Just give me Drinking Chocolate

There was a very nice article that came out this morning concerning our drinking chocolate. I applaud Mr.Johnson for doing his research and for giving us such a nice review. Mrs. Julie Casper, hopefully she won't mind me mentioning her name, was the sweet lady who gave me the proverbial kick in the pants to do drinking chocolate.

The inspiration for our recipe dates back a little further though to when I was in Italy working with some master chocolatiers alongside Chef Judy Witts Francini (www.divinacucina.com/). I was priviledged enough to see the inner workings of artisan chocolate makers such as Danielo Vestri (www.vestri.it), Roberto Cantinari (www.robertocatinari.it), Simone de Castro (www.simonedecastro.it), and several others as part of the Tuscan Masters program with EcoleChocolat (www.ecolechocolat.com). During this time, I experienced some of the most wonderful chocolates that you can ever imagine. Andrea Slitti is the master of drinking chocolate in Italy; he originally was a coffee roaster and turned to chocolates later in his career. He has a whole range of crazy and exciting flavors that we tried. My very first drinking chocolate was a hazelnut laden one. It had crushed hazelnuts and a syrup mixed into it. I thought the portion was way too much (roughly 12 oz) but the taste was awesome - rich and molten and nutty. I honestly didn't think this would be something I would try again...until I ran into Mrs. Casper....The recipe hinges on two things: the base chocolate used and the execution of melting it. If you start with crap chocolate, then you will reap what you make. Don't complain to me. Go with the good stuff! Then, it's just the process of how you make it. This takes a little practice because you want to add just the right amount of heat, which chocolate doesn't like. Too much heat and you have scorched earth. Too little heat and the chocolate will just float around teasing you like a school yard bully....

A lot of the recipes I received are tucked neatly away in my little binder of recipes that I hope to recreate and share with you. Drinking chocolate is just one in the arsenal of flavors that people can try out and hopefully enjoy.