Past Newsletters
Vol 4 No 11
In Pursuit of Chocolate
Congratulations to the Paquins for placing our 100,000th Order!
Instead of 25 free cigars, we have given them a complimentary 12-month
membership to our wine of the month club!
My
wife Kathleen and I live in Clifton, Virginia which is a suburb of
Washington, DC. I am an executive of a financial services company
and my wife is studying horticulture. We both enjoy working outdoors,
sports cars and of course, fine wines.
We purchased a membership to the International Wine of the Month Club for my father on the occasion of his birthday. He is the stereotypical person who has everything and is very difficult to buy for. My wife came up with the idea of a wine club (worse case was that we could enjoy the benefits of our gift whenever we visited!). We particularly liked the fact that a gift would arrive year round which would undoubtedly initiate a monthly call to discuss this month's selection and catch up with each other. We initially looked at a well known club offered by a competing web site but were disappointed by our initial impressions of the wine quality and variety. We then found the International Wine of the Month Club using a search engine (Google). The quality and niche nature of the selection was very interesting and we found the price to be competitive with other offerings.
My father is now looking forward to enjoying the bouquet of the first installment!
Charles & Kathleen Paquin,
Clifton, Virginia.
How
does this sound: a fresh pot of your favorite coffee is just nearing
completion as you hear its last drops percolate through the filter.
The invigorating aroma fills the room, and as you breathe it in, the
scent arouses your senses while soothing your mood. As you pour yourself
a cup, the sound of the liquid filling your mug signals that the taste
and flavor you crave is just seconds away. You pause before taking
your first sip, taking in a nose full of heaven, and think, it doesn't
get any better than this. Then you look at this month's selection
of chocolates and realize, oh yes it does.
If you haven't already, brew a pot of your favorite coffee, and continue reading after you ve poured yourself a cup... you 'll thank us later...
There
are many parallels in the history and development of both coffee and
chocolate. In Europe, the two favors are traditionally paired together.
Café-Tasse, makers of this month's chocolate delights, excels
in the art of crafting unique blends of the two, bringing together
two continents, two crops and two incredible flavors! Their chocolates
are crafted from Brazilian Arabica coffee beans and the finest Belgian
chocolate, produced from African cacao beans. These ‘mini-bars
are essentially a serving size each, and are presented in a range
of flavors, including dark, milk, coffee crunch, tea and hazelnut,
among others. Enough stimulation for your palate to make morning coffee
breaks (and much more) something special! Oh yeah, and did we mention
that there are 50 of them!? That's right, 50. That's not a typo friends,
there are actually 50 in that attractive package. No, we would not
write it a very redundant four times in a row if there weren't, in
fact, we repeat, 50 chocolate mini bars. You get the point, now get
yourself a mini bar and savor it slowly in small bites between sips
of coffee (we suggest you start with the Milk Chocolate Coffee Crunch).
Disclaimer: if you have a seatbelt attached to the chair you are currently in, please fasten it now. Some people have a tendency to fall out of their chairs when experiencing the degree of bliss you are about to enjoy (this is a common ‘problem that members of our Chocolate of the Month Club frequently report. We are considering issuing safety harnesses with future shipments, but for now, we advise that you use your own ad hoc equipment and exercise extreme caution).
So right now, if you re actually doing as you ve been instructed, you re enjoying a tradition that has been going on in Europe for over 300 years: the pairing of coffee and chocolate. In fact, Paris first café shop, Le Procope, opened it's doors in 1686, and is still in operation to this day, thanks in part (we believe) to this delightful European practice. Café-Tasse, based in Brussels, Belgium, has taken it upon itself to further the art of chocolate-making by creating delights that perfectly complement the flavor of coffee. In fact, as you 'll soon notice (if you haven't already), there are actually ground up coffee beans inside some of these chocolates, to infuse them with the flavor of their intended flavorful partner.
If
you re not a coffee-phile, preferring tea instead, you 'll find an
Earl Grey-infused chocolate to enjoy alongside with a spot. Allow
your tea to steep long enough to impart a bold taste, perhaps even
letting it get a touch more bitter than you might typically enjoy
it; the Thé flavored chocolate will help to delicately balance
any bitterness by enveloping and embracing the flavor of your tea.
Even if you normally prefer coffee over tea, we suggest you make the
most of this month's shipment and try a cup of tea with this particular
mini-bar, you just might be sold on tea in a way you never have before.
Extra! Extra! Read All About It!! Chocolate Found Between France and Germany!!
If
you know even a little about fine chocolate, then it isn't exactly
headline news that Belgium has a long-standing reputation for producing
some of the best—not only in Europe, but in the world. They
have achieved this by using extremely high quality cacao beans from
the most respected, time-tested sources in equatorial South America
and Africa. But the meticulousness involved in the Belgian tradition
of chocolate making doesn't end with ingredient selection; it extends
well beyond to encompass every aspect of cocoa processing and production.
Once the finest cacao beans are collected, extreme care is taken in
handling and processing them, following strict guidelines established
over years of honing their craft.
Strict attention to tradition and recipes has not, however, limited Belgian creativity. In 1912, Belgian confectionaries created the Praline, a filled chocolate treat that quickly became popular the world over. In fact, it's likely that you have enjoyed this treasure of Brussels a number of times already, probably right out of the patented Ballotin packaging that was created specifically to accommodate the delicate nature of these chocolates. And in keeping with the spirit of Belgian innovation, Café-Tasse has devoted much time to improving old favorites as well as creating a number of new goodies. The company markets a range of 150 specialties for the hotel and catering sector, coffee roasters, delicatessens, bakeries, pâtisseries and companies. Their product line up is constantly evolving and includes Neapolitans (dark, bitter or milk, with or without crushed coffee beans added), the mini bars you now have before you, an assortment of bars of various sizes, chocolate-coated dried fruits, pralines, nougat, pure cocoa, plain drinking chocolate, flavored drinking chocolate (orange, honey, cinnamon, etc.), chocolate spreads and jellies, chocolate biscuits (cinnamon-chocolate, coconut-chocolate, etc.), as well as their own version of chocolate-covered coffee beans. Speaking of coffee, as you enjoy drinking your coffee (or tea) and eating your chocolate, consider this: there once was a time when chocolate was only available in liquid form, and no, we re not talking about hot cocoa, this drink was served cold (and spicy...?)
When somebody has drunk it, he is able to travel all day without
tiredness and eating.
----(Diaz del Castillo, companion of Cortez)
Oh
Christopher Columbus, we have much to thank him for. Discovering the
New World was of course, important. But bringing back Chocolate to
Europe, now that was paramount. Unfortunately, the cacao beans he
brought to King Ferdinand were overlooked in favor of the many other
treasures he found. It would be more than 25 years later before it
was significantly noted, in the early 16th century, when Spanish explorer
Hernando Cortez brought back three treasure chests of cacao beans
to Spain from the court of the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma of Mexico.
But the beans themselves were used primarily as currency for a time,
due to their value from having been imported from the new world. Not
much attention was paid in Spain to using them for any sort of consumption.
This was primarily due to the fact that the only form of chocolate
known at the time was a bitter, frothy drink called xocoatl, developed
by the Mayans and the Aztecs around 600 A.D. (perhaps earlier as some
argue that the Mayans had been familiar with cocoa several centuries
prior to this date). The drink, frothy, and as thick as honey, was
concocted with the roasted cacao bean kernels and mixed with chilies.
Interestingly, this Aztec Indian chocolate favorite was reserved exclusively
for men's consumption (how times have changed). Aztec legend held
that cacao seeds were brought from Paradise and that power and wisdom
could be gained by eating the fruit of the cacao tree. But the drink
gained an additional appeal as an aphrodisiac when it was observed
that Emperor Montezuma himself consumed the beverage in chalices before
entering his harem.
Despite its popularity in these Indian cultures, the Spanish Conquistadors found xocoatl to be undrinkable. But certainly, its novelty as a drink of the Gods could not be overlooked upon its arrival in Spain, and the Spanish made a few creative changes to the formula, sweetening the beverage by adding sugar instead of chilies and adding cinnamon and vanilla. And while these changes dramatically expanded the appeal of chocolate, its consumption was limited to the rich and noble classes of Spain since it was a closely guarded secret, and was exasperatingly expensive to obtain.
It wasn't until 1657 that the first chocolate house was opened (in London), but despite the passage of more than a century, solid chocolate had not yet been developed. It would be another one hundred and seventy one years before the Dutch, in 1828, made chocolate powder by squeezing most of the fat from finely ground cacao beans. The fat from the pressing, known as cocoa butter, was later added to a mixture of powder and sugar, and solid chocolate was born.
And thus, the world finally had chocolate bars, followed by other tasty goodies. However, there was one very famous touch yet to be added. Most of the chocolate enjoyed by Americans each year is in the form of milk chocolate, which was not developed until 1876, when a Swiss firm added condensed milk to chocolate. Finally, some three hundred and fifty years after Cortez brought back his three treasure chests of cocoa beans, milk chocolate could be spread across the world.
Just What the Doctor Ordered
As mentioned above, before chocolate was solid chocolate as we know it, its sweetened liquid form was adored by the very wealthy. But there was another group of individuals that had access to chocolate. Physicians of the day used it as a medicinal remedy, prescribing it to their patients for a variety of purposes. Christopher Ludwig Hoffmann's treatise, Potus Chocolate, encourages the use of chocolate as a treatment for many diseases, citing it as a cure for even Cardinal Richelieu's ailments.
You ve no doubt heard of this sort of thing before, strong liquids of many sorts were often dressed up and marketed as nerve tonics and elixirs to cure a variety of ailments. And when we hear about these supposed spectacular panaceas in today's age of science, we scoff at the ridiculousness of the notion. Really... to think that chocolate might be good for you, how silly... Or is it? It may sound bizarre, but according to the research, one of these days your doctor could be giving you a prescription for chocolate! Surely, there must be some mistake, this heavenly delight can't be good for you? Well, maybe it can. Chocolate contains potent does of the polyphenol antioxidants also found in green tea. These polyphenols not only protect chocolates from spoiling (ever wonder why chocolate has such a long shelf life?), they can also offer protection against cancer. In addition, these and other antioxidants (called flavonoids) can block arterial damage caused by free radicals. Furthermore, as an additional aid to cardiovascular health, chocolate can inhibit platelet aggregation, which unabated could cause a heart attack or stroke. There have also been studies indicating that cocoa flavonoids relax blood vessels, which can concomitantly inhibit an enzyme that causes inflammation. But wait, there's more! A recent study by Holland's National Institute of Public Health and Environment found that chocolate, specifically dark chocolate, contains up to four times the amount of a specific class of antioxidants (known as catechins) than that which is found in black tea. Catechins are powerful antioxidants that help prevent against cancer and heart disease. So what do you do with this evidence? Well, like all things, the benefit only lies in careful moderation. After all, chocolate, especially milk chocolate and those confections made with less cocoa content, tend to contain other ingredients, such as saturated fats, that outweigh the health benefits to be gained from cocoa's cancer-fighting chemicals.
Our expert recommendation: brew a cup of Earl Grey Green Tea and enjoy it alongside some dark chocolate, one to two times per day (at 55% Cocoa, the Thé flavored mini-bar included in your current batch of chocolates certainly qualifies as dark chocolate, and it's uniquely suited to enjoy with tea). By doing so you 'll take in a healthy dose of catechins, flavonoids and other polyphenol antioxidants while relaxing over a small pleasure that's actually good for you!
