Academy of Chocolate 2015 Awards

The London Academy of Chocolate released their ridiculously large number of award winners for 2015.

They had two bean to bar dark chocolate categories: under 80% and at least 80%.

GOLD under 80%
Åkesson's Madagascar 75% Criollo
Amano Ocumare 70%
Bar au Chocolat Dominican Republic 70%

SILVER under 80%
Åkesson's Bali 75% Trinitario
Bar au Chocolat Madagascar 70%
Castronovo Colombia Sierra Nevada 72%
Chocolat Madagascar Fine Dark 65%
Chocolat Madagascar Organic Fine Dark 70%
Dick Taylor Madagascar Sambirano
Green & Black's THIN Dark 70%
Hotel Chocolat 70% Saint Lucia Rabot Estate Bord du Lac
Pump Street Bakery Grenada 70% Crayfish Bay Estate
Pump Street Bakery Madagascar Criollo 74% Åkesson's Estate
Red Star Duffy’s Honduras Indio Rojo 72%
SPAGnVOLA Nigeria 70% Oda Cocoa Estate
SPAGnVOLA Dominican Republic 70% Single Estate

BRONZE under 80%
Amano Chuao 70%
Amano Cuyagua 70%
Amano Madagascar 70%
Amano Morobe 70%
Amazona 74% El Shunté (Tiesto)
Amazona 72% Valle del Chanka (Lamas)
AQUIM Q 65%
Chocolate Tree Madagascar Sambirano 72%
Chocolate Tree Peru Marañon 69%
ChocXO Camino Verde Ecuador 72%
ChocXO Guantupi Ecuador 75%
ChocXO Tres Rios Peru 68%
Damson Ecuador 70% Los Rios
Damson Madagascar 70% Åkesson Estate
Dick Taylor Belize Toledo
Dick Taylor Ecuador Camino Verde
Doble & Bignall Raven Johe 72%
Domori Ocumare 77 Criollo 70%
Du Jour Pure 70%
Hotel Chocolat 70% Honduras Mayan Red
Idilio Origins No. 3 Selección Cata Ocumare
Idilio Origins No. 4 Carenero Urrutia Superior
NAÏVE Nicaragua Nicalizo 72%
Omnom Madagascar 66%
Original Beans Papua Kerafat
Original Beans Piura Porcelana
Pacari Esmeraldas 60%
Red Star Duffy’s Nicaragua Chuno 70%
Ritual Mid Mountain Blend
Rococo Organic Dark 65% Artisan Bar
Rozsavolgyi Madagascar Criollo 71% Åkesson Estate
Rozsavolgyi Puerto Cabello 74%
Rozsavolgyi Porcelana 71%
Tobago Cocoa Estate

GOLD at least 80%
Åkesson's Madagascar 100% Criollo

SILVER at least 80%
Papa 80% Peru
Pump Street Bakery Honduras Finca Tres Marias 80%
SPAGnVOLA Dominican Republic 80% Single Estate

BRONZE at least 80%
Bar au Chocolat Trinidad 80%
Baravelli's Madagascan Sambirano 82%
Chocolat Madagascar Fine Dark 85%
Michel Cluizel Noir Infini 99%
Domori Criollo 100% Hacienda San Jose
Hazel Mountain 87% Venezuela Bean Sur del Lago
Szanto Tibor Baracoa Cuba 88% Ocenta y Ocho

Here's a link to the full lists of 2015 Award Winners in all of the categories.

Academy of Chocolate 2013 Awards

The London Academy of Chocolate released their award winners for 2013.

Here are the winners in the bean to bar dark chocolate category:

GOLD:
Amedei Blanco de Criollo
Amedei Cru Madagascar
Bar au Chocolat Chiapas, Mexico 70%
Bar au Chocolat Sambirano Valley, Madagascar 70%
Original Beans Beni Wild Harvest 60%

SILVER
Akesson's Madagascar
Amano Chuao
Amedei 9
Amedei Toscano Black 63%
Hotel Chocolat Rabot Marcial 70%
Marou Tien Giang 70%
Michel Cluizel Mokaya 66%
Potomac San Martin 70%
Tabago Estate 70%

BRONZE
Marou Ben Tre 78%
Oialla Dark 72%

Here's a link to the full lists of 2013 Award Winners in all of the categories.

International Chocolate Awards 2012 Semi-Finalists

The International Chocolate Awards have national and regional semi-final competitions throughout the year, followed by a grand final this year in London in October. The results of the last of those competitions have been published, and here are all of the winners in the unflavored dark chocolate bar category (along with cacao origin).

Americas (full results)
GOLD: Pacari 70% Piura-Quemazon (Peru)
SILVER: Amano Cuyaga 70% (Venezuela)
SILVER: Franceschi Canoabo (Venezuela)
SILVER: Fresco 212 (Dominican Republic)
SILVER: Pacari 70% Nube (Ecuador)
SILVER: Pacari Raw 70% (Ecuador)
ECUADOR NATIONAL GOLD: Pacari 70% Nube (Ecuador)
UNITED STATES NATIONAL GOLD: Amano Cuyaga 70% (Venezuela)
WORLD FINALIST: Amano Chuao 70% (Venezuela)
WORLD FINALIST: Amano Ocumare 70% (Venezuela)
WORLD FINALIST: Amma 60% (Brazil)
WORLD FINALIST: Franceschi Sur Del Lago (Venezuela)

Europe (full results)
GOLD: Michel Cluizel Los Anconès (Santo Domingo)
SILVER: Bonnat Porcelana (Venezuela)
SILVER: Domori Guasare (Venezuela)
SILVER: Original Beans Beni Wild Harvest 66% (Bolivia)
FRANCE GOLD: Michel Cluizel Los Anconès (Santo Domingo)
ITALY GOLD: Domori Guasare (Venezuela)
SWITZERLAND GOLD: Idilio No. 2 Selección Amiari Merideña (Venezuela)
WORLD FINALIST: Domori Apurimac (Peru)
WORLD FINALIST: Menakao 72% (Madagascar)

Sale: 20% off Original Beans at WWC

World Wide Chocolate has 20% off Original Beans, Lindt, and Valor chocolate using coupon code SPECIAL20 during checkout (through March 27th). That's a great price for Original Beans chocolate bars, though not for Lindt (which can still be found for less at frequent sales at many retail stores).

They are still continuing several of their 15% off sales by nationality:

• Amano, Blommer, Ghirardelli, Guittard, Lake Champlain, Patric, Potomac, Scharffer Berger, Taza, and Vermont Nut Free chocolate using coupon code AMERICAN15
• Cacao Barry, Bonnat, Bernard Castelain, Michel Cluizel, Yves Thuries, Francois Pralus, and Valrhona chocolate using coupon code FRENCH15
• Divine, Hachez, and Viviani chocolate using coupon code GERMAN15
• Amedei, Domori, L'Artigiano, Maglio, Slitti, and Venchi chocolate using coupon code ITALIAN15

You can view the full list of promotions here.

REMINDER: Only one coupon code is allowed per order.

In addition, the first 30 buyers to add "Free Lake Champlain Squares" in the Comments field during checkout will receive 5 free bite-size chocolate squares of Lake Champlain chocolate.

World Wide Chocolate only ships to United States, APO (military), and FPO (diplomatic) addresses. Full information can be found at World Wide Chocolate shipping policies.

Review: Original Beans Piura Porcelana

Lindy's Rating: 8.0 (previously ***)

Richard's Rating: 8.0 (previously ***)

chocolate maker Felchlin bar Piura Porcelana region Peru plantation (blend) cacao trees Criollo year (unknown) size 70g ~ 2.5oz cocoa solids 75% added fat cocoa butter sweetener cane sugar emulsifier (none) flavoring (none) other ingredients (none) list price N/A

color medium brown PANTONE 19-1015 Bracken texture smooth with imprints and scoring aroma roast (cocoa), earth, fruit, (apricot, prune), sweet, spice snap medium hard taste fruit (citrus, lime, raspberry), roast, nut, slightly bitter melt more smooth length short finish roast, very slightly bitter

Original Beans Piura Porcelana was made from Porcelana cacao beans that they discovered in the Piura River Valley of Peru in 2006. Original Beans, under their "The Planet: Replant It" program, continues to help Cepicafe (the regional farming cooperative) replant this rare Criollo cacao with a subsidy from sales of this chocolate bar. Each bar sold results in an additional tree planted. You can read more about it by entering the tracking number from the back of the wrapper (P01347 0722, in this case) on their website.

Although Original Beans is not a chocolate maker, they closely oversee the production of their chocolate, which is made by Felchlin. Piura Porcelana was made with 75% cocoa solids from organic and fair trade cacao beans, cocoa butter, and organic cane sugar. Original Beans shared that they used a 72 hour conch in making this chocolate. The 70 gram bar was wrapped in silver foil and packaged in a black paper container. The bar itself was scored into 12 pieces, each with an imprint, as shown in the picture above. The best before date was December 2012.

The color of this chocolate was a medium brown Bracken (PANTONE 19-1015) and the bar had a medium hard snap. The aroma was a clean cocoa roast with earth and dried fruit that Lindy identified as apricot and prune. I also noticed some scents of sweetness and spice.

Piura Porcelana tasted of fruit, including citrus (that I experienced as lime) and raspberry. There were also roast and nut flavors. Lindy found the taste slightly bitter.

The melt was more smooth. The length was short, with the chocolate taste dissipating in 10 to 15 seconds. The finish contained a roast flavor and was very slightly bitter.

While not as good as the Venezuelan Porcelana chocolates we've reviewed (all three of which are among Lindy's favorites, and two of which are among mine), this chocolate costs about half as much. Overall, we both liked it and rated it ***.

You can purchase Original Beans Piura Porcelana for $6.95 in the U.S. from Chocosphere or for £4.75 in the U.K. and Europe from Chocolate and Love.

Store: Chocolopolis

As you've no doubt read in previous postings, Chocolopolis was the store that introduced me to artisan chocolate and inspired me to create this blog. The owner, Lauren Adler, is not only an enthusiastic and educated chocophile, but also extremely generous and interested in sharing her passion for chocolate. All of the staff that I've met at the store in Seattle have been friendly and helpful, providing information for the novice and expert alike. At the same time, when they haven't known something, they admitted it and offered to try to find out.

Chocolopolis has many events, including weekly happy hours during which you can taste chocolate for free. They also have a frequent bar club, in which you receive one bar free for every 10 different chocolate bars you buy.

chocolate store	Chocolopolis
website	http://www.chocolopolis.com
address	1527 Queen Anne Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98109 United States
phone	(206) 282-0776
hours	Mon-Wed	11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
	Thu-Sat	11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
	Sun	11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
online shopping	yes, click here
shipping area	continental United States click here for more information
warm weather shipping	yes, with gel packs
chocolate makers	Amano Amedei Askinosie Bonnat El Ceibo Michel Cluizel Coppeneur Claudio Corallo Dandelion Domori Escazú Fearless Fine & Raw Fresco Grenada E. Guittard Kallari Lillie Belle Farms Madécasse Chocolat Moderne Moonstruck Olive & Sinclair Original Beans Pacari Patric François Pralus Republica del Cacao El Rey Ritual Rogue Santander Snake & Butterfly Taza Theo Valrhona Venchi Waialua Estate
special deals & events	frequent bar club weekly happy hours tasting events
last updated	Febrary 24, 2012

In addition to stocking over 200 different chocolate bars, Chocolopolis carries a variety of chocolate truffles by multiple chocolatiers and several other items for chocolate lovers (drinking chocolate, books, gifts, etc.)

Chocolopolis also opened a temporary second store at the Bravern in Bellevue for the winter holidays, but it is still open.
  Address:
     700 110th Ave. NE, Suite 192,
     Bellevue, WA 98004
  Phone: (425) 453-0776
UPDATE: The last day the store at the Bravern will be open is April 30th.