Tobago Cocoa Estate! ... Finally!

That was so great! And Mr. Dove was lovely - he answered all my questions, humoured me while I rambled on and on about every cocoa related thing that flew in and out of my head all while maintaining his warm and charming demeanour. Maybe I should study some hospitality - and maybe then people would stop running away...

Anywho, I learnt soooo much. My Ecole Chocolat studies definitely came in handy when discussing cocoa growth, plant varieties, diseases etc. And it was cool that I had met with the super nice folks at the CRU in UWI before so

Mr.Dove was able to put things into context as to who(m?) I should be contacting for which stage. Even though I'm reading all the literature I can get my hands on, nothing can replace seeing the real process in action. I can't wait to come

back after the next harvest to see the fermentation and drying first hand. Assuming I'm not busy processing my own super-micro-mini batch of Delft Cacao!

Now to see how much I can remember before it all slips out of my head... hmm.. maybe some pictures might jog my memory...

Off to Tobago Cocoa Estate !

Yup! Rockin the Queen Amidala lipstick! Jus kiddin! Wish the rest of the club could make it :..( But don't worry- you'll all be there in spirit! No, not that kind of spirit - it's ramadan for crying out loud!

Pics as soon as I pick up a wifi signal!

Check out the estate site here.

And a magazine article with some gorgeous cocoa photograpy here!

I wonder if any university kids wanna come check out my cocoa too!

Cocoa Futures is an article about Penn State ppl and cool cocoa stuff going on in my own backyard I didn't even know about. Also a brief overview of cocoa trends over the last few decades in Trinidad. Cocoa propogation, cloning, and some nice watercolour illustrations :)

Get Me Some Cocoa Pods, Stat

Thanks to good ol' Mattie for sending me this link :Get Me Some Cocoa Pods, Stat and inspiring my upcoming cocoa-mentary!

Also a nice, neat little dark chocolate tasting guide.

How, when, where? Chocolatier?

It's been happening alot recently, that whenever people find out that I'm in chocolate, the first question they ask is, "How in world did you find your way into that?!" That's a really good question. And the truth is, I'm not exactly sure. Honestly! Quitting my job to become a chocolatier has been the biggest, craziest, scariest, most rewarding, amazing wonderful decision I've ever made - but it all happened so fast that I'm not sure exactly when or how it came about.

The more I think about, the more I find that the desire was there way before I ever dared to say it out loud. My dad would probably say I decided when the cocoa plantation came about. My mom said it was when I read an article in the paper a couple years ago featuring my high school classmate as Trinidad's first bean to bar chocolate maker. (I'm requesting permission to plug here:) Definitely that's where I learned about ecole chocolat. But my devotion to chocolate was present waaaay before then. It's so hard to put into words, my feelings towards chocolate! The mystique, the allure, the beauty... Food, Art; creating them both simultaneously with my own two hands... there! Right there! That thought in its most abstract form has been floating around in my head since ... since always. I may not have known what exactly I wanted to do, but I knew I had to create. Create .. something! Whatever it was, I knew in my bones I had to pour my eveything into being the best - whatever it was - I could possibly be.

So yeah, I guess, I always knew.

Thanks for asking : ,

Not too shabby!

Well, I think it's cute! Can't wait to take what I'm learning from sugar craft to chocolate! I'm a bit busy working on my display/final project for the cake deco class - I chose Sweet 16 - I know... shocker right?

Here are some lipsticks I made out of gum paste. Ok for a first try- but alota room for improvement! Here's the link I based it on.

See my poor squished E? Guess I gotta do it over, although... it looks kinda cool chubby! Guess I'll have to make a design choice.

I've decided to perfect my rose making by making 100 roses. 8 down 92 to go!