The Mind of TCHO

San Martin Peru, August 5th

When the I stepped out of the plane and smelled the smoke from the burning of ground cover, I knew I was back in the cacao growing regions during the dry season and no longer in foggy San Francisco, or a congested Lima. Hitting the ground running, I spent the first day with our research partners hashing out how to bring some TCHO ‘scrappy not crappy’ innovation and technology to farmers so FRUITY is GREAT all the time. Just like wine is made from fermented grapes that vary from year to year, chocolate is made from fermented (and dried) cacao and will vary as well. Like our California wine maker neighbors, we are learning more about the variables so that we can work with them and make great chocolate each year.

I woke up feeling pretty good and secure enough to don my early edition “I AM FRUITY” t-shirt.  That there are few english readers here would make double entendre jokes was helpful too!  We headed out of town to the incredibly large and fertile Huayaga River Valley, think of California’s Central or San Joaquin Valley, cacao production is flourishing as a result of new opportunities in the premium, organic and fair trade markets and TCHO is in the middle of it!  We found a great Coop to work with, where really nice Trinitario cacao is being grown on rich fluvial soil, some on small islands.  That combination of genetics and ‘terrioir’ creates the potential. It is the human factor, that brings that potential to life with the care with which the cacao is tended to, harvested, fermented, dried, selected and bagged for export. The opportunity for TCHO to work with and support these farmers and make “Fruity” come to life makes it all worth while.

Next posting from the land of NUTTY....

What are you listening to these days?

I have about 2000 record albums, 45s, and some 78s due to the fact that there has never been a bin of used records at thrift stores, flea markets or garage sales that I could walk past without looking through and the album artwork was so seductive that I just had to take something home. More often than not the cover was the only good thing, but that didn’t stop me.  I also had a task at hand in the 80’s of providing pre-show music for Survival Research Laboratories’ performances so that also kept me digging.

Here’s a few I grabbed off the shelf:

OK—Les Baxter is the songwriter who penned Quiet Village, covered by many, and made so famous by Martin Denny that it’s almost his middle name.  Les “discovered” Yma Sumac, the Peruvian Inca Princess with the 8 octave voice. He also did a killer sountrack for the film “The Man With the X-ray Eyes” starring Ray Milland.

Jungle Echos is a percussion Africa-splotaiton album. Drumming with grunting and screaming:

No collection is complete without the Mexican wizard Esquivel—lounge at it’s best.

I have a bunch of Cugat—many of his recordings are tame vanilla sort of stuff but “Mambo!” rocks. Great cover. This is the LP cover that inspired my son’s name.

Here is an earlier Cugat release—one of the best…

Emundo Ros was big in England in the 50s-70s—Playtime in Brazil is one of my all time favorites.

What’s not to like about Latin Love-In? Here Emundo is making a stab at what was happening in the 70’s. The cover is a lot better than the music.

Perez Prado, El Rey del Mambo—I was introduced to him by my parents on a 4 song 7” 45 with Mambo #8 and Mambo #5.

I like organs—Hammond B3, Wurlitzer, Farfisa—and here Mark Laub cranks out some memorable tunes including a great version of “Brazil”. Just look at how he dances on the keyboard. This is an autographed cover. Score!

This is Lucia Pamela who single-handedly or vocally albeit moves from Entertainment to Irritainment.  You can use this to move along dinner guests who overstay.

The World of Willie Restum fits into the Irritainment category. Autographed copy.  Shabada!

If the guests are still there after Lucia Pamela and Willie Restum then you can sell them this one.

Most of Ferrante and Teicher’s music is the most schmaltzy junk you’d never want to hear. However in the 50’s they were doing prepared piano pop, kinda John Cage pop music. Some truly wonderful pieces. One cut was sampled in the Tipsy track “Ugly Stadium.”

Awesome cover:

Enoch Light did some wacky pop music. Project were really good recordings. Nothing says “it’s the 70’s!” like this cover.

Lord Shorty is a wild calypso guy who does a really risque song “To Kill a Cat.” BTW There is only one of him not 3.  According to the liner notes he also did the cover. Sweeeet!

I like much of the 3 Suns output and “Movin’ N’ Groovin’” is in one of my favorite categories: “Early Stereo.” When stereo first came out it seems everyone was trying to “out stereo” each other.  Much of the time the result was similar to a film director who learns of the zoom lens. No slouch here, this record does have “sound your eyes can follow.”

Steve Allen was actually a very good piano player—for those who even know who Steve Allen was—talk show host, actor, song writer and ad man for Mocha Mix

Let’s go Slavic with Andy, Bob Nick and Ned:

Gardel is “The King of Tango” no doubt. Along with Alfredo Le Pera he wrote “Mi Buenos Aires querido” and others. Tragically, Gardel died in an airplane crash at the height of his career. A large statue of him stands outside the Abasto Market in Buenos Aires.

I like Tango a lot and I love this cover.

And I really like this cover:

Early Stereo.................

Really good Muzak. Did I mention I collect LP covers? This one’s a 2fer; got the muzak and the artwork.

This cover says it all:

Here was a cool find from San Francisco Records in 1957—I included some close ups:

Don’t know about you, but I’ve been bombarded with an absurd amount of Nigerian scammail recently. They must have armies of writers to generate the volume. This is my current fave, which reads like it was written by Steve Martin (maybe it was).

This weekend we went to Roshambo winery.  I have been waiting for them to open their new tasting room ever since I first tried their reasonably-priced Syrah at a few local restaurants.  I could tell by the wine and the label that they were at once serious and whimsical.  Definitely a place I wanted to visit!  It is interesting, as I read on their site, that their “mission” of sorts, is not quite unlike our own:

...it’s important to note that while we take pride in our storied history of creative branding, we know that it’s what’s inside the bottle that really counts.  We have to appeal to your palates and senses as much as your spirit.  Because no matter how slickly we package the stuff, we know we can’t pull the wool over the oenophile’s eyes… nor can we lure the beer and booze set to the Other Side of the Vine with a bogey in the bottle.  The whole point of this adventure was to welcome a new crowd of people to the party - Gen-Xers , Boomers, Millenials and Unidentifiables alike - by providing a disarmingly fun context in which to encounter serious wine.

Anyway, we went to their tasting room at Cornerstone Place in Sonoma (another very whimsical place, check it out if you have the chance) and I was blown away by every wine that I tasted.  So much so that I joined their wine club (the “Party Army")—mainly so I could get 20% off what was going to be a fairly large purchase!  Among other things, I ordered 2 bottles of their amazing ($25) ”2006 Scissors” white blend (61% Marsanne, 29% Roussanne, 10% Muscat).  As they were packing the order, they realized that they had only 1 bottle of Scissors to sell me, but then offered to either refund my $ or to just have me pick ANY bottle I wanted, regardless of price.  Then he just offered up the $40 2004 Rock, and stuck it in the box saying “you’re really going to enjoy this!” Wow, I thought, what a way to go above and beyond!

Our companion, who is here from Texas, was going to bring back just 1 bottle from her wine country visit, and she had really wanted it to be the Scissors.  Unfortunately, I had bought the last one.  Of course I was going to just let her take it home!  However, when our gracious host heard that the Scissors is what she wanted, but was settling for the also-tasty, but different 2006 “Marry Me” Roussanne, he offered to just send her one once she got home, if she’d only email him!  Sheesh, what service!  In the end, she bought 2 bottles, both of which were sold to her at club price, and he agreed to pay for the shipping costs.  Wow!  What great service at a great place. 

This is exactly the kind of “legendary customer service” that we strive to be known for.

Way to go, Roshambo!!  Up the ante!

Earlier today I tried some of the coffee I had roasted last week, I described it as acrid…I mostly used this as an adjective for describing the flavors of beers.

You see, many of the darker beers (most of which I prefer) have rather acrid flavors derived from the malts used in the brewing process.

^^ These are some friends of mine….They tend to give some characteristics such as: Toffee, Roast, and Caramel (among others). ^^

Now let’s start from the beginning….

Beer is one of the oldest beverages consumed in the history of man, dating back to Mesopotamia, and ancient Egypt. Beer is also one of the most popular beverages, only behind water & tea. “The invention of bread and beer has been argued to be responsible for humanity’s ability to develop technology and build civilization” (Protz, Roger (2004). The Complete Guide to World Beer). So really if it beer—or at least the process that produced it—never were discovered we would most likely not be the society we are today.

In 1516 the German Beer Purity Law was established that stated that only water, barley—later malted barley—hops, and pure water could be used in brewing beer. (The use of yeast was still unknown at the time & the brewers relied on natural yeasts occurring in the air) This is still one of the oldest valid food laws in the world, albeit not enforced as it was in the past—beer now can be imported into Germany without abiding the purity laws—essentially this law was to ensure no “bad” beers could be produced in Germany.

Once upon a time - there was a magical garden. (with my iphone)

In it:
Amazing people

Once upon a time - there was a magical garden. (with my iphone)

In it:
Amazing people
Talented flowers
Delicious experiences all around.

Not to mention some of the most incerdible food one could ever dream of.

The family holding the vines as reins and baking paddles as ores are The Webers.  They are an example of multiple generations of dedication to the bizzare and wonderful.

They have an all-in-the-family, fiercly successful wholesale bakery biz and a delightful cafe, Della Fattoria, in Petaluma - and an incredible ranch that they open to those lucky enough to look.

Elisa and I went to high school together.  Elisa and wound up in and amongst similar folks in San Francisco in the late 80’s and now Elisa and I find our selves back in Petaluma—living the NoBo (North Bay Bohemium) vida loca.  Elisa is one of the few people in the world who truly understands the irony of my being married to Mark Pauline.  Good girl brings Bad boy home to raise the roof and the most amazing boy—JakeEddie.

Saturday The Webers hosted a benefit for the slow food department of Sonoma State University. Several talented young slow fooders are going to attend an international slow foods event in Italy supported by the proceeds.

TCHO was a hit.  Loads of food curious and delight oriented folks tasted TCHO for the first time.  One even having “just read about you in Daily Candy”.

Thank you Elisa and The Webers for having us as party and being part of your on going fairy tale - more to come more to come.

Not to mention some of the most incerdible food one could ever dream of.

The family holding the vines as reins and baking paddles as ores are The Webers.  They are an example of multiple generations of dedication to the bizzare and wonderful.

They have an all-in-the-family, fiercly successful wholesale bakery biz and a delightful cafe, Della Fattoria, in Petaluma - and an incredible ranch that they open to those lucky enough to look.

Elisa and I went to high school together.  Elisa and wound up in and amongst similar folks in San Francisco in the late 80’s and now Elisa and I find our selves back in Petaluma—living the NoBo (North Bay Bohemium) vida loca.  Elisa is one of the few people in the world who truly understands the irony of my being married to Mark Pauline.  Good girl brings Bad boy home to raise the roof and the most amazing boy—JakeEddie.

Saturday The Webers hosted a benefit for the slow food department of Sonoma State University. Several talented young slow fooders are going to attend an international slow foods event in Italy supported by the proceeds.

TCHO was a hit.  Loads of food curious and delight oriented folks tasted TCHO for the first time.  One even having “just read about you in Daily Candy”.

Thank you Elisa and The Webers for having us as party and being part of your on going fairy tale - more to come more to come.

Part of wrangling our new chocolate products to launch day involves product testing. After all, we have to sample many variations of each product formula AND we have to constantly taste the competition. Plus, sometimes friends and co-workers just get inspired to try using our chocolate in their own creations—and they share.

Over the last few weeks, my [very scientific!] research included:

• Sampling many different variations of hot cocoa to confirm we are honing in on a superb drinking chocolate mix. I emerged from that sampling absolutely vibrating with a chocolatey/caffeine/theobromine buzz that took way too long to wear off. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gulped every sip of every mocha and hot cocoa sample… I hadn’t been that wired since I went on a coffee crawl in NY City with writer Peter Meehan (who was writing a NY Times piece on where to find the best coffee) and my partner/fellow coffee fan Gregory. We were all almost hallucinating after that one.
  
  
• Sampling many different kinds of panned goods (chocolate covered nuts and dried fruits)—to help us hone in some scrumptious products (coming soon!).
  
  
• Sampling some extremely locally-made TCHO chocolate baked goods: divinely double chocolatey cacao nib cookies expertly crafted by our very own Rick DeCost, a multitalented fellow equally skilled in machinery and baking; yummy chewy chocolate nib chip cookies made by our amazing summer intern Kaileen Kelly; and some moist fudgy chocolate cupcakes from our newest team addition Simone Smith. Ideas for our store?
  
  
• Sampling the world’s first chocolate gelato made with TCHO; also a batch with organic raspberries swirled in).
  
  
• Sampling various formulations of our new “Fruity” chocolate and our upcoming “Nutty” chocolate.

But not all product research is so sweet! I have also had to sample many different kinds of bitter cocoa mass (simply ground up cacao beans with no added sugar). This is the foundation of all chocolate, so you must make sure it tastes excellent even before the sugar and vanilla are added. It is a bit --umm-- challenging on the taste buds; it can make your lips pucker, your mouth go dry, your eyebrows arch, and can have you run for a glass of water. But contrast, they say, creates perception. And so when I go back to the sweet stuff after cocoa mass sampling, it is always even more supremely appealing. In life, as in chocolate, bitter and sweet go hand in hand.

...it was to hear the news so many of us have been waiting to hear for so long.  David Byrne and Brian Eno cut a new disc, Everything That Happens.  (A micro bit of history—DB and BE hatched My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the seminal masterpiece at sampling, way back in 1981.  The music world was never the same again.)

Further, DB will be touring to support it.  I wonder if DB will use a PowerPoint preso during the gig.

Can’t wait.