by Kelly Phillips Badal At Makaibari Tea Estate in West Bengal, India, the fourth generational owner Swaraj “Rajah” Banerjee instructs, “Sip, swish, inhale sharply, then spit,” proving tea tastings are undertaken…
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by Natasha Tauber Farmers till the fields in Ethiopia, harvesting artillery shells and re-purposing the casings left from the African nation’s civil war. Such is the inspiration for Entoto Beth Artisans, a fair-trade business helping transform…
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With one large window facing the street, Magazin looks out onto one of Amsterdam’s newest design districts. The artisanal shops lining the long street of Czaar Peterstraat seem to have appeared almost overnight, although locals will…
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For true chocolate fans, nothing satisfies a craving quite like the rich, earthy taste of cocoa. However the added sugar and calories found in most chocolate bars can take some of the fun out of the treat. San Francisco’s ,…
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For some, searching for the perfect cup of coffee is akin to searching for the Holy Grail. With so many variables in the roasting process and bean selection, the flavor range in coffee is wide. And, since palate preferences range from person to…
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Every year Cool Hunting salutes the mothers that make the world a better place with a gift guide that speaks to their nurturing nature. This year we’ve gathered a new batch of goods that give mom something in return, whether it’s a little rest and relaxation or a new…
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After founding fair trade rug company Node, illustrator Chris Haughton merged his art and craft sensibilities to conceive “18×18”, a collection of 18 fair trade rugs created in collaboration with 18 artists and designers launching exclusively at London’s Design Museum Shop. Haughton commissioned rug designs from the creatives he…
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Artisanal leather goods inspired by the Futurist camouflage patterns of WWI ships
Applying a Futurist pattern to an ultra attentive cold-embossing technique, the designers behind the new leather accessories line Midsummer +1 give an old-world Bengali craft new shape. The brilliant leather clutches—produced by a fair trade co-operative in Kolkata, India—follows the lengthy Shantiniketan process where the leather is soaked, stretched,…
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Stunning flavors from a purist bean-to-bar chocolate maker
The continued evolution of the bean-to-bar and new American chocolate movements seems to have spawned bars that range from tasty to grainy. A growing outfit out of the Bay Area has quickly gained a loyal following for their products, which are made with a purist philosophy that has yielded delightful flavor and texture. Dandelion Chocolate was founded by Cameron Ring and Todd Masonis as a venture out of their garage, selling their goods at the now defunct underground food markets of San Francisco. “We had to start by buying machines and we bought a few bags of beans and just started roasting them up,” says Masonis about their humble origins. “We sort of got lucky that our first couple of batches were really good.”
What sets Dandelion apart is the simple recipe informing their product—everything is left to the bean. “All of our bars are 70% beans, 30% sugar and nothing else,” says Masonis. “Our bars all have really distinct tastes because that’s what we look for in the beans. Our Madagascar bar this harvest tastes very fruity and tastes a lot like citrus and has some strawberry and cherry notes. We’ll go to farmer’s markets, people will try it and swear that there is fruit in the bar. In fact, it’s just the bean itself.”
Major chocolate makers are all about consistency. To achieve an even flavor profile and texture across the board, they throw in additives. This isn’t possible with bean-to-bar, which naturally bears the mark of particular seasons, geographies and harvest methods. Masonis and Ring embrace the idea of making pure chocolate without the help of additives, producing bars in limited batches that reflect a unique bean harvested from a single place at a given time.
The texture of Dandelion Chocolate’s bars is significantly more velvety than most bean-to-bar makers. Each bar has very distinct coloration, an artifact of the particular bean. We really enjoyed the Colombian bar, which had a dark coloration and deep, rich chocolate flavor—a purist’s dream. The Madagascar bar was marked by a bold flavor profile, bursting with cherry and a slight sourness. As for the Venezuelan option, the mellow smoothness was highlighted by moments of spice and fruitiness.
Masonis and Ring make it a point to visit the growers personally when possible to ensure they work with operations with sound labor practices. Not only does this cut out the middle man, it results in better beans that are harvested by well-treated workers. “Some of the cacao that we love the most comes from Madagascar because it has this really incredibly fruity flavor,” says Masonis, reflecting on a recent trip to the African island. “Some people find it too strong, almost overpowering, but we love it. We went to check it out and helped out on the farm for a couple days to make sure everything was on the up-and-up.”
Dandelion’s packaging is made from recycled paper from India’s garment industry, lending the paper a cottony feel. On the label is printed the bean origin, harvest date, batch number and tasting notes. On the reverse you find the initials of the batch maker and packager for the individual bar. Each creation is molded and packaged by hand, the chocolate made in small, well-tended batches.
The future of Dandelion Chocolate looks promising, and the pair are currently working on getting permits to open a factory and cafe on Valencia Street in the Mission District. “We still consider ourselves getting off the ground, but it seems that people have responded really well to the chocolate. Now we’re just scrambling to make as much as we can as quickly as we can,” explains Masonis.
For now, Dandelion Chocolate can be found online and at select retail locations.
A short film takes an inside look at vertical integration
As fair trade business practices and sustainability issues become increasingly important in the food industry, it’s still easy to forget that there are actual values behind the buzzwords. A new short film from Stumptown coffee roasters gives a face to vertical integration as it explores the growing communities that make its brews possible. The Portland-based company traveled to Colombia with filmmaker Trevor Fife to create a gorgeous and informative record of their people and process.
While the company sources coffee from all over the world, the video focuses on their Colombian growers at Finca Augas Blanca, Finca Los Cauchos and Finca La Esperanza. When building a relationship with a new grower, Stumptown frequently takes this type of trip to ensure that the systems of production meet their high standards. Eventually, all growers incorporated into the Stumptown family are treated as in-house units of the company’s global process. The growers in the video repeatedly mention the importance of family in the culture of coffee growing, offering an element of poignancy to Stumptown’s unique vision.
Aside from the gorgeous mountain vistas and sumptuous details of the harvest, drying and roasting processes, the short film focuses on the individuals involved in the early stages of production and their commitment to the final product. “It’s not so much about the job itself, but the passion you put into it,” explains Walter Peña of Finca Aguas Blancas. “And the… feeling of belonging. It’s the most important part of being a coffee farmer.”
Check out more videos about the Stumptown process as well as their surprisingly useful brewing guide for use when preparing your next cup.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
