At the Salt Lake Tribune they had a story up about our new Chuao bar. Salt Lake Magazine mentioned us as well.

The Daily Herald has up a video story and a regular print story on our new factory outlet.

Fox 13 did a story on our chocolate as well.

His description of the flavor notes in our Dos Rios bar:

Does it taste very strongly of bergamot, as in the orange, Citrus bergamia (such as the essential oil, found also in Earl Grey tea) and rose? Yes, the bergamot/Earl Grey is strong, and so is the rose, but I found lilac perhaps at least equal to the rose. Does it taste strongly of cinnamon and clove, as the package suggests? I found cardamom played a greater part than either of those spices. Other strong tones in this chocolate are brown sugar, caramel, and pepper notes.

Some of his description of the Guayas bar.

An exciting complexity, but also possessing a calm and a quiet. Strong peanut butter, yam and potato in the aroma, with dried fruits, vinegar, pear, and butterscotch in the flavor. The finish has many dairy, alcohol, and vegetable notes, as well as roasted fruit and toasted seed notes. Overall a bit of a smoky/burnt quality to this chocolate. The usual floral aspects of Ecuador chocolate are present, but somewhat downplayed compared to some other elements.

If you down load the podcast (Episode 171) it is at around 1:30.

They loved our chocolate! We wanted to mention them for being so kind to mention us. Thanks for the review Leo.

The article tastes several bars from American artisan chocolate makers. It also gives a little background on the “bean to bar” industry. We were very ecstatic about how much they loved our chocolate.

Here are a few quotes from article by editor Owen Dugan.

[Amano's] Madagascar 70 percent was my favorite in the tastings. A note on the nomenclature: the new Americans mostly follow the European style of naming fine chocolate: source (sometimes a country, other times a smaller region); then percentage of cacao, whcih tells you how much of the contents come from cacao beans. This bar has a deep chocolaty flavor balanced by tropical fruit, but what really sets it apart is the light citrus acidity and texture, which, unlike some others’, snaps briskly when you bite it, yet is smooth and mouthcoating.

Get it while you can. Cacao and its producers can be unpredictable. I ask Pollard how he maintains consistency, a common point of criticism from established producers. “I don’t,” he says. “I try to make consistently good chocolate. If a certain region or farm isn’t producing quality, I won’t make those bars.”

I like the end of the editorial as well.

For years, fine-chocolate manufacturers have been telling me that the amount of top-quality cacao is finite, and they thank their lucky stars they have good relationships or long-term contracts with the best sources. I’m beginning to think they’re wrong, or at least underestimating the amounts. From the people mentioned here, I’m hearing that there are plenty of untapped sources and neglected plantations that could be brought back with some investment and care.

In terms of wine, it’s a little like saying in the 1960′s that the best vineyards have already been planted and are being made into the best wines — sorry California.

While that’s true, it is also true that cacao supplies really are limited. One big worry is farmers planting popular varieties of cacao rather than nurturing the local species. It is true that there are neglected or abandoned plantations that can be brought back to life. But once the trees in a plantation are killed that becomes much, much more difficult. And you may never be able to recreate the uniqueness of the original plantation. For those of us committed to nurturing the uniqueness of different strains of cacao losing that variety to the homogenization of the industry is a travesty.

What can you do to help? Buy single origin chocolate so that farmers are rewarded for producing unique local varieties of cacao. There’s a lot of pressure for low quality homogenized chocolate. Consumer support is the best way to change that.

Speaking of blogs, you might like the following interviews with Art.

Here’s a recent interview with Art Pollard at CacaoLab Blog part 1, part 2, and part 3.

FoodInterviews.com also did a nice interview with Art a few months ago. They broke it up into topics. Beginning Amano, the beans, the bars, more about Amano, and more about Art.

There is one bit of confusion in the article we should clear up. A few people mentioned to me that they thought the Craft Chocolate Makers of America was an association that Amano and others had created to make chocolate together. That’s not the case. Each member of the CCMA makes their own chocolate. We and the other artisan chocolate makers wanted was an organization to help explain what artisanal chocolate making is about as well as to create an organization through which we could coordinate on supply issues, manufacturing practices and to promote the art of creating chocolate from the cocoa bean.  The CCMA website explains our goals and provides information about each of its members. Each member of the CCMA makes their own chocolate starting with roasting their own beans and then through traditional methods turn them into chocolate.

We always love when new people discover us. I like to call it spreading the love. Love of chocolate, that is.