Because every town needs a park, a library and a newspaper
Carbondale’s weekly
community connector
Volume 11, Number 38 | October 31, 2019
Chocolate craze By Laurie Stone Special to The Sopris Sun Chocoholics rejoice — Carbondale has a booming chocolate industry with a new chocolate maker and two new chocolatiers. What’s the difference you ask? Chocolate makers actually make chocolate from cacao beans, while chocolatiers take that chocolate and use it to create their own chocolate confections. Mark Burrows, of KDNK Geek Speak fame, has turned from IT to cacao and is soon to open his chocolate company: Pollinator Chocolates. The name comes from Burrows’ other passion, beekeeping. Burrows says craft chocolate fits in well with his interest in sustainable agriculture because, “unlike the corporate giants, craft chocolate makers take care of the farmers.” Burrows doesn’t quite remember when his fascination and addiction to good dark chocolate began, but he does remember about 10 years ago trying chocolate from Heather Morrow, who owned a boutique chocolate manufacturing company based in Aspen. He thought it was the most delicious chocolate he ever tasted. Morrow eventually closed shop, but became Burrows’ mentor, sold him some of her molds, and spent hours working with him. Since then Burrows has taken online courses in chocolate making and the business of chocolate, and is currently taking a course on chocolate tasting, of which he says facetiously, “as you can imagine, the homework is awful.” Burrows researches where to get the best cacao beans, and now has sourced cacao from 12 different countries including São Tomé (a small island off the coast of Africa), Nicaragua, Peru, and Sierra Leone. “I do a lot of research as to where the beans are from, because that determines the type and duration of roasting,” according to Burrows. After roasting the beans, he runs them through a cracking machine to remove the shell and grinds them with a melanger stone grinder. Once it gets to the right consistency— “a delicious smooth creamy texture like silk,” Burrows says — he tempers it and pours it into molds. It’s a lot of trial and error, and currently Burrows is still testing out the different chocolates; if you see him around town, he just might give you a sample. Abby Mandel, unlike Burrows, was enthralled with making beautiful desserts from Continued on page 13
Abby Mandel makes chocolate truffles for her Carbondale-based business, Cocoa Tree Chocolates. Photo by Sarah Cherry
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