Chocolate. Real chocolate.

The other day I was lucky to tag along with Jordan to the ESIF (Early Stage Investment Forum) in Seattle. The event was held by NWEN (Northwest Entrepreneur Network) and is sort of a 'graduation' milestone for local entrepreneurs and startups. We weren't the only software startup, but there were many other types of companies represented - bio-tech, high tech, textiles and gourmet foods. Not just any gourmet food - gourmet, hand-crafted and wonderfully made chocolate. Real chocolate. Not the burn-your-throat, over sugared, waxy poo that comes from Pennsylvania. I had heard rumors of a coconut curry chocolate so during a lull in booth duty I wandered around to score some chocolate. Several years ago a friend visited Mexico and brought home some chocolate that was flavored with chili powder and granulated sugar and the taste was fantastic so I assumed this curry chocolate would be just as good. I found the booth with Theo Chocolate and talked with two very friendly folks and asked about the curry chocolate. Naturally they offered a taste and I must say it was great - spicy but smooth and rich with chocolate. I told them that I'm always on the lookout for new chocolate because my wife really likes good chocolate, especially Dutch dark chocolate. Suprisingly, they started pulling out bars and explaining each - this is 91% cacao, this is 65% cacao and so on. Their flavors are intriguing, not only do they have coconut curry chocolate, but also Chai Tea chocolate and exotic chocolate using cacao beans from Ghana and Madagascar and Venezuela. I have only tried the Venezuela chocolate (91% cacao) and it's really becoming addictive - crisp chocolate with a dusky bitterness without being unpleasantly bitter. I hope the 'Special Limited Edition' label doesn't mean it will be hard to get in the future.



(Oh, and I just found this useful Flickr tool to upload photos directly from your desktop with a right-click menu. Quite a time saver.)