Hello!
I have neglected my hot chocolate duties! I have been sipping a lot of hot chocolates and playing around with recipes, but I haven’t been sending out newsletters. Well, I’m back! You might have also noticed that I’ve switched to a new platform for these regular newsletters. This means that you can easily view all the archives if you missed anything.
As always I’ll highlight recent posts and I’ll add in some travel tips (for those of us that are lucky enough to be travelling). All your latest hot chocolate news will be included as well as a few extra bits such as hot chocolate tips and anything else I find of interest.
This week I’m taking you to Ballarat just an hour outside of Melbourne Australia. Ballarat has a rich heritage thanks to the gold rush. By 1855 the city had a population of 100,000 and impressive buildings throughout that remain today. This is the next instalment in my series highlighting the incredible chocolate scene in Australia.
Thanks for following and if you have any hot chocolate news you’d like to share, please send it over!
Giselle
Recent posts
Meet the Maker: Grounded Pleasures
Over the past year I have been highlighting and celebrating Australian bean to bar and drinking chocolate makers. This week I posted an interview with Grounded Pleasures, a family-owned business based in Ballarat. I’ll admit I go through periods of being completely obsessed with their French Mint hot chocolate and their addictive pink and white marshmallows. I visited Craig and Sophie in Ballarat to learn more about what they are doing.
And if you want to visit Ballarat…
You can experience Ballarat’s golden history at Sovereign Hill
Ballarat’s Lucky and James’s Rocky Road Chocolate bar made using Grounded Pleasure marshmallows.
The Forge Pizzeria which has, in my opinion, some of the best pizza anywhere in Australia (and serves Grounded Pleasure hot chocolates).
Visit Windflower to shop for flowers and gifts, or you can pick your own sunflowers in Dunnstown.
Buy and taste Australian bushfoods at Saltbush Kitchen
For more visit https://www.visitballarat.com.au
This Week’s Hot Chocolate News
This article from Eater brought me back to our time sipping hot chocolates in Oaxaca in Mexico. A champurrado please for me…
The Chocolate Alliance 2021 announced their Drinking Chocolate Winners and I haven’t been able to try any of them yet!! Can anyone send me some?
Resonate Chocolate, Guatemala 65% Chocolate
Belú Cacao, Tablilla
Cuna de Piedra - Chocolate de Mesa - 60% Fermented Cacao from Soconusco, Chiapas
Goodnow Farms Chocolate, Asochivite Hot Cocoa
Goodnow Farms Chocolate, House Blend Hot Cocoa
Midunu Chocolates, Adwoa drinking chocolate
The Wonderbon Chocolate Co., Cold Hot Chocolate
I especially want everything from Cuna de Piedra, my recent obsession. They have a 73% bar with hibiscus flowers. I’m going to try recreating that in hot chocolate form tonight…
Thés Bernie in Belfort, France may be a tea shop, but they have their own line of drinking chocolates. The one I’m keen to try has Shichimi Togarashi (a Japanese spice blend), orange zest and ground coriander.
I love Chocolate. I love Cheese. I love chocolate cheese. Its cheese with dark milk chocolate from Murry’s Cheese in NYC. I’m keen.
Why chocolate matters to the Jewish community.
Montreal (Canada) has a lot of good hot chocolate spots. Here is a recent list. While in Canada, pass by Toronto for their boozy hot chocolate festival with s’mores and DJs at Stackt Market.
Hot Chocolate café Knoops has opened a new shop in Oxford, UK.
Tony’s Chocolonely has reported 1,701 child workers in their latest “Fair Report”. The company aims to make 100% slavery free chocolate. Their chocolate comes from Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire and they mostly pay farm gate prices (child labour is complex but is caused in part because farmers aren’t being paid enough for their crops). Happy branding is fun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the chocolate is better. They are reporting which is important.
Any links you want to share? Send them to me here.
Sipping Tip
When preparing your hot chocolate with milk, choose full fat. Hot chocolate is not where you should be trying to go fat free. You only live once.
Last but not least, if you liked this newsletter, could you please share it with a few other hot chocolate loving friends?
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
Giselle
Chief Chocolate Sipper at www.ultimatehotchocolate.com.
Changing the way we view hot chocolate, one sip at a time.