Nothing beats a trip to origin and being surrounded by cacao on a daily basis. Tracking down wondrous chocolate delights in a city can be (but doesn’t have to be) too difficult.

In this spirit I decided to sum up the month with its most memorable chocolate moments and kick it off with July. Here’s what this month had in stock for chocolate lovers.

1. Salón del Cacao y Chocolate in Lima
2. Best Hot Chocolate Discovery
3. Human Chocolate Encounters
4. Favourite Chocolate Bars
5. Chocolate Dessert/Breakfast
6. Chocolate Test Kitchen
7. Interview with Oregon Documentary Film Festival 2024

Cacao and Chocolate from afar

This month Perú celebrated Salón del Cacao y Chocolate. In case you don’t know, it’s the Oscars of cacao and chocolate. The four day event is a great platform to connect with farmers, chocolatiers and chefs. Also to gain recognition for the tireless effort of working in the industry. Whether that is making bonbons, bars or growing the best cacao.

Our friends Humberto and Gabby from Gibbs Chocolate had a stand alongside Joe Huachez and Don Nico from La Delizia. They won several prices and awards. Joe’s beans from Piura are in the Top 10 of Peru. They landed 7th & 8th place.

Jan Schubert and his hard work with Norandino and Original Beans has paid off as well and won multiple awards for their Piura, Amazonas and Chuncho cacao.

On the last day of the event, Renacer gave a chocolate demonstration making the infamous Passionfruit Pie from the Piura Blanco Documentary. Speaking of which, the film was shown in the background on the big screen. A real highlight!

Best Hot Chocolate Discovery

Besides the one I make at home of course (wink), WatchHouse in Marylebone, surprised with a bean to bar hot chocolate from the Dominican Republic. The craft chocolate makers are Bare Bones from Glasgow. It was a 68% and tasted fabulous on that rainy summer afternoon. Butterscotch and salted caramel were the winning flavours here.

At the cafe you also have the chance to pick up a bar or two from their range. Madagascar was calling me that day.

Human Chocolate Encounters

Speaking of Madagascar, chocolate friend Katie was just visiting the country researching and learning about local post-harvest practices. You can read all about what she learned on her Instagram account.

I had the chance to get a one-on-one chocolate tasting class, which was very educational. A separate post on this topic will be out soon.

Her background in chocolate involves co-founding a chocolate cafe in Hong Kong and kickstarting the Chocolate Club HK. She is also an IICCT Level 3 chocolate taster with plenty of knowledge to share.

Favourite Chocolate Bars

Two bars deserve special mention this month. Karuna (below) are craft chocolate makers in South Tyrol and Nearynógs hail from Northern Ireland.

This bar from Karuna is a 70% work of art using cacao beans from Belize. The mould is beautifully made and the quality of the chocolate is stunning. Only two ingredients are used and that’s all you really need.

The flavour profile is caramel, molasses and citrus fruit. Buenísimo!

This Northern Ireland chocolate maker I stumbled upon by pure chance. I was researching Togolese chocolate. Not many use this origin and it was tough to find someone who makes a great bar of chocolate with it.

This 100% tablet from Togo is divine. It’s not bitter at all and speaks volumes of the craft and dedication poured into the making of this square of hard labour and love.

It’s got a distinct chocolate and nut taste. In simple terms I would describe it as chocolatey. However here’s the pro description: subtle fruity freshness, hints of macadamia nuts and a maple-like sweetness.

Chocolate Dessert aka Breakfast

Healthy, simple and utterly delicious! What else would you like for breakfast?

The Happy Pear, Ireland’s dynamic duo in the world of plant-based and healthy eating recently posted this Vegan Banoffee Breakfast Recipe. It’s having dessert for breakfast guilt free. Check out the recipe here.

In a nutshell, this breakfast layers overnight oats with a date and coffee caramel, coconut yoghurt and fresh bananas. It’s a nourishing breakfast that will see you through to lunchtime.

My tip: Make the nut butter with hazelnuts from scratch and add a bit of melted dark chocolate into the date and coffee mix. It will taste like healthy Nutella.

From the Chocolate Test Kitchen

Last month I started working on a healthy chocolate spread after a visit to our favourite German Deli in Ham, Hansel & Pretzel. Nutella and Pretzel Rolls (Laugenbroetchen) remind me of Sunday breakfasts in Germany.

Having a freshly baked roll, especially a Pretzel Roll that is salty with a sweet spread like Nutella is heavenly good. So this version is made with dark chocolate, black beans and sweetened with dates. Completely vegan and refined sugar free.

For the recipe click here.

Interview with Oregon Documentary Film Festival 2024

As you may remember, the documentary “Piura Blanco Cacao” was selected for the Oregon Documentary Film Festival 2024.

I am very grateful that the film will be shown at the event in September. It was an even bigger surprise to be asked for an interview. If you are interested in finding out a bit more about what it was like to film the documentary you can watch it here or on YouTube.

If you have any questions that were not covered, I’d be more than happy to answer them. Let me know.

So that wraps up July. I hope you found it informative and as always let me know in the comments what you liked, disliked or would like to see more of.

Wishing you an amazing weekend!

Robin