What happens when a former NASA software engineer and a co-founder of Wired magazine decide to start up a chocolate company? TCHO Ventures is trying to make single-bean varietal chocolate varieties that best express the component flavors of chocolate, which they've identified as "chocolate", "nutty", "fruity", "floral", "earthy", and "citrus". To test this concept, they've been "beta-testing" their chocolate in plain brown wrappers, and collecting feedback. The result is good chocolate, with just a hint of viral marketing.
posted on Oct 2, 2008 - View this thread

A brief history of chocolate slavery: That Chocolate is an oligopoly might surprise a few people. Chocolate's Bittersweet Economy (pdf) shows that seven years after the industry had agreed to abolish child labour, little progress has been made. Cross-border Migration of Working Children has still been left out of Harkin-Engel Cocoa Protocol Process. Bitter Chocolate Reflects on the politics of cocoa and chocolate. With Halloween approaching you might consider a Fair Trade approach to Trick or Treat. (If Chocolate slavery doesn't make you throw up a little maybe this will.)
posted on Oct 1, 2008 - View this thread

Sold all over the world but banned in the US in 1997 under a law passed in 1938. Kinder Surprise are now under attack in Germany. No magicodes for you!
posted on Aug 9, 2008 - View this thread

Identify the candy bar by its cross-section.
posted on Jun 27, 2008 - View this thread

Steve Gisselbrecht writes about his experiments taking chocolate from beans to bars at home.
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - View this thread

Smartie Art by Prudence Emma Straite; who previously has made works of Dali (and whole rooms) from chocolate and the Pope (and the Coliseum) from pizza. (Radio 4 doc - real audio) (PS. The blue Smartie is back)
posted on Apr 16, 2008 - View this thread

Lupercalia is a festival that probably pre-dates Rome, and which later became known as St. Valentine's day. It had everything; sacrifice, cake, nudity, spanking and a love lottery. What do we get? A card. If we are lucky. But, who was Valentine? Did Chaucer make the whole thing up?
posted on Feb 14, 2008 - View this thread

An entertaining stop-motion animation from an AdHack (a DIY-ad startup) user. The audio is slightly unsafe for work, and it gets a bit weird and, uh, extra-chocolatey near the end, but it's certainly worth 30 seconds out of your Valentine's Day.
posted on Feb 14, 2008 - View this thread

Last minute valentine idea: Chocolate Ganache Truffles. "You'd have to go a long way to screw it up." (video, expect an interstitial)
posted on Feb 13, 2008 - View this thread

It's an advert for chocolate. It's a man in a gorilla suit drumming to a track by Philip Collins Ltd. It's been very popular. It's won awards. It's been spoofed. And it's been mashed-up... some bad (Metalica (sic), ACDC, Guns and Roses), some good (Bonnie Tyler, Subsource, A Skillz, Bon Jovi, Deep Purple, Nirvana) and some utterly sublime ('Enders, Bodyrockers, Cameo). But great adverts don't always equal great sales. Bonus: Monkey Drummer. (Previously)
posted on Dec 23, 2007 - View this thread

Chocolate Bunny. From artist Sander Plug.
posted on Nov 27, 2007 - View this thread

Chocolate and the Beer of the Ancients. New archaeological evidence suggests that primitive beer brewers were the first to discover the goodness of chocolate.
posted on Nov 20, 2007 - View this thread

Make your own Halloween candy bars. The take on a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is superb. However, to temper chocolate properly, you'll need an accurate kitchen scale. The behind-the-scenes video is pretty cool.
posted on Oct 24, 2007 - View this thread

Chocolate Rain. From Bach to Tupac, you can always expect the unexpected from Tay Zonday. Mr. Zonday has experienced some fame as of late, thanks to shock jocks Opie & Anthony. Tay is quite the original artist and is, shockingly, unsigned. So, if you know any A&R guys that are looking for new talent, please let them know! My personal favorite is his karaoke cover of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Although, the Darth Vader remix of Chocolate Rain is pretty friggin' sweet, too.
posted on Jul 27, 2007 - View this thread

Carbonite Chocolate Han Goodness
posted on May 14, 2007 - View this thread

Europeans love to bash American chocolate - especially Hershey's - almost as much as the like to bash, erm, America in general (apparently, it tastes like doggie treats). Recently, Big Chocolate have asked the FDA if they can stop using real cocoa butter in the chocolate-making process, which can only make it taste even worse. I often wonder how many so-called chocoholics know that most of the chocolate they eat was probably picked by slave labour in West Africa. Child slaves, even. Meh, they probably don't care: research indicates that chocolate is 'four times better than kissing'. Never trust a junkie.
posted on Apr 23, 2007 - View this thread

The art of sugar: flowers, lace, birds, sculpture, cubes, gardens, construction site, houses, paintings, underwear. In Britain. In Mexico sugar skulls are created to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Amezaiku is a Japanese candy craft and wagashi the art of Japanese confection.
posted on Mar 11, 2007 - View this thread

MacRobertson's Confectionery were, in the 1930s, trialling new ideas for their children's range. An employee suggested that as "women and children were afraid of mice," rather than a chocolate mouse, a chocolate frog would be more popular with children. Three days later, what would become Australia's most popular children's confectionery, the Freddo Frog, was born. Its supposed creator, Harry Melbourne, died last week, having never received a cent in royalties. However, to this day there remains confusion as to whether he, or rather the inventor of the Cherry Ripe, Lesley Atkison, was in fact responsible. Those that only know him in chocolate form may be surprised to find out that Freddo was also the star of Australia's first cartoon.
posted on Jan 29, 2007 - View this thread

One of the world's most expensive chocolates expertly debunked. (For maximum awesome, read all 10 parts)
posted on Dec 20, 2006 - View this thread

Some folks really like it sweet. Some will start a six-year campaign to get it. Some blame Canada and France for not getting it, when it was perhaps better to blame the Swiss. Some want it healthy while others want the romance back. Some make it part of higher education, while others just want to get higher. Even vegans want in on the gooey action.
posted on Aug 30, 2006 - View this thread

Worker falls into chocolate vat. His quick-thinking co-workers understand the chemistry of of confection.
posted on Aug 18, 2006 - View this thread

The Sweet Lure of Chocolate
posted on Nov 1, 2005 - View this thread

You can't POSSIBLY be serious. The fact that modern breakfast foods (or at least, foods normally associated with breakfast) have expanded to include items such as cereals whose marshmallow content threatens to outweigh the actual nutritious content, slightly more nutritious items covered in frosting, and of course, the wide variety of chocolate flavored items, cereals, milk, muffins, and so on. But that's just breakfast. Now, however, we're getting into personal hygiene. And that may just be Snakes On A Plane dangerous.
posted on Oct 9, 2005 - View this thread

"For every Deep Roy, there are a hundred and fifty of us who are forced to do wacked-out shit on 'The Man Show.' I'd like Tim Burton to tell me to my face what is the benefit of hiring one dwarf actor and computer-generating him when he could hire seven. We're standing at the gate and we're raising our hands and saying, 'Pick me!' And then Tim Burton comes out and says, 'I'm sorry, guys, go on home. We've got this machine that can do all your jobs.'"
posted on Jul 27, 2005 - View this thread

Eat your favorite deity, the way to your heart (and soul) is through your stomach. Buddha, Ganesh, or even chocolate Jesus. These would even make for a nice dessert after supper. Tom Waits would be proud.
posted on Mar 14, 2005 - View this thread

Save the Bunnies! Every year, thousands of "pet" rabbits are purchased as Easter gifts, usually for kids, without much thought to the years of care which the animals will need. Within months, humane societies and pet shelters are flooded with the animals, many of which must be euthanized, as there simply aren't enough adopters to give them new homes. In response, the Columbus House Rabbit Society encourages everyone to eschew pet rabbit gifts and say Make Mine Chocolate!^TM instead. And since no campaign is worthwhile these days without a symbolic lapel pin, you can wear a chocolate bunny to spread the message.
posted on Feb 17, 2005 - View this thread

Consumer Reports for Kids publishes the results of The Great Halloween Candy Report. Be sure to take the Candy Bar test: A bit childish, but oh such chocolatey fun.
posted on Oct 24, 2004 - View this thread

Chocolate Roulette! Finally, a choice for those of us who want the danger of Russian Roulette but not the mess of a bullet in the brain. Of course, if you're watching your calories, there's hope just a click away.
posted on Aug 13, 2004 - View this thread

Federal marshmallow-mixup bust.... "a teacher's aide who forgot to put away her marshmallows and hot chocolate at Yellowstone National Park last year was taken from her cruise ship cabin in handcuffs...."
posted on Jun 23, 2004 - View this thread

Welcome to tropical Ivory Coast, the small African nation that is home of almost half of the world's cocoa exports! Visit the sandy beaches! Get kidnapped and disappeared by government officials!
posted on Jun 23, 2004 - View this thread

Chocolate dipped pork fat is now on the menu in one of the Ukraine's trendiest restaurants. Because regular pork fat isn't chocolately enough.
posted on Jun 22, 2004 - View this thread

Principe: island of chocolate. [more about Sao Tome and Principe: 1,2,3]
posted on Jun 19, 2004 - View this thread

"Rabbit Test" chocolate bunnies ranked- and I do mean rank.Now you'll know what NOT to bite the ears off of...
posted on Mar 6, 2003 - View this thread

Bittersweet chocolate. "Of the $1.1 billion in boxed chocolates that Americans are expected to buy on Valentine's Day, very little will be untainted by the scourge of child labor. Although some who buy those bonbons will do so without knowing the sinister history of their purchases, others, like the chocolate makers, will have known for at least two years, if not longer, that cocoa beans imported from the Ivory Coast -- used to make nearly half the chocolate consumed in this country -- are harvested in large part by children, some as young as 9, and many of whom are considered slaves, trafficked from desperately poor countries like Mali and Burkina Faso."
posted on Feb 13, 2003 - View this thread

"Eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Can John Ashcroft find salvation in a recipe for chocolate brownies? Hey, every little bit helps.
posted on Dec 16, 2002 - View this thread

Chocolate french fries? I thought Heinz might have gone too far with green ketchup, but Cocoa Crispers, "brown chocolate fries designed for kids with a sweet tooth" really make my stomach turn. Also announced: Crunchy Rings - basically Tater Tots with a hole in the middle. Yum.
posted on Feb 11, 2002 - View this thread

Kobe Bryant's favorite spread. *Insert joke here* After a long, exhausting day of running drills in practice and shooting free throws, nothing spells refreshment quite like N-U-T-E-L-L-A. Maybe Cookie Dough Sport wasn't so far off the mark. Plus, the rest of the page is truly frightening.
posted on Dec 2, 2001 - View this thread

Who needs money, chocolate or cocaine when you've got women?
posted on Nov 11, 2001 - View this thread

Your chocolate bar contains beans picked by child slaves. From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Part of an excellent report into the Ivory Coast cocoa trade. Awful stuff, especially for a corporation like Hershey Foods, which exists for the benefit of a school for disadvantaged children. Apparently boycotts won't help. If we shouldn't boycott, can't take direct action, what can we do? (Via TurksHeadReview.)
posted on Jun 25, 2001 - View this thread

Never mind that Dihydrogen Monoxide stuff, here's the latest eco-horror.... A landfill supervisor urges that this theobromine laced substance not be placed in regular landfills because of the toll it takes on animals. Yet it can be freely bought by children.....
posted on Jun 22, 2001 - View this thread

News of the Wonka remake. I think Nick Cage would suck as Wonka, but Dustin Hoffman...that's interesting.
posted on Mar 31, 2000 - View this thread