Evan and the Chocolate Factory
Have you ever wished you were could go to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory? I know I have always wanted to and recently had the chance to...well sort of. I visited Christopher Elbow’s Chocolate facility...and this is how I imagine Wonka did it, only better.
I love chocolate and ever since I learned how to make it myself from the bean...I’ve been pretty picky about what I eat. This chocolate is worth the trip to Kansas City (you can actually buy online, but anyway). First of all, all of his flavors are natural...no preservatives. You want lemon, which is amazing...You are getting lemon. You want mint, expect fresh mint to be infused in your chocolate. His chocolates are works of art. They are all hand crafted which means his staff molds, paints, and fills each and every piece. His chocolate is so amazing that Lamborghini hired him to make custom boxes to match a very limited production custom car.
On my visit, I got the amazing opportunity to hang out and talk with him about his chocolate sourcing and production. Most of his chocolate is Valrhona, which is a large company out of France. Very well known and makes a good product and has a good record on responsible chocolate sourcing. In addition to this with his craft bars he is gets close to the source himself. We are talking bean to bar. The kitchen or factory was quite high tech. He used only the finest precision chocolate making equipment, much of which was sourced from Germany.
I love this because you may recall on a trip to Ecuador a few years back I had the opportunity to make my own chocolate bar from fresh roasted beans. Man, there is nothing like it.
Well, Chris is doing the same. He has a new line of craft chocolates from a variety of cacao growing regions throughout the world. He personally visits the farmers, learns about their growing/living conditions and pays them a fair living wage...more than those large chocolate companies we hear about daily. So, you can feel good about what you are eating...
Soon, he is opening a really cool new store/factory/experience. I am really excited for this and hope to go for the opening.
I love chocolate and ever since I learned how to make it myself from the bean...I’ve been pretty picky about what I eat. This chocolate is worth the trip to Kansas City (you can actually buy online, but anyway). First of all, all of his flavors are natural...no preservatives. You want lemon, which is amazing...You are getting lemon. You want mint, expect fresh mint to be infused in your chocolate. His chocolates are works of art. They are all hand crafted which means his staff molds, paints, and fills each and every piece. His chocolate is so amazing that Lamborghini hired him to make custom boxes to match a very limited production custom car.
On my visit, I got the amazing opportunity to hang out and talk with him about his chocolate sourcing and production. Most of his chocolate is Valrhona, which is a large company out of France. Very well known and makes a good product and has a good record on responsible chocolate sourcing. In addition to this with his craft bars he is gets close to the source himself. We are talking bean to bar. The kitchen or factory was quite high tech. He used only the finest precision chocolate making equipment, much of which was sourced from Germany.
I love this because you may recall on a trip to Ecuador a few years back I had the opportunity to make my own chocolate bar from fresh roasted beans. Man, there is nothing like it.
Well, Chris is doing the same. He has a new line of craft chocolates from a variety of cacao growing regions throughout the world. He personally visits the farmers, learns about their growing/living conditions and pays them a fair living wage...more than those large chocolate companies we hear about daily. So, you can feel good about what you are eating...
Soon, he is opening a really cool new store/factory/experience. I am really excited for this and hope to go for the opening.
