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Tuesday
Nov222011

Bar Wrappers

 

As most of you already know, several months ago, we completely re-tooled our whole entire package from bar mold to wrapper. We slipped this in under the radar and have never really explained the concept, so here goes. 

Our idea is to have a continuing series of sketches highlighting different crafts.  We chose our first illustration to highlight a craft that is near and dear to us, the craft of a Shipwright.  In our minds the pinnacle of wood-craft is boat building.  The complex, and constantly changing curves of a boat hull represent the greatest challenge to the woodworker.  It is amazing, that even to this day, most wooden boats are built almost entirely by hand.  Even the most complicated of machines can't shape the changing bevel on the edge of a plank or the face of a sawn frame.  Patience and care must be taken to fit all joints water tight.  It is not a fast process.  We feel like much of the patience required to build a boat carries over to the chocolate making process.  We don't rush the process, often repeating steps if they are not done right the first time, scrapping an entire batch if we are not proud of the product.

We also selected the ship yard illustration because of the rich and complex history of ship-building in Humboldt Bay. It ties us to this place we call home. In San Francisco, the lumber schooner the C.A. Thayer, was built here on Humboldt Bay, along with countless other great ships used to carry lumber up and down the west coast.  It is one of the last remaining west coast lumber schooners.

Our idea is to roll our new illustrations every so often to continue to highlight this idea of craftsmanship that we hold so dear.

 

Tuesday
Nov222011

New Roaster

 

 

Part of growing means out-growing our machinery.  We are currently roasting in a small convection oven retrofitted with a small roasting drum.  It works, but is SLOW.  Roasting 70-80 lbs of cacao takes the better part of the day that way.  We have had our eyes peeled for the last 9 months or so for the perfect roaster. Old enough, trashed enough, funky enough for us.  Buying something old and tired and restoring it ourselves is the way we always go.  So,  off we went 5 hours each way to Oroville, CA to pick up the roaster of our dreams a royal #5.  It is a real beauty, or will be one day soon.  It came from a private family with a history of coffee roasting in the area.  We plan to completely tear it apart, rebuild it like new and put it back into service roasting cacao.  Hopefully we will have it back up and running in time to tackle some of the holiday madness!