolics (spicy, peppery notes).  They also tend to be dry and highly quaffable. Part of the dryness is due to the fact that some of the fermentables are from sugar which ferments all the way out. I am thinking that we sub that sugar out with some unrefined sugar like a muscavado or turbinado sugar. The residual sweetness from these will help support the chocolate flavors without being overpowering. I think we then work with the natural spiciness of the beer using some lemongrass, coriander, and black pepper.”

Wow. That idea sold me. I love saison styles. I contributed five pounds of dark chocolate and 10 pounds of cacao nibs to the mixture. We brewed a small batch of 12-14 half-barrels, each containing 15.5 gallons.  Since it was close to Valentines Day, we were having fun coming up with a name. One was an ode to the immortal Marvin Gaye–
“Let’s Get it Saison.” Ultimately, we settled on “Chocolate City Saison” a la Parliament’s funkalicious song.

John uses a hydrometer to measure the sugars in the wort.

We hope to release this special beer the Friday before the Great Taste, which will be held on August 13th. In-person ticket sales for the event will be held at various area locations at noon on Sunday, May 1, with a limit of two tickets per person. Just over 3,000 tickets will be available that day and they usually go fast. Organizers recommend you get in line early that Sunday to get tickets. With good reason, it’s a blast.

So drink good beer responsibly (yes, I am a mother), and enjoy great chocolates!
Cheers!

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