Club News
The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club
Issue 1309
Right to the Max Proof that Hotel Chocolat’s hidden talent isn’t just in our chocolates. Turn to page 13
Personal touch What makes our Rabot Estate hotel such a magical experience? Meet some people who might know the answer… See page 14
Earth movers are hard at work on Rabot Estate’s new chocolate factory...
PROJECT
Ghana Appeal Target:
Genesis
If you ever need proof that persistence pays off, come to our Rabot Estate, where work on the longanticipated chocolate factory we’re building is at last making serious headway.
1309NL
The first stage – building roads, car parks, storm drains and other basic infrastructure – began in January and is nearing completion. After the rainy season, the next stage will be excavating sites for the factory buildings themselves... continued on page 8...
£45,000 Current Amount:
£26,378
If you would like to contribute to the Appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Clinic (CHPS). Please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give made payable to: The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana Appeal, FREEPOST ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD.
Letter from the guest
Editor
CONTENTS Page 1, 8-9
Saint Lucia: Project Genesis
3
Cocoa countries: Vietnam
4
Prize draw results
4
Last call: Excellence
5
New special: Winter Puddings
6
Focus: Fortified selection
7
Stores Update: New Kids on the Block
10-11
Monthly box scores & feedback
12
New special: Christmas
13
News: Right to the Max
13 14
News: A Picture of Perfection Feature: Club Members’ Week
15
Results: Easter
Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email editor@ hotelchocolat.co.uk or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk. We are waiting to hear from you! Contributors: Iain Ball, Timothy Rennie, Terry Waters Design: Andy Linney, Sarah McKewan © The Chocolate Tasting Club plc 2013
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O
ur Guest Editor this month is the irrepressible Timothy Rennie, the Creative Director of Hotel Chocolat, who spends his time thinking about ways to make the presentation of our chocolates as beautiful on the outside as they taste on the inside.
Early in my creative career I learned one very important lesson about design: it doesn’t only need to look good, it needs to have a concept. As Sir Terence Conran, from whom I learned that first important lesson, famously said: “Everything is designed, but not everything is welldesigned.” Twenty-five years later, following a long career in the glossy and glamorous world of magazines, I found myself being asked to design new moulds for chocolates. Now designing typography I knew about; creating fashion shoots I knew about – but both were printed on paper in two dimensions. Moulds had three dimensions, designed not for paper but for chocolate. After what seemed a very long time staring at a blank piece of paper, it came to me: This was no different from a fashion story or a piece of typography – even chocolate moulds require a concept. Chocolate is a deliciously fluid substance, I thought, so let’s work with that. Add a little British wit, and a dash of inspiration from the beautiful forms created by artists Salvador Dali and Barbara Hepworth, and the result was our two new shapes: the Melting Circle and the Round Square. Without a concept, heaven only knows what they would have ended up like – although the taste was always guaranteed by our magnificent chocolatiers. Now regulars in our collections, these two moulds represent for me the essence of what the Chocolate Tasting Club does so well: style and substance coming together beautifully.
Timothy Rennie Creative Director & Guest Editor
GUEST EDITORSHIP
will be from a wide cross-section of people in the club’s orbit – fellow cocoa growers, eminent people in their field, leaders with a point of view, club members with an interesting angle and the occasional celebrity member. To nominate or apply for a future Guest Editorship, drop us a line editor@hotelchocolat.co.uk
What does cocoa mean to…
Vietnam
VIETNam
Our Rabot 1745 Mekong Delta & Dong Nai 80% Dark expresses the best of Vietnam’s cocoa revolution.
On January 24, 1907, the colonial governor of French Indochina finally gave up on cocoa. He wrote an order to cancelling a subsidy the French had been paying local farmers to grow the bean since 1890: “It seems useless to encourage this culture which has, until now, not yielded any satisfying result.” A few trees remained in some Mekong Delta provinces, where pulp from the pod was enjoyed fresh and beans occasionally turned into cocoa. But without know-how and investment, cocoa farming stayed on the sidelines until a second attempt to get it going in the 1980s, financed by the Soviet Union. That effort collapsed along with the Berlin Wall. How things have changed.
After two failed attempts, Vietnam has recently become a minor revelation in the world of cocoa, the result of a development programme launched in 1997. In 1999, a mere 900 hectares in central and southern Vietnam were dedicated to farming cocoa; by 2012 that had grown to 22,500, producing a crop big enough to export around 3,000 tons of cocoa beans that year. It’s expected to increase dramatically, boosted by a rise in the price of cocoa, to around 50,000 hectares by 2020, producing over 50,000 tons. We love the beans we bought from the Mekong Delta and Dong Nai province, both excellent Trinitario quality, creating a dark chocolate with gentle warm-up notes of roasted olives and brown bread followed by flavours of red cherries, redcurrants and raspberries.
Prize Draw CHOCOLATE
scorers’
Let us have your scores online or by post and you’ll automatically be entered into this Prize Draw every month to win Hotel Chocolat goodies!
Classic Selection Our prize draw winner is Mr David Mulliner from Newcastle who wins a Sleekster Caramel Selection. Next month’s prize is a Sleekster Fruity Selection.
Dark Selection Our prize draw winner is Mrs Carol Smithson from Chesterfield who wins a Dark Chocolate Dipping Adventure. Next month’s prize is a Sleekster Dark Selection.
Elements
Selection
Our prize draw winner is Mr Phil Goldsmith from Sunderland who wins an Eton Mess Giant Slab. Next month’s prize is a Lemon Meringue Pie Giant Slab.
Purist
Selection
Our prize draw winner is Mr Mark Chin from Swindon who wins some Rabot 1745 rare and vintage bars. Next month’s prize next month prize is a selection of Single Origin Bars.
All Milk
Selection
Our prize draw winner is Mr Stan Ginter from Perth who wins a Milk Adventure Peepster Box. Next month prize is selection of Milk Chocolate Canapés.
Join us on the red carpet... Don’t miss the chance to join in the Tasting Club event of the year – the Excellence Collection – our annual selection of the very finest chocolate recipes, as voted by our members. We think every chocolate we make is fabulous, but we know from your Tasting Club scorecards that some of them touch people’s hearts (and tongues) in a very special way. Each year, we award the most celebrated chocolates a place in the limelight with our Excellence collections. This year, we’ve assembled four Excellence collections – Classic, Dark, All Milk and Elements – featuring the superstars from each range from across the year. Inside, you’ll find the most admired and desired chocolates of every type, from exuberantly fruity ganaches to truffles to seductively mellow caramels and more, wrapped in luscious darks, milks and whites. The Excellence collection – the only award ceremony where the acceptance speech is always: “Mmmm…” Last chance to book your place at the awards! Most members are automatically eligible to receive an Excellence collection for just £16.00 (plus £3.95 P&P), but make sure yours is reserved at www.chocs.co.uk/excellence or call 08444 933 933.
SCORING IS EASY & FUN – 4
do it online at www.chocs.co.uk or pop your scorecard in your payment envelope!
Snuggle up with warming winter delights....
Treat yourself to our cosiest-ever end-of-year special edition, a box of delicious chocolates inspired by Britain’s favourite winter season desserts, perfect for cuddling up with on a chilly night.
Reserve your selection now for delivery in November. Don’t miss! £19 (plus £3.95 P&P) www.chocs.co.uk/winter or call 08444 933 933
FORTIFIED
Fortified has changed size and design over the years but that delightful aroma of alcohol and chocolate when you lift the lid (some claim they can detect it before they even take off the cellophane wrap!) has remained constant.
In 2006, we started to notice something intriguing in how Club Members were scoring the chocolates we were offering in our selections. Many of the highestscorers, it turned out, were recipes with alcohol in them, and were so popular they often took the top spot. It inspired Club Director Terry Waters with the idea of a Club Special in which all the chocolates would have alcohol in their recipes. To make it interesting, we put the names of different (and sometimes unusual) alcoholic drinks in a hat and drew two out for each of our chocolatiers. Their challenge was to create new chocolate recipes using each one. What would we call it? One idea was ‘Vintner’s Challenge’, but that was a bit too complex; another was ‘The Cellar Collection’ – a bit too dusty and wine-focused. Eventually we settled on the Fortified Selection. It was hugely popular but at first remained an annual collection. We used only high-quality alcohols with interesting histories and ingredients, and that prompted the Provenance Cards, which tell the story of each in more detail. Not only did it continue to sell well but many members 6
lobbied for it to become a monthly selection. We gave it some serious thought, but decided we could develop enough good alcohol recipes to create four selections a year, turning Fortified into a quarterly selection in 2012. Many members now take one in addition to another regular selection, and it’s become our second most popular selection after Classic/Trio.
VITAL STATISTICS Launch date: September 2006 (Special Collection) : March 2012 (Club Collection) Share of membership: 17.3% Total number of boxes shipped: 207,433
Above: Our new store in Glasgow and, right, our relaunched store at Kensington High Street, London.
New Kids on the block Hotel Chocolat’s chocolate revolution continues, with our re-launched London store on Kensington High Street offering our exciting new Cocoa Bar-Cafe experience, and a major new store opening in Glasgow. Ever wondered what a cappuccino made with cocoa beans instead of coffee might taste like? Or a potent mix of 100% cocoa hot chocolate and espresso? Discover for yourself at our Hotel Chocolat store on Kensington High Street in London, which has just undergone a fabulous transformation into a new Cocoa BarCafe.“We’ve created a drink-led café and social space where you can eat, drink and shop,” explains our CEO and co-founder Angus Thirlwell. The store now has a beautiful new bar and seating area, where you can relax while our chocolatiers make chocolate on site, and enjoy some of our varied range of hot and cold cocoa drinks. Also on offer are some amazing savoury open sandwiches and inventive chocolate desserts that show off all the talents of cocoa in our unique Anglo-SaintLucian Cocoa Cuisine range. It’s just the first of our new cafe-bars – we’ll keep you posted as more open around the country. Meanwhile, at the other end of Britain,
we’ve finally arrived in Glasgow, our third opening in Scotland. We know that Glaswegians have been waiting for us to set up locally for a long time, partly because visitors from the city to our other two stores in Edinburgh and Aberdeen have been telling us for years. Sorry to have to kept you waiting – now tuck in!
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cover story – continued
PROJECT
“
Genesis It will be the world’s greenest chocolate factory, architecturally beautiful, focused uniquely on rare and vintage chocolate and designed for visitors to experience and enjoy.
... It’s been a long journey since March 7, 2008, when HRH The Prince of Wales was the first to break ground for building the factory site, a major turning point for what we have called our ‘Project Genesis’. Prince Charles is a great supporter of our plan to build a factory in Saint Lucia, which turns standard cocoa-industry practice on its head. In cocoa-growing nations, it’s only the commodity crop – the cocoa beans – that usually gets exported, with all of the extra value gained by turning them into chocolate being added in industrialised nations. Instead, our factory can add value on the island itself by exporting a finished product that is totally indigenous: Saint Lucian chocolate made in a Saint Lucian factory from beans grown by Saint Lucian farmers who live just down the road. Final approvals from the Saint Lucian government for the factory have taken a long time, partly because the site is set within the UNESCO World Heritage environment of the Pitons in Saint Lucia. Our local man on the ground, country head and engineer Phil Buckley, has been working on the design plans for the factory for five years. It will be the world’s greenest chocolate factory, architecturally beautiful, focused
”
uniquely on rare and vintage chocolate and designed for visitors to experience and enjoy. The design also takes into account the challenges of tropical weather, like storms and hurricanes, when vast amounts of water may need to be channelled into lakes to avoid flooding, Just the engineering challenges of building the road into the factory site have been pretty intimidating: Rabot Estate is steep and the road had to be cut through a hillside. To build the retaining armour walls we need to cut the road, the construction team have used a local and simple but environmentally friendly material – the huge boulders dug up during excavations. The largest excavation site will be the car park, where every effort is being made to retain the natural beauty of the area. Phil Buckley says it will “look like an oasis when completed and landscaped”. “We’ve also managed to avoid removing the great mango trees,” reports Phil. The trees are much loved by Angus Thirlwell, the CEO and Co-founder of Hotel Chocolat. “He’ll be very happy that there’ll still be lots of mangoes available during his frequent visits to Rabot Estate to check on the progress of his Genesis Project.”
From top-left clockwise – the impressive big blocks of the retaining walls; HRH The Prince of Wales at the site in 2008; aerial view – the diggers look small from here; the link with the existing road; artist’s impression of the complete factory; three more pictures of “big boys toys”; final photo: our founders Angus and Peter watch as Prince Charles, having broken the ground, hands the shovel to a Saint Lucian minister with the words: “This is the closest I have seen a Minister of Agriculture next to dirt!”
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scores
Classic Selection – D162 No. Chocolate Name
Chocolatier
10/10
Average
1
Blackcurrant Bombe
Olivier Nicod
31%
8.7
2
Cara-sel
24%
8.6
3
PS I Love You
24%
8.3
4
Pistachio Praline
Zoe Piper & Kiri Kalenko Ian Messer & Rhona Macfadyen Olivier Nicod
23%
8.6
5
Cherry Bakewell
Olivier Nicod
23%
8.4
Blackcurrant Bombe
DARK Selection – K95 No. Chocolate Name 1
Mzuri Macadamia Madness
Chocolatier
10/10
Average
26%
8.5
25%
8.5
2
Mellow Crisp
Lisa Maree Baker & Rhona Macfadyen Victoria Elliott
3
Caffe Latte
Kiri Kalenko
25%
8.7
4
PS I Love You
25%
8.5
5
Blackcurrant Bombe
Ian Messer & Rhona Macfadyen Olivier Nicod
21%
8.4
10/10
Average
Mzuri Macadamia Madness
Elements Selection – S73 No. Chocolate Name
Chocolatier
1
Cara-sel
Zoe Piper & Kiri Kalenko
31%
8.7
2
Blackcurrant Bombe
Olivier Nicod
25%
8.4
3
Pistachio Praline
Olivier Nicod
23%
8.5
4
Nuts for Chocolate
Tasting Club
20%
8.3
5
Mzuri Macadamia Madness
Lisa Maree Baker & Rhona Macfadyen
19%
7.9
Chocolatier
10/10
Average
Cara-sel
purist Selection – p27 No. Chocolate Name 1
75% Milk Chocolate, Peru
Tasting Club
40%
9.3
2
Hacienda Iara Salted Caramel Buche
Kiri Kalenko
40%
9.0
3
Bitter Orange & Chilli Truffle
Victoria Elliott
40%
8.7
4
70% Hispaniola Blend Dark, Dominican Republic Extreme Madagascan Milk Praline
Tasting Club
20%
8.2
Olivier Nicod
20%
8.4
5
75% Milk Chocolate, Peru
ALL MILK Selection – M17 No. Chocolate Name
10
Chocolatier
10/10
Average
1
Cherry Bakewell
Olivier Nicod
42%
8.5
2
Pistachio Praline
Olivier Nicod
26%
8.4
3
Hacienda Iara Truffle
Olivier Nicod
26%
8.0
4
40% Milk Chocolate Batons
Tasting Club
24%
8.1
5
Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake
Olivier Nicod
23%
8.2
Cherry Bakewell
feedback
Your Tasting Comments! Blackcurrant Bombe – CLASSIC One of the best fruity bombs I’ve tasted. Crammed full of juice! Rhianna Rawlins, Wokingham
Bouquet
Tequila Slammer – CLASSIC Great combination - salty edge, tequilla hit and lemony finish. Perfect. Jennifer Smith, Uxbridge
Bouquet
Rhubarb & Custard Batons – CLASSIC Back to childhood! Sheila Garrett, Southampton
Bouquet
Cherry Bakewell – DARK Irrelevant kind of name as it bore no resemblance to the tart. Maureen FitzSimmons, Barnard Castle Cognac Marzipan – DARK 10 was my wife’s score – I gave it 6. If you like marzipan, it was obviously a great example. Clare Hockley, Stockton-On-Tees Hacienda Iara Truffle – elements Wow, I will be sharing these out at my next dinner evening with friends. No one will dislike this one! Tom Hatton, Billericay Cherry Bakewell – Elements Caused great divisions in my house – one loved it and one hated it. Ms Sandra Smythe, Croydon
Brickbat
Brickbat
Bouquet Bouquet
Brickbat Bouquet
Mellow Crisp – milk Definitely moreish! Mrs Valerie Parker, Gosport
Bouquet
Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake – milk Needed a layer of thick chocolate over top but perfect otherwise. Sophia Matheson, Muswell Hill
Bouquet
70% Hispaniola Blend Dark – purist Too dry. Kirsten, Edinburgh Bitter Orange & Chilli Truffle – PURIST Don’t normally like chilli but hey, I’ve just discovered it’s good with orange. Who’d have guessed I could be a convert! Jackie, Ringwood
Brickbat
Bouquet
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Fabulously Festive Our Christmas Collections come but once a year – reserve yours early! Give yourself an extra present to unwrap this Christmas – our selection of fabulously festive chocolate recipes. This year we have four amazing collections to choose from – Classic, All Milk and Dark, plus a brand new Fortified collection for boozy chocolate lovers. They’re full of festive flavours and merry character – perfect for passing and sharing on a joyful Christmas night. Be a Santa to yourself and reserve yours now to guarantee your selection.
Reserve your collection now 12
for just £23 (PLUS £3.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/Christmas or call 08444 933 933
Max Volume in Saint Lucia
How the superstar of Hotel Chocolat’s Bromley store, Max Pritchett, won a week in Saint Lucia by singing his heart out in a company-wide talent hunt. “I absolutely belted it out,” recalls Max of his performance in the finals of ‘HC’s Got Talent’ competition in Canary Wharf last year. “It was nerve-wracking. On the video, you can see me shaking like a rattlesnake.” Despite his nervousness, Max beat five other finalists with his stunning version of ‘Nessun Dorma’ at our event to seek out Hotel Chocolat’s hidden talent, in front of an audience of 100 store managers and a panel of judges that included our co-founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris.
Reports have it that Max’s moving rendition of the famous aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera Turandot left many teary-eyed, winning him a trip to Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, where he performed yet again – after a couple of drinks – in front of an audience of about 30 people at our Boucan restaurant. “It was jaw-dropping,” recalls Judy Buckley, Boucan’s Head of Guest Relations. “He has the voice of an angel. The house was up on their feet clapping at the end – I had tears rolling down.”
A picture of perfection Chocolate Tasting Club member and amateur photographer Margaret Corles has raised an amazing £1,000 for the Club’s appeal to build a much-needed medical centre for a cocoa-growing community in Osuben, Ghana. Mrs Corles is an amateur nature photographer and was recently invited to display her work at a Birmingham art gallery. As an admirer of the Tasting Club’s Ghana Appeal, she generously decided to donate the sales of her work to raise
money for the medical centre. “I have been watching the fund creeping slowly towards its target,” says Mrs Corles, “but I wanted it to move much faster!” A regular visitor to our Birmingham store, she enquired with our staff there about arranging an extra incentive for gallery visitors… chocolate samples! Matt Trickett, our Birmingham Store Manager and his Senior Sales advisor, Jase Beech, supported Margaret on the day, providing information about our Engaged Ethics work in Ghana and an array of fabulous chocolates. We’d like to thank Mrs Corles and Lee Benson, the owner of Number Nine The Gallery, Matt and Jase, and everybody who bought her beautiful photos, for making it another wonderful day in the life of Hotel Chocolat! 13
feature
A trip of a Lifetime Meet the People of Rabot Estate
W
hat turns a mere holiday into a great experience? An exotic location and fabulous weather play their part, but it’s also the people you share it with. And that’s why Tasting Club members who’ve joined the special Club Members’ Weeks at our Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia seem to agree that it’s an experience they’ll never forget. Tasting Club members have at least one common interest – a love of chocolate. And that often extends to a shared belief in enjoying the finer things in life, especially where their taste buds are concerned! Members who have visited so far also tend to be of a disposition where a certain amount of pampering is highly appreciated. And that’s another part of what makes a week at Rabot so enriching – the people who work there. First of all there’s the wonderful Judy Buckley, (left) the hotel’s Head of Guest Relations, with her warm Welsh accent and a smile to match. Judy arrived at Rabot Estate seven years ago, when the natural beauty of the place seemed to her like “Jurassic Park”. She says she has invested her heart and soul into building the estate and the hotel with “blood, sweat and tears”.
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Then we have our Hotel Manager Bernabe Alexander (left) – another lady with a sunny smile. She says that although the Club members’ weeks are the busiest they are also the most enjoyable because so many guests arrive already knowing so much. You’ll also encounter a host of fantastic characters working on our cocoa estate. Meet our witty and charming Nursery Supervisor Cuthbert Monroque, (right) who will take you on the hands-on Treeto-Bar Experience to tell you all about the art of growing cocoa and transforming it in chocolate. You’ll learn more about cocoa and chocolate in four hours with Cuthbert than you would reading a library of books on the subject. At the moment we have over 117 warmhearted folk working at Rabot who offer so much to enjoy with fellow Club members during the week: a trip up the coast on the
results
Hotel’s boat, the Boucaneer, (right) with snorkelling on the reefs, a rumand-chocolate pairing session (always a great favourite), and a tour of the island to meet local farmers who are partners in our Engaged Ethics programme. There is also a barbecue evening, and you can also learn how to spice up your cooking with roasted cocoa in a mentoring lesson from the hotel chefs. The allinclusive price of £2,400 for a Lodge and £3000 for a Luxe includes all these events as well as superb Anglo-SaintLucian dining experiences with full breakfasts, two-course lunches and à la carte three-course dinners. There’s also a $100 per couple per day drinks allowance which, if you don’t use up, is refunded at the end of the week. All in all, your special Tasting Club member discount is worth over 40%. At time of writing there are still places left for the next two Club Members’ Weeks: September 1st-8th and September 29thOctober 6th. If you’d like to meet the amazing folk at Rabot Estate, please contact us as soon as possible on 0844 544 1272.
EASTER 2013 – The results All the Tasting Club members’ scores from our four eggceptional Easter collections are in. As you can see, the pecan praline egglet had no need of a whisk to beat the opposition, winning in both the all milk and dark collections. And the eggsclusive Easter tablet did well in both too! No. Chocolate Name
Chocolatier
10/10
Average
Classic Egg Scores 1
Cherry Egglet
K Kalenko
24%
8.3
2
Irish Coffee Egglet
R Macfadyen
23%
8.3
3
Pecan Praline Egglet
K Kalenko
23%
8.3
8.6
dark Egg Scores 1
Pecan Praline Egglet
K Kalenko
34%
2
The Easter Tablet
Tasting Club
31%
9.0
3
Dark Champagne Egglet
O Nicod
30%
8.6
8.5
Milk Egg Scores 1
Pecan Praline Egglet
K Kalenko
43%
2
The Easter Tablet
Tasting Club
43%
8.8
3
Espresso Egglet
R Macfadyen
36%
8.5
Fortified EGG Scores 1
Cognac Egglet
O Nicod
48%
9.1
2
Golden Rum Egglet
V Elliott
46%
9.2
3
Irish Coffee Egglet
R Macfadyen
44%
8.6
Classic
DARK
MILK
Fortified
Cherry Egglet
Pecan Praline Egglet
Pecan Praline Egglet
Cognac Egglet
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Kathrin Koschitzki STYLING BY Elodie Rambaud PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Explore a new world of flavours Discover what cocoa and chocolate can do for you in the kitchen in both sweet and savoury dishes – including dips, dressings and sauces, desserts, cookies and cakes,cocoa pasta, chocolate spreads and more. Available in store and online now hotelchocolat.com/cocoacuisine