Many of our customers have used Equal exchange Organic Dark Chocolate Minis as a way to provide guests with wedding favors that taste great and support small farmers at the same time. The DIY wedding trend makes it easy to find inspiration and materials online for making our chocolate minis your own. We have a few suggestions for how to do just that.
Lately it seems like camping has been the weekend activity of choice among Equal Exchangers, and many a Monday morning have brought stories of the perfect s'more made with our Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt (55%).
We held a contest here at Equal Exchange in West Bridgewater, Mass., to answer the question, "Who can come up with the best chocolate cocktail?" The judging panel consisted of me (Ashley Symons, nice to meet you), as well as Chocolate Products Coordinator Kelsie Evans, and Chocolate Products Manager Dary Goodrich.
Everyone is born with the ability to be a specialty products taster. In fact, we have thousands of taste buds in our mouths, but most of us are just learning how to describe the sensations we experience with everything we eat. The key is to relax, take a deep breath and enjoy the tasting!
"Cacao" is the bean that comes from the cacao tree, which is known by the scientific name of Theobroma cacao. Cacao pods - large football-shaped fruits - grow off the trunk and limbs of the cacao tree, and cacao beans are found inside the pods. The beans are harvested, fermented and dried. They are then cleaned and roasted, after which point the products are often referred to as "cocoa." In other words, "cocoa" is what the bean is called after it has been processed.
We'll walk you through how to smell and taste your chocolate like a pro.
Over the centuries, cultures have used cacao as a base to mix with other ingredients and flavors to make delicious drinks. European or classic drinking chocolates (made with chocolate and not just cocoa powder), spicy or Aztec, and Mexican traditional are all styles created in different regions of the world with different influences. Read on to learn a more about the history and inspiration behind the hot cocoas we love today.
