Kahkow lovers, Megan Giller of Chocolate Noise joins us for the second part of this chocolate conversation. Megan is also hosting online chocolate-tasting events, teaches classes at the Institute of Culinary Education and other locales, and judges at chocolate competitions. But wait, there’s more! We’ve created the following coupon code for you guys, we’re offering a 10% discount on all products and orders. Coupon Code is: CULTURE (enter at checkout). Visit our online store: kahkow.com.

Megan Giller joins us on this week’s episode, where we talked about her book: Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution. Her guided chocolate tastings have been featured in The New York Times in 2020, and her writing has been published in Slate, Zagat, and Food & Wine. Megan’s blog @chocolatenoise was a 2016 Saveur Food Blog Awards finalist. Megan is also hosting online chocolate-tasting events, teaches classes at the Institute of Culinary Education and other locales, and judges at chocolate competitions.

On this episode we speak to Monica Rogan of @goodnowfarms. Her career in real estate development brought her to southern California, where while working on large-scale construction programs she discovered craft chocolate and began experimenting with the many possibilities of true, bean to bar chocolate making in her home kitchen. This husband & wife team has dedicated their work to exploring different origins and educating consumers about single origin cacao. Monica told us about their journey into chocolate-making, and how they’ve enjoyed learning about craft chocolate. We hope you enjoy this episode as well as their multiple award-winning chocolates.

One of our favorite guests yet! From efficiency in sourcing, not compromising quality & the appreciation of sourcing cacao from one country, to educating consumers on the fact that there are endless possibilities regarding flavor profiles, William Marx joins #kahkowculture to tell us about WM Chocolate’s story and how he made important changes to his sourcing model, which led him to Kahkow. Watch the full episode on Kahkow's YouTube Channel.

If there could be one word to describe this year, it would be resilience. Max & Daisy speak to Bill Guyton, FCIA’s Executive Director, about the ups and downs we’ve had as an industry regarding fine chocolate and cacao sourcing countries throughout the pandemic. FCIA members will receive a 15% discount on all products, including ingredients (beans, nibs, mass, powder & butter). Visit our online store for more www.kahkow.com

Intriguing, mysterious, and completely fascinating. Where does Dominican cacao come from? How did it get to the island? Max & Elvi delve into the history of Dominican cacao, as we discuss genetic varieties and the famous classification that came from Juan Carlos Motamayor's research, thanks to whom we now have 11 distinctive genetic clusters.

Max tells us why we spilled rum (intentionally) in our post-harvest facility. Learn about the importance of traceability and how we keep track of metric tons of cacao. Elvi explains the efficiency in Rizek’s ‘lung’.

Yeasts, lactic bacteria, acetic bacteria, the role of oxygen…when does fermentation start & when does it end?

A sit down with 2 cacao gurus: Max Wax & Elvi Reyes, discussing the art of fermenting cacao in our post-harvest center, located in the heartland of Dominican cacao – San Francisco de Macorís.

Thanks to Michael Laiskonis, creator of the Chocolate Lab at New York City’s Institute of Culinary Education, for joining us on this episode where we discuss how the pandemic has impacted the way we do things in the Dominican Republic and in New York, and how we've been coping with new health protocols throughout our value chain.