Tag Archives: Coppeneur

A serendipitous meeting with some chocolate makers on Nosy Be

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After visiting Chocolat Bonnat in Voiron, France, we made our way back to Paris and boarded a flight for Madagascar. It was a long flight (about 10 hours), and we arrived in the airport in capital of Antananarivo, nicknamed Tana, at midnight! After waiting in immigration for an hour for our visas to be issued, we went to a hotel near the airport and crashed.

The next day we went back to the airport and grabbed a 2 hour ride in a prop plane to the island of Nosy Be, also called the “The Island of Flavors” (L’Isle des Parfums). It is a island off the northern coast of Madagascar that has been developed for tourism, and it is not far from the cacao growing region of Ambanja.

While we were waiting for the flight to Nosy Be, Cyrus met a woman named Alice who had just arrived from San Francisco.  Alice said that she was going to fly to Nosy Be  and then travel to Ambanja to visit a cocoa plantation. She is the chocolate maker at a new company called  Dandelion Chocolate and she and her business partner Cameron were visiting Madagascar in order to source beans. Several days later, Cyrus got a call saying that they would like to meet us at a restaurant on the beach before they got the plane back to the mainland. Our lunch was organized by Bertil Akesson, part-owner of one of the  largest plantations in Madagascar that we had arranged to visit the next week.


Alice and company arrived about 1 hour late due to boat trouble (not unusual in Madagascar) and we had a quick lunch so that they wouldn’t miss their flight. Besides Alice and her partner, Cameron, there was Bertil and Oliver, a chocolate maker from Germany. As we sat down for lunch, I was beginning to put it all together: Bertil’s father founded a plantation in the 70’s, and that plantation sells beans to some of the best chocolate companies in the world. Oliver and Dandelion were there to source these wonderful beans and to learn more about the plantation. And the reason that we were there having lunch with them was because Cyrus is a great communicator and had the sense to borrow my aunt’s cellphone before leaving Germany, getting a local sim chip, and staying in touch with our friends at Madecasse who were arranging our visit to Ambanja!

During lunch I sat next to Oliver and he asked me if I knew of a certain distributor in Calgary. “He’s the distributor of Coppeneur”, I said and then Cameron announced “Well, this is Mr. Coppeneur!”. This information totally blew me away. What are the chances of randomly meeting Oliver Coppeneur at a beach side restaurant in Madagascar?  What luck to be at the right place at the right time. It was exhilarating to  feel like I was part of some global cacao network. This chance encounter cemented my belief that what we were doing, traveling the world in search of cacao,  was the right thing.

We now were anxious to begin  our trip to the cacao growing region of Madagascar, the Sambirano Valley, and the town of Ambanja.

Full Again

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The Shop is fully stocked once again in anticipation of our expanded hours beginning November 9th. All four Bonnat bars are back, as well as Cluizel, Pralus, Valrhona Manjari Orange, and Corallo. Our Chocophilia section is fully stocked once again (including the Fleur de Sel milk and Hot Chocolate bars), and there are lots of Coconut, Dulce de Leche and Peanut Butter cups waiting for you in the truffle case. And now on to some new treats.

We’ve just received a brand new shipment of Coppeneur of Germany. Single Origin Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and a Trinidadian with Habanero and Lavender are all waiting for tasting. We also received some of their truffle bars (think Zotter style with these ones). Flavours include Saffron and Orange, Panna Cotta and Red Berries, and one which is certainly my favourite – Black Beer (notes of coffee and toasted malt balance Coppeneur’s beautiful chocolate incredibly well here).

We also received a much anticipated shipment of Escazú blended bars, as well as their EZCA single origin bars. The talk of the Shop has certainly been the hand-crafted Venezuelan 60% with Goat’s Milk – a dark bar with the creaminess of milk and a slight goat’s milk tang just towards the end.

More fall truffle flavours are certainly making their way into the Shop, but the S’more Cup has been the hit of the week, flying out of the truffle case all day today. Home-made vanilla marshmallow in a dark chocolate cup, with crunchy graham wafer at the base and top makes for a perfectly decadent fall treat.

Also back by popular demand, is chocolate dipped ginger. We’ve also added chocolate dipped apricots to the collection for a bit of fall sweetness.

Speaking of truffles, we have recently started carrying Jacqueline Jacek‘s truffle collection. Based in Sherwood Park, she has gained quite the reputation this past year for her beautiful fashion inspired collections. Currently in the truffle case is the LouLou Belle collection (picture below: Pink Grapefruit Sherbet).

And finally, Rachel is still whipping up fresh flourless chocolate cakes and brownies throughout the week and we’ve received many excellent comments (and sometimes just strange moaning noises) on their deliciousness when sampling them in the Shop. But we’ve recently given the packaging a makeover, so these little treats are now perfect for fall gift giving, or taking home yourself to unwrap and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the last little bit of warm fall weather this week. And keep in mind that snow means two excellent things – more drinking chocolate evenings, which are absolutely essential for keeping warm, and our Christmas collection in the next month or so. We’ll keep you posted. Until then, enjoy your chocolate.

New products arrive at The Cocoa Room

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We have recently brought some new products into the store for you chocolate connoisseurs.

Coppeneur is a German chocolate maker, and we decided to carry their chocolate, because we find their quality to be excellent. Their organic single plantation bars are truly delicious. Also check out the Coppeneur filled bars in flavours such as Walnut & Cognac or Chili & Highland Whisky.

Because so many of you told us that you liked the Claudio Corallo line of chocolates, we stocked up once more. The popular crystallized ginger bars are back, and we have also added a delicious 70% dark chocolate with cocoa nibs. My personal favourite, the 80% with crystallized sugar, is back too.

We continue to carry the Pralus “Les tropiques du chocolat” line, which features single origin 75% chocolates from all over the world. This time we are testing out the mild and slightly “hazelnutish” Venezuela and the earthy Sao Tome & Principe, which has a slight hint of mushroom. And for the first time we have brought in the Pralus Fortssima with an 80% cocoa content.

Also new are Domori’s Carenero Superior, a very smooth 70% chocolate from the Barlovento region in Venezuela and a 70% super-fruity Madagascar (definitely on my top 3 list now). Finally, for those of you who have been eagerly waiting its arrival, the Domori Porcelana is back.

Nina