chocolate

chocolate lovers trying out the diverse flavours of regional chocolate

Okay readers, you know I like chocolate and I like it dark and not too sweet.  That's not to say I won't devour an Easter egg made of compound chocolate, or some other over the top gooey product if thrust in front of me.
I am fascinated by how a cacao bean becomes such a delectable treat after it has been processed.  Those Aztecs/Mayans- I am never sure who-surely were on to a good thing when they first picked up the big pod full of beans and decided to ferment, dry, roast, grind and press them into chocolate heaven.  Well, once they thought of adding a bit of sugar to the mixture anyway.  I suggest googling it to check out photos of the weird pods and beans.
So, Mr Pickings and I headed out on a most beautiful Queensland day last weekend to trendy Paddington,  to check out the incredible Antiques Centre, my fave St Vinnies full of bargains, and Monty's chocolate shop (about which I have blogged before).
Steve the owner was hosting a chocolate tasting with Peter from Cravve chocolates.  They had a range of different chocolates to try, sourced mainly from the Pacific region, all with incredibly diverse flavour accents depending on where they come from.

a table full of regional chocolate

Peter kindly answered a few of my chocolatey questions:
How did you arrive at the name Cravve for your business?

we were formerly byron tea & cocoa but on moving to burleigh felt a name change was due to something not as demographic and defined our philosophy in a single word over time we drifted to crave but for trademark reasons use a 'vv'

What led you into making chocolate and when did you start?

i've spent a lifetime in food and worked with chocolate off and on over the years around 2000 started in drinking chocolate with a origin range which has grown to couverture drinking choc which led to couverture dark chocolate

How did you source your beans? 

mainly through industry contacts made over the years who put me in touch with growers & grower groups across the Pacific

Do you roast and process them into chocolate yourself?

yes, we have the beans harvested and dried shipped to us then we sort- roast- winnow-refine and finally conche the cocoa into chocolate over a 3-4 day period

Do you still love chocolate? J(I assume you did/do)

yes but only dark origin cacaos, i don't have much interest in pretty lolly chocolate.

Steve and Peter in front of Monty's