#bean-to-bar

#bean-to-bar

Lachlan Morton made a name for himself as a professional road racer before charting his own path of endurance challenges and gravel racing, including an Eversting World Record and a 1st place finish at Unbound gravel in 2024.

The top four are amazing, and they're varieties I'd be more than pleased to have stocked in my pantry at all times. The rest are pretty tasty, and the bottom two had the most issues.

The Omnom Spiced White and Caramel Bar is flavored with orange peel, malt, and cinnamon, giving it a distinct citrusy and bitter flavor that overpowers the chocolate notes.

The CQI Coffee Corps program represents the very best of the coffee sector. Coffee Corps volunteers embody a spirit of generosity and collaboration that has expanded opportunities for producers and made our industry stronger.

Lavazza has opened a Los Angeles Training Center, its second major North American training-center investment in less than six months following the launch of its Dallas facility in December 2025.

I took two bites and I had to spit it out, Reese says. I've never had that happen to me, ever, in the 70 years of my life. There was no taste. It was inedible. Reese took a closer look at the packaging, specifically the ingredients. He noticed that instead of milk chocolate, the mini hearts were covered in a chocolate-flavored coating that was mostly sugar and vegetable oil; the list of ingredients contained a disclaimer that the candy contained less than 2% cocoa.

Quality chocolate delivers better flavor, texture, and overall experience. Higher-quality cacao has more complexity, with notes that can be fruity, nutty, floral, or earthy instead of simply sweet or bitter. It also melts more cleanly because it relies on cocoa butter rather than cheaper fats.

The project was undertaken by the collaborative team of Laboratorio Regional de Arquitectura, Taller | Mauricio Rocha, and Samuele Xompero after the demolition of the building that once housed the National Union of Cacao Producers, and which had suffered severe structural damage. The building's architecture incorporates the formal memory of its predecessor, but with a new program dedicated to showcasing the transformation of cacao into chocolate.

Kirk Tanner, The Hershey Company CEO, stated, 'We're going to make some small investments to really align the portfolio to what the brand stands for. That consistency is important across the brand.'

A chocolate box is not a substitute for true love. But sometimes it's close enough. The best chocolate boxes can offer all the complexity and intensity of a brief love affair, and more variety than some lives. Sometimes, only the best will do. And these days, the best chocolates in existence are a mere mouse-click away, able to be ordered online and sent to your favorite human being on earth (even if it's you).

They contain less cocoa butter and often added stabilizers, which are frequently wheat-based, and that's what prevents them from melting smoothly. As such, when you bake chocolate chips into your favorite cookie or brownie recipe, you're not going to have to worry about them losing their shape or absorbing into the batter.

Where larger, electric espresso machines generate the pressure and heat needed for espresso inside their massive housings, the Flair takes a different approach. A large lever sits atop a small stack of brewing equipment, and you use that lever to create the bars of pressure necessary to get espresso. There's a chamber for your grounds and another atop it for hot water.

A good cup of coffee (decaf included) delivers on all fronts: Flavor, acidity, body, sweetness, and balance, aka The Pleasure Principle. The infamously-snobbish coffee élite might maintain that decaf drinkers aren't "real coffee fans." But, as a veteran barista, I would argue that the opposite is actually true: Only the most diehard bean-heads tread decaf domain.