Interview/Tasting: Ali & Friederike Gower, Chocolate Tree | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 118

Interview/Tasting: Ali & Friederike Gower, Chocolate Tree | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 118

May is Tasting Month on PodSaveChocolate, with at least five episodes featuring tastings – most of them with interviews with makers. Episode 118 is dedicated to an interview and tasting with Ali and Friederike Gower of Chocolate Tree in Scotland. [ Updated ]

When and Where to Watch

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This stream begins at the regular time 11:00 am PDT/MST (12:00 am MDT, 1:00 pm CDT, 2:00 pm EDT), on Friday, May 9th, 2025.

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Episode 118

I am not certain when precisely I first met Alastair (Ali) Gower and Friederike face-to-face, but my best memory is that it could have been at a London Chocolate Show (at Olympia, but maybe earlier when the show was held at Covent Garden). I know that I have spent time with them at Chocoa in Amsterdam.

Ali recently reached out to me concerning a topic that is near and dear to him, which is how some companies that are calling themselves craft chocolate makers or confectioners are not actually craft chocolate makers or confectioners.

This episode will not include any lengthy discussion of definitions, but that topic does segue nicely into a discussion of the history of Chocolate Tree (they were founded in 2005 – very early on in the bean-to-bar/craft movement).

How the company has presented itself and represented its work is instructive to specialty craft chocolate makers everywhere.

Organic Scottish Craft Chocolate | Chocolate Tree
Organic Scottish craft chocolate, single origin bean to bar and flavoured bars, baking, vegan and hot chocolate. We make all our chocolate in house from bean to bar at our factory on a farm in sunny East Lothian, Scotland, sourcing heirloom organic cacao from smallholder farms in Central and South America.
The approximate location of Chocolate Tree.

In this episode, Ali and I will also be tasting six bars – this is my proposed tasting order but that may change before the stream goes live:

  1. 85% Porcelana (bean origin: Venezuela)
  2. 40% Hazelnut Gianduia (bean origin: Colombia)
  3. 60% Dark Milk (bean origin: Perú)
  4. 100% (bean origin: Guatemala, sweetened with cacao fruit sugar)
  5. 70% Whisky Nibs: (bean origin: Perú)
  6. 70% Aztec Spice (bean origin: Mexico)
Shop Chocolate Tree in the uS
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The Chocolate Dispensary (Los Angeles). Chocolate Tree will also ship internationally. Orders can also be placed through Cocoa Runners.

Chocolate Tree page on The Chocolate Dispensary

Questions?

If you have questions or want to comment, you can do so during the episode or, if you are a ChocolateLife member, you can add them in the Comments below at any time.


Episode Hashtags and Socials

On Instagram: Chocolate Tree Scotland
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
#PodSaveChoc #PSC
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife


Future Episodes

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Ep 119 – Tuesday, May 13th
This episode will be pre-recorded because of a 15-hour time difference
Interview and Tasting – Warren Hsu, Fu Wan (Taiwan)
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Ep 120 – Friday, May 16th
This episode will be pre-recorded because of a 14-hour time difference
Interview and Tasting – Neil Ransome, Siamaya (Thailand)
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Ep 121 – Tuesday, May 20th
May News & AMA
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Ep 122 – Friday, May 23rd
Topic TBD
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Ep 123 – Tuesday, May 27th
Interview and Tasting – Baianí Chocolat (Brazil)

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Hosted by Clay Gordon, the creator and moderator of TheChocolateLife.com, #PodSaveChocolate covers a wide variety of topics in the worlds of cocoa and chocolate. The video versions of this podcast are hosted and archived on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Click on the PodSaveChocolate link in the top nav on TheChocolateLife for the links to the post accompanying each episode.

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