Reviews

2008.08.08

TCHO Chocolate, pt 3: The Taste Test Trip.

In this final installment of our TCHO Chocolate trilogy, Xeni and Pesco go on a magical mystery taste test tour -- think Willy Wonka meets The Trip. Former NASA software developer Timothy Childs founded the tech-minded chocolate company, and was joined by WIRED co-founder Louis Rosetto.
more

Boing Boing TV, http://tv.boingboing.net

2008.08.07

Because You Said So

TCHO wants to thank all of your discerning palates for voting on its "Fruity" formulations throughout the weekend. Recipe A was the winner of Friday's tasting, and Recipe D took the honors on Saturday. TCHO's head Chocolate Maker is already tweaking the recipe based on your valuable feedback. You can taste how they're doing and tell them what you think - it's a work in progress! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled (and your palates at the ready) for their third flavor, "Nutty," to be released later this month. more

Taste3, http://taste3.com/blog/

2008.08.07

Choc Value: Introducing TCHO

I know I'm supposed to go on-line and comment. But I'm much too busy swooning over these two sensational candies. They're both very dark, with grown-up chocolate flavor but no hint of bitterness or "burnt." The "Fruity" has a distinctive brightness; the "Chocolatey" is outrageously fragrant and has a super-rich mouthfeel as it melts.
And "melt" is the operative word here, folks. These are chocolates to plop on your tongue and let them take their sweet time dribbling down your throat. Aromas swirl, flavors develop, a love affair is born.

more

MaureenClancy.com, http://www.maureenclancy.com/

2008.08.06

TCHO Chocolate

The TCHO movement is unlike any other. They are, first the first time, allowing the cocao growers to taste chocolate from their personal cocao. The folks at TCHO actually go to the cocao farmers and make sure that they are getting the best quality ingredients for their chocolate.
Since their chocolate is currently in "beta" and sometime changing daily, they tag each pouch of chocolate you recieve with a batch number. With this number, you go to their site and rate the chocolate you eat, so that eventually they will have a perfect chocolate. more

The Blog of Matt Witmer, http://www.mattwitmer.com/

2008.08.06

TCHO choclate new flavors!

Now onto the beta for fruity. Having it right after the chocolatey maybe wasn't the best idea...in comparison it seemed a bit smokey and a little bitter... so I went and drank a ton of water to cleanse my palate and sat back down. A much better idea. This time I could really taste the spectrum of the chocolate opening up and develop into fruity undertones. Letting the chocolate melt on your tongue really lets you taste the depth and range of flavors... but man is it hard to not just munch right in! The more I had of the "fruity" the more I seemed to like it. However in a taste to taste comparison I'd say chocolatey wins.
Either way TCHO is doing great things and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! to try beta "nutty" YUM!!!
more

steph chows, http://stephchows.blogspot.com/

2008.08.05

Consumer Generated Chocolate TCHO brings tech onto taste buds

I just stumbled across a pretty cool chocolate company called TCHO. Apparently TCHO (from San Francisco where else!) is leveraging the web to create chocolate with its consumers by asking them to provide direct feedback on their chocolate as they launch limited "beta editions". more

m cause, http://m-cause.com/

2008.08.05

TCHO Chocolate Blondies

Here are the promised blondies that I made with the TCHO chocolates that I blogged about earlier. Well, I found the recipe at The Foodie Fashionista, and they look amazing! Well, I managed to mess up the recipe, but they still turned out really well. more

Carrie in the Kitchen, http://carrieinthekitchen.blogspot.com/

2008.08.04

Tcho: Beta Chocolate from the Founder of Wired

You know how sometimes you're confronted with something that is so over your head it's embarrassing? This is a familiar feeling for me. I felt it through every math class of high school, during a conversation with a friend who works as an industrial designer for venerable pie-plate company Pyrex (I thought we'd have so much in common - I like pie, he designs pie plates! All was going fine until he started to talk polymers) and, most recently, while reading the website for SF-based chocolate company Tcho. more

7x7, http://www.7x7sf.com

2008.08.04

TCHO Chocolates

I immediately had to try the fruity, and compare it to the "chocolate" one that also came in the package. The fruity is very very rich, almost too rich for me. But I adored the subtle undertones of berry in the background. It was surprising in a piece of chocolate, but most welcome. After trying "fruity" we tried "chocolate" - this is my favorite. It's such a smooth, refined, intense chocolate flavor. One square does the trick for my chocolate craving. more

Carrie in the Kitchen, http://carrieinthekitchen.blogspot.com

2008.08.03

Success. Sort of.

Santa Claus (aka, The UPS Guy) brought me a couple bars of Tcho chocolate this week. We really liked the Tcho Fruity (Tcho's newest beta flavor). I hope they don't change too much because it has a really good bite. The cookies made with the Fruity chunks were our favorites. The Chocolatey cookies were good but the Fruity cookies were better. more

Confections of a Foodie Bride, http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/

2008.08.01

I missed the bus

When the good Lord was handing out patience, I was almost certainly standing in front of a dessert case somewhere, tapping my foot and clicking my fingernails while the girl behind the bakery counter too slowly retrieved my pastry.
And where was I when they were handing out will power? Guess.
Earlier this week, Jill tipped me off to an article in the New York times about a subject very near and dear to my heart (and hips): chocolate chip cookies. The pros have decided that one of the secrets to a good cookie is hydration - letting the dough rest for 24-36 hours produces a better cookie than the mix-and-dish method.
I guess it's simple enough, right? They want me to let the super yummy raw dough from my favorite recipe sit, undisturbed. In my refrigerator. For 36 hours. Riiiiight.
But I am a good sport so I'll happily play along . more

Confections of a Foodie Bride, http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride

2008.07.31

Eat TCHO

What: Insanely good dark chocolate made with meticulously selected cacao beans from Ghana and Peru.
Why: They're the Tcho-sen ones.
Where: Online at tcho.com. more

Daily Candy, http://www.dailycandy.com

2008.07.23

Chocolate: In Beta

Chocolate (my favorite, btw)! In beta (what?!)! With cute packaging (yeah, I'm a sucker for that, too)!

I can't wait to get my tongue all over this piece of crafty genius I saw at trendwatching.com. While Tollhouse or Hershey's pride themselves on using really old recipes that have been around the block, Tcho has chosen a different route for creating their specialty chocolates (read: not the same as the stuff you by for 85 cents at Rite Aid). more

Stickers and Donuts, http://stickersanddonuts.com

2008.07.22

TCHO Chocolate, part 2: magical machines, mysterious molecules

Today on Boing Boing tv, Xeni and Pesco dive deeper into the magical chocolate factory founded by a NASA software developer. In this installment of BBtv's 3-part series on TCHO Chocolate, we learn more about the hacked-together, home-tinkered machines and high-tech wizardry that keep the factory running. The philosophy is "scrappy, not crappy," as founder Timothy Childs explains.
more

Boing Boing TV, http://tv.boingboing.net

2008.07.17

From Plantation to Package

Scharffen Berger? Been there, done that. Dagoba? So last year. If you want be in on the very latest in artisan chocolates, look to the microproducers who are using technology to bring their chocolate to a new level - one that is much closer to European chocolate than Godiva. more

Chow, http://www.chow.com

2008.07.16

TCHO…Fruity has arrived!

I just got my email so it is official...TCHO has launched a new batch of chocolatey goodness in their new Fruity! This time, you have 3 options for purchase but still you need to get it online. I highly recommend you give it a try and see what everyone is talking about. The do not 're-melt' chocolate so this is a taste unlike that favorite chocolate bar you like to eat while reading the paper or doing that cross-word puzzle. more

Things A Mother Might Ask, http://www.aaliyahsays.com

2008.07.16

Chocolate makers focus on the technology of making better chocolate

Meet the new Willy Wonka: Timothy Childs is a former space shuttle technologist who's building a 29,000-square-foot chocolate factory on prime waterfront property in the Embarcadero. He stands in the factory's laboratory inspecting a sample of split-open cocoa beans, pointing out the ones that have been properly fermented and talking intensely about the hedonics of chocolate -- as in the hedonistic sensation of eating it, how it melts in the mouth, when it starts to break apart and the way in which flavors and sugars are released. "We're freaks about it," says Childs, chief chocolate officer (his official title) of Tcho. more

Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com

2008.07.15

American’s moving towards bean to bar trend

Here's an interesting article I found about the recent and emerging trend of small American bean to bar chocolate producers. The article talks about some of the up and coming chocolatiers which are shouting about their processes and the beans that they are using. No longer are these guys simply content with being labeled 'melters', they are starting to scour the best known cocoa growing regions for premium beans to use for their own chocolate. more

Dan's Blog on Chocolate, http://www.grudsey.com/

2008.07.11

TCHO, part 1: chocolate origins

In part one of BBtv's multi-part exploration of Tcho, we begin in the lab, and learn about the origins of chocolate: it's a weird looking fruit with biological roots in faraway tropical lands. How this fruit is cultivated, harvested, and cured determines the flavor of the final product, and we learn about the hedonics -- the sensual nuances -- of this exotic and temperamental element...
more

Boing Boing TV, http://tv.boingboing.net/

2008.07.02

Tcho - New and Old melt together

The employee-owned firm was founded by Wired co-founder Louis Rossetto and chocolatier Timothy Childs, and it's rethinking the way chocolate is made, mirroring many of the processes and behaviors common in the online world. In its factory, TCHO combines recycled and refurbished legacy chocolate equipment with the latest process control, information and communications systems. more

Serious About Chocolate, http://seriousbrownee.blogspot.com

2008.06.12

TCHO chocolate: nourishment beta

Chocolate has enjoyed something of an elevation into high cuisine in recent years, with a focus on gourmet brands and organic production - there's even been a long New Yorker piece about it. Now it is getting the tech-start-up treatment with TCHO, a San Francisco-based chocolate manufacturer. TCHO has dispensed with confusing terms like "cocoa count," and simply catalogues its product with descriptive words like "fruity," "nutty," and "chocolaty." more

GOOD Magazine, http://www.goodmagazine.com

2008.06.02

Timothy and Chocolate Factory

Visiting TCHO is the Maker's equivalent to winning one of Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets. The new chocolate company, headquartered in a vast warehouse on San Francisco's Pier 17, is a sweet blend of DIY ingenuity, self-taught science, and online community. From hacking together a homebrew chocolate lab for $5,000 instead of buying a $100,000 "pro" system, to tricking out a 30-year-old chocolate factory line shipped over from Germany, TCHO (tcho.com) embodies a maker mindset that its founder calls "scrappy not crappy." more

Make Magazine, http://www.makezine.com/magazine/

2008.05.29

4 Letters…TCHO!

Be that as it may, I was shocked when I received my package, the chocolate had arrived to my mail account in the states approx 3 weeks prior to this, I rummaged through my little box of treasures until I found that SILVER PACKAGE that held the most precious thing to me at that particular moment. more

Things A Mother Might Ask, http://aaliyahsays.blogspot.com

2008.05.20

Beyond Artisan Chocolate:

If you're a person with a passion for the world's greatest chocolate, why not produce it yourself? That's what the chocolate artisans in this week's Top Pick have done - the majority of them as a second career. more

The Nibble, http://www.thenibble.com

2008.05.16

More ethical ways to your caffeine or serotonin fix

San Francisco entrepreneur Timothy Childs believes the same could happen with cocoa beans. Childs is founder of a start-up company called Tcho, which the Economist described as "a technology firm that makes chocolate" in the same issue as the coffee article (here it is online.) Most chocolate is classified and sold by percentage of cocoa solids and country of origin, neither of which leaves much room for nuance or quality control:
"rather like labeling a wine 'France, 13% alcohol,'" says Childs. He's developed a method to analyze, grade, and describe beans that could help producers improve and tailor production, as well aid buyers in finessing their purchasing. more

Plenty, http://www.plentymag.com

2008.05.09

SF Startup Takes Chocolate To New Level

Where wine and coffee were a generation ago, sits chocolate today. A San Francisco chocolate maker is looking to take the cocoa bean to another level. Timothy Child leads TCHO, a startup aiming at a growing number of chocolate connoisseurs. Working out of a pier along the waterfront, TCHO takes cocoa beans from around the world and breaks them down to their very essence. The result is intense flavors that are rarely if ever harnessed. more

cbs5, http://cbs5.com

2008.05.07

http://www.yumsugar.com/1608303

During this year's Maker Faire, geeky chocolate maker Tcho Chocolate was performing a taste-test. Passerbys were given a sample of A, and a sample of B, and had to tell which they preferred. more

YumSugar, http://www.yumsugar.com

2008.05.02

‘Chief chocolate officer’ rides space shuttle to a sweet destination

With pedigreed tech veterans, Internet beta testing and stock options for employees, a new San Francisco firm sounds like countless other tech startups. But this one is aiming for richness beyond profits. Tcho (the "t" is silent) wants to bring tech rigor to the world of sweets -- to make delicious dark chocolate in a way that is predictable, reliable and scalable. more

San Francisco Business Times, http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com

2008.04.29

Mama Said

She said that it is better to be loved than feared, so team up with those who love her back and reward her with chocolate. Set Mom up to receive a SquidNote card and ask everyone in her life to sign. The 50 moms with the most e-signatures on their cards come Mother's Day will receive free chocolates from TCHO. more

Daily Candy, http://www.dailycandy.com/

2008.04.23

Silicon Valley Startup Craves Chocolate

San Francisco startup Tcho has all the sweet Silicon Valley trimmings, the Economist reports; high-profile tech alums, online beta testing and stock options for all. But its product is even sweeter: top-quality chocolate. The company has developed a means to grade cocoa beans' complex nuances on a "flavor wheel," taking a cutting-edge approach to a timeless artisanal craft.

Seeing a chocolate revolution ahead similar to the one coffee rode to its current level of popularity, Tcho is working with growers to create an "open source" exchange of information between producers to help them improve their beans' quality and classify their tastes. Food companies love the idea of a consistent flavor profile, and Tcho's system could become industry standard. more

newser, http://www.newser.com

2008.04.20

Chocolate 2.0 - TCHO in Beta Batches

If there is one "guilty pleasure" I give in to, and feel good about it, is dark chocolate. I love dark chocolate and make a point of having some in the house at all times. So when I learned of TCHO, I realized I found a chocolate manufacturer (not a "re-melter") who was really extraordinique. Sold in Beta batches, by design, TCHO's recipes continually evolve and adapt as a result of customer feedback. more

Extraordinique, http://www.extraordinique.com

2008.04.17

Chocolate.com

Its founders believe there is vast scope for innovation in the way chocolate is made and sold. Most cocoa farmers have never tasted chocolate, and produce cocoa beans without any idea of how they will be used, says Timothy Childs, Tcho's founder. The resulting chocolate is classified and sold in a very unsophisticated way, labelled at best by country of origin and percentage cocoa solids. (It is rather like labelling a wine "France, 13% alcohol".) So Mr Childs wants to put things on a more technical footing -- just as Americans formalised techniques for winemaking in the 1970s. He has developed ways to analyse and grade beans, and a six-segment "flavour wheel" to map out their natural aromas. Using a variety of jury-rigged spice grinders, heaters and temperature sensors, he has worked out how to get cocoa beans to reveal their complex flavours and to get chocolate to solidify evenly. more

Economist.com, http://www.economist.com

2008.04.17

it’s tcho awesome

If you're in America...you bastard. Stop what you're doing right now and click the bar of chocolate. It'll take you to their shop. Buy their chocolate. Eat their chocolate and then confirm it's awesomeness. more

Naturally Indulgent, naturallyindulgent.wordpress.com

2008.04.08

Free Chocolate and Some Cookie

Let me just say that it made the cookies. Not overloaded with pb chips, a hint of fabulous chocolate from TCHO, and macadamia nuts? Yes, perfect. (Chad agreed, not really verbally but his mmmmmm's told me so.) more

Culinary Infatuation, //culinaryinfatuation.blogspot.com

2008.04.03

TCHO - Beta bar

Surprisingly, TCHO is the first company since Scharffen Berger to make California its home base. What's also a surprise is the origin they chose to represent all their hard work thus far: Ghana. That may seem like a dirty word to most connoisseurs, but thanks to such makers as Theo, Ghana is slowly becoming an origin to be reckoned with. more

cocoa/content, http://cocoacontent.wordpress.com

2008.04.02

Mega-Bites

Rossetto says that settling into his new position as CEO of TCHO has brought back some memories. "At first, it was like, you can't forget how to ride a bicycle, even if you haven't done it in a while and then I realized I'd forgotten that actually, it's like riding a bicycle in the Tour de France!" the 58-year-old journalist laughs. "It's start-up land - that's very familiar space - [but] the actual material we're working with is certainly different." more

The Wave Magazine, http://www.thewavemag.com

2008.03.23

Happy Easter and TCHO Chocolate!

TCHO is rich and strong with a subtle, smooth flavor and texture. It melts in your mouth, very palatable with a slight bitter aftertaste that is the sign of very good chocolate. It was not waxy, grainy, or gritty. As my husband bit into this delectable treat his eyes closed and he whimpered a little. He would travel to the ends of the earth for this chocolate. more

Cooking at the Pad, http://mamafrog.wordpress.com

2008.03.23

TCHO Is Obsessively Good Dark Chocolate

They only recently made their chocolate bars available for mail-order delivery and even then the product is limited. But, in this case limited is good. It's good because they are taking their time in perfecting their product. They take feedback seriously, and put each bar to the test. more

Pennies on a Platter, http://penniesonaplatter.blogspot.com

2008.03.22

Blake Makers Review of TCHO

It's a little dirty, but in a good way. Then immediately I taste a pretty intense fruitiness, but a very specific fruitiness that I'm not sure I can pin point, but I'm thinking plums or even prunes or raisins. Something sweet and earthy and rich. more

So...What Else, What Else, What Else?, http://geggieblog.blogspot.com

2008.03.22

Carrie Critiques: TCHO: Way To Go!

The sample I received arrived in simple brown paper packaging "swoon", marked "chocolatey", and chocolatey it is! I say beta stage over! This chocolate is perfect. It is deliciously dark and just this side of bitter, which is how I like my chocolate! I plan to get more because I would love nothing more than to chop this stuff up and bake with it! more

Carrie's Kitchen Creations, http://bakersbakery.wordpress.com

2008.03.22

TCHO Chocolates

If all of their chocolate is as good as what I had, I would say that they have a wonderful future ahead of them. Even my husband, who proclaims to hate dark chocolate, liked his piece that I shared with him. He said it tasted kind of fruity and I would have to agree with him.
more

Sensible Suppers and Decadent Desserts, http://sandkr.blogspot.com

2008.03.21

tcho and tell

Tcho is San Francisco's only chocolate factory. Don't be confused by the shelves in the SF airport gift shops - Ghirardelli is made in San Leandro. Pier 17 is the choc dock where these pod people milk their cacash cacao. They are shipping a product that is the hardcore porn of the food world - brown paper wrapper with no airbrushing. Tcho is currently in beta testing, as an end user, you email them with your bugs and sugs which they evaluate for their ongoing re-formulations. We liked this single source, dark chocolate but when we imported bits into our cereal ports, we hoped for an even smoother mouthfeel. These richly flavored, complex rectangles have us anxious to sample upgrades and we can't wait for the version 1.0.

more

BUNRAB, http://www.bunrab.com

2008.03.21

TCHO - Beta Testing Chocolate

The chocolate that I tried is described as being in a Beta stage. This means that they're still working on the recipe and are hoping for some constructive feedback from people who have tried the current batch. When I ate the chocolate I felt like it had a really great texture, but it was just a tad too bitter for me. That didn't exactly stop me from eating it though. more

Erin Cooks, http://erincooks.com

2008.03.20

TCHO Chocolate and a Good Recipe to Follow!

The chocolate was surprisingly aromatic and smooth. It was delicious, heaven in a little bar. And to be honest, I don't usually prefer plain, dark chocolate. I like it in something like a brownie or a cookie. I ended up using the chocolate in an excellent recipe that I will post later today, but I could have eaten this bar all by itself. more

Culinary Adventures of a New Wife, http://newlywedcooking.blogspot.com

2008.03.20

TCHO Beta Bars: Like Fudge Brownie Batter

Despite the vanilla or perhaps because of it, my beta bar was actually extremely chocolatey. It tasted like fudge brownie batter (brownie batter also has vanilla in it so I guess I shouldn't be surprised). I loved it! more

Cupcake Project, http://www.cupcakeproject.com

2008.03.19

A TCHO: Bless me

I loved the TCHO chocolate, I loved the packaging, I love the dedication that is indicated by the effort to research and develop the chocolate. I am looking forward to TCHO's growth. I only wish I could have sampled other varieties, but the one I did was superb and inspiring (in terms of how to incorporate into some dishes. I would have loved to try some in some savory dishes like mole but there was not enough left (especially after my taste test). more

Blair Necessities, http://blairnecessities.blogspot.com

2008.03.19

TCHO chocolate = best chocolate EVER!

ok all I have to say is wow, WOW, WOW!!!
This chocolate is AMAZING!!! I thought I'd be baking something with it but after cracking open the package tonight it somehow disappeared into oblivion. The first bite of chocolate went down so smooth it had to be followed by another.. and yet another. I then put it to the ultimate test and had my house mate give it a try. more

steph chows, http://stephchows.blogspot.com

2008.03.18

TWD: Brioche Snails

Once I tried my chocolate chip snails I realized I wanted a topping, but the glaze wasnt sounding as good as drizzling some of the TCHO chocolate that came in the mail from Blake Makes on it. Boy oh boy is that chocolate yummy. Both my hubs and I loved the chocolate and I was itching to use it and it was a fantastic idea. MMmmm MMmmm good. more

Crazy Delicious Food, http://crazydeliciousfood.com

2008.03.17

It’s HERE!! TCHO Chocolate!!

If you know me in real life, you know that I am a chocoholic. My greatest vices in life are chocolate, coffee, and my son. So when Blake announced a contest for some TCHO Chocolate, I was determined to win...Anyway, I wish I could say that I did something really cool with it, like baked some awesome cookie using the chocolate... but alas, half of it is already in my belly, and I would venture to guess that the rest won't be too far behind. This is some SERIOUSLY GOOD CHOCOLATE. You have to check them out and order some for yourself. more

Lauren's Kitchen, http://lacucinadilauren.blogspot.com

2008.03.17

TCHO - The latest from Blake Makes

I received a package in the mail today. I knew what it was immediately. The latest free food giveaway from Blake Makes. I was thrilled when I was one of the fifty people to receive this particular giveaway. Chocolate.
TCHO is a different sort of chocolate company. Their testers are their customers. They are constantly adjusting their formula to bring out what ever characteristic they are trying to hit. The one I received was marked " chocolatey". They were not going for fruity or nutty this time. more

Porter House, http://porterhouse.typepad.com/porter_house

2008.02.27

Sweet start-up: High tech meets chocolate

Having conquered the frontiers of outer space and information-age publishing, respectively, former space shuttle technologist Timothy Childs and Wired magazine co-founder Louis Rossetto are hoping to turn the wide world of chocolate on its head. more (pdf)

Carolyn Jung, http://www.mercurynews.com/

2008.02.15

Happy Chocolate Day

Valentines, shmalentines, I neither love it nor hate it. One thing I do like about today is that it gets everyone thinking about chocolate, which is something I do love. more

Sheen V, http://sheenv.blogspot.com

2008.02.13

Top 10 Valentine’s Day Gadget Gifts for Gal

What would Valentine's Day be without chocolate? Ghanian chocolate is now available for an initial beta taste test for US$4 for a 50-gram bar. Try some, and go to the TCHO website and tell 'em what you think, just like a real beta tester. more

Charlie White, http://dvice.com

2008.02.12

Next-gen chocolate makers

Serious chocolate lovers may be excused for knowing little about the manufacture of their favourite food, engrossed as they typically are in its consumption. But a new San Francisco start-up has just become one of only a few major chocolate manufacturers in the United States, and it's taking a high-tech approach to the confection of this ages-old delight. more

Claudia Kishler Rice, http://seedsofgrowth.com

2008.02.11

TCHO Chocolate “Upgrades”

In classic Silicon Valley style (the company's based in San Francisco), TCHO chocolate was first available in BETA .2x form (however many ALPHAs existed before that, we can't say), but was recently "upgraded" to BETA .6x. more

Nik Mercer, http://www.anthemmagazine.com

2008.02.08

TCHO Beta

..I wasn't prepared for was how STRONG the chocolate would be. It's difficult to describe; it's not milky or smooth, but it's not bitter, it's really good, and really filling. I could barely eat any of it (in a good way) and I'm a self-professed chocoholic. I look forward to refining my palette as the company grows. more

Ryan J. Downey, http://ryanjdowney.blogspot.com

2008.02.08

TCHO on This

..this is really good chocolate, chocolate for a connoisseur.. more

Davina Baum, http://www.chow.com

2008.02.08

WIRED Magazine Cofounder Becomes Chocolatier

Tcho's San Francisco factory crafts beans into chocolate that is labeled with the cacao varietal, origin, and a whole new lexicon. (sounds like wine...hmmm...that's what we've been talking about too!) more

Candy Snob, http://www.candysnob.com

2008.01.29

TCHO: Redefining Chocolate

This blend of art and tech inspired by the lessons of Silicon Valley permeates everything TCHO does. It’s not just enough to make chocolate, they have to look at chocolate making technology and see how and where it might be improved. It’s not just enough to make chocolate, they have to re-think the way chocolate is being marketed and sold. Does percentage cacao really mean anything? What about origin? What about organic and “Fair Trade?” And (while they’re at it), why not think about the vocabulary of chocolate and see if there is a way to make it easier for people to understand? read the whole thing

Clay Gordon, http://discoverchocolate.com

2008.01.23

Dark Chocolate 1.0: Tech never tasted so sweet

What does technology taste like? According to TCHO, the answer is chocolate. This brand-new San Francisco company, founded by Wired magazine cofounder Louis Rossetto, is serious about good, dark chocolate and using tried and true Silicon Valley techniques to guarantee quality and customer satisfaction. more

Molly Freedenberg, http://www.sfbg.com

2007.12.29

Review for TCHO

OMG, TCHO chocolate is fabulous! They are just starting out but have already found a near perfect balance of flavor and texture in the C. Ghana 0.1 batch. I'm far from a chocolate expert but you can tell from the first taste that TCHO is something special. This will be my go-to place for sweet gifts.

Will G, http://www.yelp.com

2007.12.22

TCHO Beta in full swing

SFs' newest and possibly most *genuine* chocolatier is in Beta. more

Richard A, http://sf.metblogs.com

2007.12.22

Review for TCHO

Hello TCHO! I found out about them on laughingsquid's site, so I decided to give them a try... They're a new local chocolate maker, with sort of a tech-y flaire to them. I mean, yes, it's super duper geeky to call your chocolate "Beta" but I suppose we're in San Francisco and all, so maybe lots of people find that amusing. But yah, I love this kind of stuff, so I order a bar online. Woo!

It was a pleasure to go and stop by their offices to pick up my bar of chocolate. I almost missed it, cuz they're on the America's Cup pier.. I peer in the window, and see a bunch of people milling about on computers and wearing white lab coats.

Hmm.. is this the right place? Looks like just another startup. Is that the faint odor of chocolate I detect in the air? Let me look a little closer. I peek in the window, and see the words "CHOCOLATE" emblazened on the white board. Aha! It IS the right place. So, I saunter on in.

Upon opening the door, I am assaulted by a cavalry of chocolate smells. Wow, it's like thick in the air. Chocolate everywhere. Three happy women come bounding towards me. "We have been WAITING for YOU all day!!" I'm like.. really? Maybe they're drunk from the chocolate fumes they've been inhaling all day, but they sure do seem giddy. I am wrapped up in their jolliness, and rejoice as they go and fetch me a bar of chocolate -- I have one from the "C GHANA 0.188" batch.. I have no idea what that means, but, sure, that sounds cool to me.

I'm a big fan of dark, dark chocolate. Scharffenberger is my fav (I've visited their factory in Berkeley.. something you should definitely do).. So, I was pretty excited to give the TCHO a try..

MMmmmmmmmmm.

Yah. It may be geeky, nerdy, or whatever... but at the end of day, if the chocolate isn't good, then it's all for nought. This batch that I got was gooooood. The chocolate is dark and complicated, with tons of flavours playing around in your mouth. Dark chocolate is good for you, right? Anti-oxidants? whatever.. it's good. No wonder the women working there were so happy.

Dennis Y, http://www.yelp.com

2007.12.13

Beta Testing TCHO Chocolate

The difference between this office and any other startup office is obvious the moment you step in as the pleasant aroma of warm chocolate fills the air. more

Mike H, http://mikehuang.com

2007.12.13

Next Big Thing: TCHO Chocolate

You heard it here first: I'm predicting a sweet future for TCHO chocolate. more

Richard A, http://stylesavestheworld.blogspot.com

2007.12.12

The First Orders Arrive for Chocolate Beta Bars

One of the first to weigh in was Herbie Hancock, the jazz musician, who attended the conference. “Herbie liked the A,” said Mr. Rossetto. more

Katie H, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

2007.12.11

Wired founder starts chocolate company

The two decided to go into business together two years ago when Mr. Childs called Mr. Rossetto to tell him he had found a chocolate factory for sale in an old castle in Wernigerode, in the former East Germany. more

Mark F, http://www.boingboing.net

2007.12.10

Chocolate in Beta Testing, Offered by a Wired Founder

In a vast refurbished warehouse on one of this city's historic pier, Louis Rossetto, the co-founder of Wired magazine, is at it again. Only this time, his project has nothing to do with media or high technology. It is hand-crafted chocolate. more

Katie H, http://www.nytimes.com