Prologue: We suggest you purchase a couple of bars of chocolate from Dandelion Chocolate while listening to this podcast. It will definetly enhance the experience! The single-origin chocolates we sampled were incredibly complex and different depending on country of origin and Terroir. It was very helpful having both a chocolate expert and coffee expert joining us to help guide.

This was a fascinating experience for us! We met up with chocolate maker/educator, Christine Keating from Dandelion Chocolate at the New York City Coffee Festival. Also joining us was Mike Love from Coffee Labs our resident "coffee Shaman". Yes, coffee and chocolate have many similarities when it comes to processing and tasting. The experience began with the opening of a beautiful, raw cacao pod, which has an almost alien appearance. The flavor and textures we experienced from the raw beans completely different from the end product we know as chocolate. Notes of mango, squash, banana, citrus and slimy almond came through. We had no idea how fermentation and processing affects the final flavors found in chocolate. Willy Wonka never told us that at the factory tour. Christine then took us through the whole process of making chocolate as well as educating us on the differences between a chocolate maker and a chocolatier.

Dandelion Chocolate: "At Dandelion, we believe great chocolate starts with the bean. Because we only use two ingredients to make our chocolate—cocoa beans and organic cane sugar—the flavor of the beans we buy is critical. While genetics and processing play integral roles in developing flavor, getting good flavor reliably has everything to do with building good relationships."

Dandelion Chocolate: "We do our best to work directly with the producers who grow, ferment, and dry the cacao we buy. We travel to origin as frequently as possible to learn about our producers’ best practices, exchange feedback, and make sure that high standards of quality and sustainability are met. We pay a premium far above the world market price and work to strengthen our relationships year after year in order to maintain our collective commitment to sharing the best and most distinctive cacao."

Not enough chocolate for you? Dandelion chocolate also provides a host of different experiences which include tours, classes, private events, talks and cocoa trips!

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