UPDATED :: TheChocolateLifeLIVE – Cocoa Runners’ Spencer Hyman

TheChocolateWire -
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UPDATES

1) SPECIAL OFFER: Through December 16th (or the first 500 people whichever comes first), use TCL15 at checkout to get a 15% discount (excluding shipping) on the Cocoa Runners web shop.

2) Added links to topics discussed in the live stream in the Resources section.

I didn’t remember when I first became aware of Cocoa Runners and Spencer Hyman (I looked it up – the earliest record I have was in an email from back in 2013), but I do remember the first time I heard him share his views in front of an audience. That was at the 2018 Chocoa conference in Amsterdam when he and I were both panelists during a Chocolate Makers Forum.

In that presentation Spencer demonstrated an understanding of the craft chocolate market from a seller’s perspective, covering aspects of the realities of the market that I had not heard from anyone else. He’s also a great panel partner because he knows a lot and has thought, a lot, about the issues involved, cares deeply, and can think on his feet, addressing questions posed by the audience and other panelists using cogent and compelling arguments.

In the years since, Cocoa Runners has become the place in the UK/EU to go online to purchase curated selections of craft chocolate. Cocoa Runners is also a leader in all forms of consumer and professional education on topics in craft chocolate – education that is accessible to a global audience.

I finally had a chance to participate in a tasting session delivered by Spencer at the recent Chocolat Portugal festival held in Porto.

In addition to a fabulous selection of chocolates the participants were introduced to a number of other activities to see if any of us were supertasters (this information would be incorporated into our impressions of the chocolates) as well as to see how our senses interact and affect taste perception. The tasting mat for the evening is incorporated in the featured image and is below for a closer perusal.

One fact I found particularly interesting about The Chocolate Tasting Wave mat was the participation in its formulation by James Hoffman, whose views on coffee in all its various facets I enjoy watching on YouTube.

Please join what I know what will be a wide-ranging conversation about craft chocolate – with questions and comments from participants in the live stream being posed to Spencer.

HomePage 2021
Each month, receive four of the world’s best craft chocolate bars delivered to your door. Find unique gifts, subscriptions, virtual tastings.
Cocoa Runners
Look at the top nav menu to get an idea of the range of options and activities offered.

Resources Mentioned

Savouring, Slurping, Spitting, and Saliva
Savouring, slurping, spitting, and saliva are all tools and methods we can use to fully appreciate the complex flavours of chocolate.
Cocoa RunnersCocoa Runners
Taste, Super-tasters, Flavour, Texture, and More
At Cocoa Runners, we’re obsessed with exploring taste and flavour, and sharing our thoughts an findings. We’ve written elsewhere about the relationship between taste and flavour, and how texture and astringency also play a role. But the flavour potential of craft chocolate is so vast, that there are…
Cocoa RunnersCocoa Runners
Creators, Curators, Connoisseurs
With curation; you put yourself in someone else’s hands. You trust curators to enthuse and delight you with stuff you couldn’t easily search, and find, on your own. It’s about going on a journey more than executing a transaction.
Cocoa RunnersCocoa Runners
James Hoffman helped develop The Chocolate Wave tasting mat. In this video he uses a bracket system to do a form of comparative tasting.

Watch/Participate on YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Visit TheChocolateWire Channel on YouTube

My LinkedIn profile
TheChocolateLife page live event

Hashtags

#cocoarunners #craftchocolate
#chocolate #cacao #cocoa
#TheChocolateLife #TheChocolateLifeLIVE #LaVidaCocoa

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