TheChocolateLifeLIVE: Cross Country Craft Chocolate Odyssey Update (y mas)

The preparations for the Cross Country Craft Chocolate Odyssey are well underway!

I have moved out of my apartment in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn and all of my possessions are either being shipped to Arizona or are in storage. I am spending a few days with family in Connecticut before heading to Massachusetts for a few more days.

I will be leaving from Boston South Station on Monday, April 3rd just after noon, heading to Cincinnati and Columbus, OH via Chicago.

Destinations and timing are still in flux, and so I am thinking the trip will take somewhere between 14 and 21 days, depending. Encouraging serendipity has always been a big part of my travel planning strategy so we’ll see what turns up!

On this episode of TheChocolateLifeLIVE I will be going over the major destinations and the chocolate makers I will be visiting along the way. In addition to chocolate I already have some eating adventures on the calendar – including Skyline chili and Graeter’s black raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream in Cincinnati. And barbecue in Kansas City, of course.

Everyone who reads this post and/or participates and/or watches the livestream is encouraged to make suggestions on places to stop and visit and foods to eat along the way.

Also in this episode some chocolate industry news that I did not cover during the previous two episodes.


Photo Digression

I would like to say that all of the photos I used as featured/hero images here on TheChocolateLife are ones that I took. But that’ not the case and I often turn to Unsplash as a resource. The image I chose here is a case in point. I searched on “journey” and “journey maps” before ending up at “train tracks” as I am making most of the trip via Amtrak on a USA Rail Pass. I am hoping that at some point along my way I will see a scene like this one.

I use Luminar NEO and Photoshop to crop, color correct, and stylize images. Usually, I stylize images to get them to pop on screen. In this case, however, I remembered that NEO has a 1960s “mood” LUT (color look up table) and I used that to give this image a vintage/retro feel. The original is below

Cocoa + Co. | Gourmet Chocolate Café and Coffee Bar | Old Town Chicago
Cocoa + Co. Café and Coffee Shop, located in Chicago, is a celebration of bean to bar chocolate artisans offering gourmet chocolate in all its delectable forms.
Maverick Chocolate Bean To Bar Chocolate Factory
Maverick Chocolate is a craft bean-to-bar chocolate maker in Cincinnati, OH. Our chocolate is handcrafted in small batches from bean to the finished bar using only ethically sourced cacao beans-bought directly from farms and co-ops at sustainable prices. Vegan. Soy free. Sugar free. Buy online or in…
Gourmet Dark Chocolate | Ilan’s Raw Chocolate
Gourmet Handcrafted Dark Chocolate | ilansrawchocolate.com
Columbus Ohio small batch candy | Lohcally Artisan Chocolates
Lohcally Artisan Chocolates’ confections are small-batch produced to provide the “wow” factor in both taste and appearance.
Skyline Chili – Local Restaurants Near Me | Skyline
Famous for secret recipe chili & fast, friendly dine-in & drive-thru service. Serving Cheese Coneys, Ways, Greek Salad & more great-tasting food since 1949.
Graeter’s Ice Cream - Ice Cream Delivery & Gifts
Graeter’s ice cream has over 150 years of experience in handcrafting French Pot ice cream. Take part in our nationwide ice cream delivery today!
Encore Coffee Company
Encore Coffee Company, a Kansas City based specialty coffee roaster.
Christopher Elbow Chocolates | Gourmet Chocolate Gifts & Confections
Signature gourmet chocolate gifts for any occasion handcrafted using centuries-old techniques, the finest dark chocolate and ingredients, and a modern culinary approach.

A Higher Bar for Artisan Chocolate - IFT.org
Single-origin cacao beans, innovative inclusions, and more sophisticated connoisseurship characterize today’s craft chocolate market.
Chocolate Bars
Our Story - R.M. Palmer Company
If it isn’t Palmer, it’s just candy! R.M. Palmer Company has been crafting seasonal chocolate novelties since 1948. What began as one man’s dream has grown into a collection of holiday novelties loved by millions of people. Today, 850 dedicated employees design, produce, package and ship more than 5…
Hershey looking to remove lead, cadmium from chocolate, executive says
Hershey is looking to reduce “trace” amounts of lead and cadmium in its chocolate, Chief Financial Officer Steve Voskiul told Reuters on Wednesday
Fairtrade International Makes Historic Raise to Coffee Prices
Responding to widespread poverty in the global coffee sector, Fairtrade International is raising its minimum prices for certified arabica and robusta coffee. The new Fairtrade minimum price for was…

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