Two weeks ago a lucky few of us at TCHO were lucky enough to be guests of NOPA, super restaurant on Divisidero and Hayes here in San Francisco. There are a lot of restaurants that use local ingredients and have jumped on the sustainable foods bandwagon because it is the right thing to do, or because it sells well. At NOPA, this is not adaptation to a trend but what they are really about.

Last month we had the pleasure of having Pastry Chef, Amy Brown, a good part of the kitchen staff, wait staff and wine director and blogger Caleb Taft over to our factory for a tour. It was great to share what we are doing at TCHO, how we bring our relationships with farmers through the chocolate making process to create great products that bring lasting value to our producer partners, our employees, shareholders, investors and to our customers. After visiting NOPA for dinner shortly afterwards, reading their blog and an entire section of their website dedicated to their purveyors, I began to understand what a great connection TCHO and NOPA share.

After visiting their purveyors, learning more about the ingredients they use and the people behind them, in an incredibly gracious and generous commitment, NOPA ‘completes the circle’ by reciprocating and inviting their suppliers to a special lunch featuring their ingredients in thoughtful and creative ways. We shared the table with guests from Sonoma County Poultry - Liberty Farms, a fantastic producer of delectable Sonoma Duck and from Radio Coteau, a unique winery that broadcasts ‘coastal expressions of soil, seasons, people and place’.

Here is the food NOPA created, bringing us all together:

Appetizers
Cara Cara arugala salad with blood orange marmalade
County Line Rose, Anderson Valley, 2009, Champaigne clones
Duck pate with cocoa nibs on toasted bread
Radio Coteau, La Neblina Pinot Noir, Sonoma 2007

Main
Liberty Farms braised duck leg in chocolate infused duck jus
Grist mills polenta, Yolo county (milled a week ago!)
Black beans from rancho Gordo (Eddie's favorite beans!) with TCHOPro 68% blend, ancho chile, garlic cayenne and cinnamon and choco duck jus
Radio Coteau, La Colina Syrah, 2007

Dessert
CHOCOLATEY Pot de Creme with cocoa nib cream
FRUITY Chocolate sauce with dried fruit compote from Blosom Bluff
NUTTY Gianduja Ganache on toasted brioches - hamburger bun!
CITRUS semifreddo (frozen mousse) on a fuilatine crust with candied kumquat

What an incredibly creative and delectable combination of ingredients, inspiration and talent.

In keeping with NOPA’s goal of creating a sense of community and shared experiences, we were invited to come early and share in the preparation of this incredible food, but alas, we do have to work as well.... NOPA walks the talk and in doing so creates relationships, lasting experience and value for all.

You might wonder if everyone who works here can eat as much chocolate as we want every day. The answer is YES. But you actually don't feel like eating as much as you might imagine you would. Sure, some nibbling every day... But it's baked goodies (made with our baking drops) that really elicit excitement around here.

At least once or twice a week, we arrive at the chocolate factory office to find some delectable plate of chocolatey goodness waiting for us. Usually these are baked by either someone on our team (often Rick!) or a friend of someone on our team.

This morning, Jennifer P (friend of John's) baked these unbelievably moist chewy chocolate brownies draped in caramel and roasted pecans. My cell ph photo does not do justice to them - but you can catch the caramel sheen and imagine their texture I think.

Baked with our 66% organic fair trade baking drops, they were outstanding! A little sweet and intense for first thing in the morning--but we are used to that around here. They were inhaled in minutes.

OK, I'm totally buzzed. Had to share that with you all. Back to work!

Epilogue: But the sweetness continued: just as the brownie plate was emptied (just before posting this story), Rick came from the Production Area with a tray full of fresh baking drops. This is a regular occurrence around here.

Rick cheerfully appears with his tray in hand (hair net and beard net still on) and encourages everyone to try the latest fresh chocolate (straight from the molding line). And he asks what you think. This batch? ('Yes; Delicious! They are so FRUITY! A veritable fruit bomb').

signing off in chocolatey buzzy bliss,
N

We have all kinds of good stuff going on these days with our friends at Dee Vine Wines and Cowgirl Creamery.

A CHEESE & CHOCOLATE VALENTINE

This year we've come up with a visually stunning, delicious and practical gift for your Valentine. We've again created Heart's Desire, a heart-shaped version of our MT TAM. We combined it with Constant Bliss from Jasper Hill Farms andCamillia from Redwood Hill, two more bloomy rind cheeses.

Compliment the creamy cheese with TCHO Chocolates, a truly San Francisco chocolate. All of this comes with a beautiful and handy Howard Foote Cheese Board to use year 'round.

Valentine's Chocolate Tasting Kit

Here are their pairings:

2006 Solter Brut Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) Rosé - Citrus

2007 Mas du Soleilla Les Chailles AOC Côteaux du Languedoc, La Clape - Fruity

2006 Müller-Catoir Gimmeldinger-Schlössel Rieslaner Auslese – Nutty

2000 Pietri Gerard Cuvee Joseph Geraud AOC Banyuls – Chocolatey

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I thought this research (cited by the BBC) might be relevant...

Turns out, chocolate gives you more of a buzz than kissing! Sounds like a fun one to test.

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Chocolate 'better than kissing'

When it comes to tongues, melting chocolate is better than a passionate kiss, scientists have found. Couples in their 20s had their heart rates and brains monitored whilst they first melted chocolate in their mouths and then kissed.

Chocolate caused a more intense and longer lasting "buzz" than kissing, and doubled volunteers' heart rates. The research was carried out by Dr David Lewis, formerly of the University of Sussex, and now of the Mind Lab. Experts, concerned at growing levels of obesity throughout the developed world, warn that chocolate should only be consumed in moderation.

Dr Lewis said: "There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss." He said substances in chocolate were already known to have a psychoactive effect, but that allowing it to melt on your tongue could be the secret to maximising the buzz.

The volunteers, all aged in their 20s, had electrodes attached to their scalps and wore heart monitors during the two tests. The researchers compared their resting heart rates with those during the chocolate and kissing tests.

Longer lasting effects
Although kissing set the heart pounding, the effect did not last as long as that seen with the chocolate, which increased heart rates from a resting rate of about 60 beats per minute to 140. The study also found that as the chocolate started melting, all regions of the brain received a boost far more intense and longer lasting than the excitement seen with kissing.

Although women are generally thought to be bigger fans of chocolate than men, the research found the same reactions to chocolate in both sexes. Dr Lewis said: "These results really surprised and intrigued us. While we fully expected chocolate- especially dark chocolate - to increase heart rates due to the fact it contains some highly stimulating substances, both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated."

Psychologist Sue Wright said: "Chocolate contains phenylethylamine which can raise levels of endorphins, the pleasure-giving substances, in the brain. It also contains caffeine which has a stimulatory effect on the brain. This would explain why chocolate can give people a buzz, and why people can become addicted to it."

The research used a new 60% cocoa dark chocolate from Cadbury, and a spokeswoman for the chocolate makers said: "You'd think people would be shy about kissing in a laboratory, but that wasn't the case at all. We're not talking about a quick peck here."

The Mind Lab is funded by members of the food industry, although no firm can be linked to any individual study.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6558775.stm

Next time you're coughing, remember your chocolate! Turns out, the theobromine in chocolate suppresses vagus nerve activity, which is responsible for causing coughing. And it works better than codeine!

The BBC article and the research it cites below are from several years ago, but since it's cold/flu season, I thought it would be relevant right about now.

Chocolate could be cough medicine

Better than pills or potions?

An ingredient of chocolate could put a stop to persistent coughs and lead to new, more effective cough medicines, research suggests.

Scientists found the key ingredient, theobromine, is nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs than the leading medicine codeine.

They say it produces fewer side effects than conventional treatment - and would not leave people drowsy.

The research, led by Imperial College London, is published in FASEB journal.

This discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem.

Professor Peter Barnes
Researcher Professor Peter Barnes said: "Coughing is a medical condition which affects most people at some point in their lives, and yet no effective treatment exists.

"While persistent coughing is not necessarily harmful it can have a major impact on quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem."

The researchers gave 10 healthy volunteers theobromine, a placebo or codeine at different times.

They then exposed the volunteers to capsaicin, a substance used in clinical research to cause coughing.

The concentration of capsaicin required to produce a cough in those people given theobromine was around one third higher when compared with the group receiving a placebo.

When the group received codeine they needed only marginally higher levels of capsaicin to produce coughing, compared with the placebo.

Nerve activity
Theobromine works by suppressing vagus nerve activity, which is responsible for causing coughing.

The team also discovered that unlike standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no adverse effects on either the cardiovascular or central nervous systems.

Professor Maria Belvisi, who also worked on the study, said: "Not only did theobromine prove more effective than codeine, at the doses used it was found to have none of the side effects.

"Normally the effectiveness of any treatment is limited by the dosage you can give someone.

"With theobromine having no demonstrated side effects in this study it may be possible to give far bigger doses, further increasing its effectiveness.

"At the same time, theobromine may not have any of the side effects such as drowsiness. This means there will be no restrictions on when it can be taken.

"For example, people using heavy machinery or who are driving should not take codeine, but they could take theobromine."

Encouraging results
Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation said: "The results of this research sound very promising.

"Persistant coughing often affects lung disease patients so this could be a progressive step in terms of treating it. Also, it is encouraging to find no adverse effects.

"We would like to see more research done to fully understand the potential of these findings and would advise patients to speak to their GP before changing their medication or treating their cough with chocolate!"

Dr Richard Russell, of the British Thoracic Society, said: "Over-the-counter sales for acute cough medicines currently reach approximately £100m a year in the UK - money that is being spent on remedies, where there is no evidence that they work.

"The number of people with undiagnosed chronic cough is increasing in this country - and more effective treatments are needed.

"The condition can be really distressing and so I hope this research provides a clue for future treatments."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4032585.stm

Yesterday was a big day for our chocolate company! I think Louis summed it up well in the email he sent out yesterday afternoon (and, yes, the day ended with a little team celebration):

(make sure to play the audio below while you read!):

Today is an auspicious day in TCHO's history. We've sacrificed, worked insanely hard, suffered the despair of Start Up Land -- but today, it's time to savor some of the exhilaration:

1. We are in 5,500 Starbucks across the country. For perspective, before today, we were in about 300 outlets.
2. We are in Martha Stewart Living's (2M circ) February issue, which mailed to subscribers today. This is what Martha had to say about TCHO: "In our blind chocolate taste test, TCHO was the hands down star."
3. We are in the February issue of Travel & Leisure (950K)
4. We are a feature story in United Airlines Hemispheres magagzine (4.5M)
5. We are a feature story in AirTrans Go magazine (2M)
6. We are in Wired UK and Wired Italia (200K circ)
7. The AIB audit is done -- this is the toughest, most meaningful certification for the factory--and we passed with flying colors; given a "superior" rating
8. The Fancy Food Show is upon us, and our party is looking to be oversubscribed.

Are we excited yet? Can you feel the momentum?

Let's lift a glass at 4:30!

L

Our co-founder, Timothy Childs, is leaving. Timothy's contributions to TCHO are manifold, including our signature flavors, our Flavor Wheel and flavor taxonomy, and our TCHOSource program, developed with Director of Sourcing John Kehoe. For four years, Timothy has worked tirelessly to build TCHO in the face of long odds, and is now ready to take a well-deserved break. He leaves behind a killer team, deep sourcing, and a company committed to excellence and innovation in everything we do. A major shareholder, Timothy remains dedicated to TCHO's success. All of us here at TCHO thank him for the hard work and soul he invested in our company, congratulate him on his accomplishments, and wish him the very best on his next entrepreneurial adventures.

Cocoa Can Decrease Blood Pressure, Study Shows
Jody A. Charnow January 05, 2010

Cocoa products such as dark chocolate and cocoa-containing beverages can lower blood pressure, a recent meta-analysis confirms.

Steffen Desch, MD, of the University of Leipzig-Heart Center in Leipzig, German, and colleagues analyzed data from 10 randomized controlled trials that included a total of 297 subjects. The study populations were either healthy adults with normal blood pressure or patients with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension. Treatment duration ranged from two to 18 weeks.

Across all trials, consumption of cocoa products was associated with a mean 4.5 mm Hg decrease in systolic pressure and a mean 2.5 mm Hg decrease in diastolic pressure, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Hypertension (2010;23:97-103).

The new meta-analysis builds on epidemiologic evidence showing an antihypertensive effect of cocoa-containing food. For example, in a study of 470 elderly men in The Netherlands, those in the highest tertile of cocoa intake had mean systolic and diastolic pressures that were 3.7 and 2.1 mm Hg lower, respectively, compared with men in the lowest tertile, according to a report in Archives of Internal Medicine (2006;166:411-417). They also had significantly decreased 15-year cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.

http://www.renalandurologynews.com/cocoa-can-decrease-blood-pressure-study-shows/article/160639/http://www.renalandurologynews.com/cocoa-can-decrease-blood-pressure-study-shows/article/160639/