TCHO... pronounced "Cho" is a new (started in 2008) chocolate company in the Bay Area. They specialize in 'dark chocolate' and it's factory is located at Pier 17 (next door to the future site of the ExplOratorium). They give free tours to the public twice a day. It's a very informative tour about how they came about, where they get their 'cacao' (pronounced 'cow' beans) and how they develop their chocolate and market it.
More importantly, they teach us how to appreciate and evaluate the chocolate. It's like wine tasting. You just don't gulp it down. You need to savor the experience. That's how they teach you at TCHO.
First you Smell it (90% of taste is smell). Then you Look at the consistency of the chocolate. Does it look shiny or does it have white powdery stuff on top of it? If it does, that means it's tempered incorrectly. (Not a good sign.) Next, Listen to the chocolate as you break it. Good chocolate makes a clean, bright snapping sound. Last but not least is Taste: if chocolate is overly sweet or vanilla-flavored it defeats the purpose of eating 'chocolate'; Is it bitter? Bright? How does it melt in your mouth? What is the aftertaste like?
They make six different types of dark chocolate and the most eye-opening ones for me was that the fruity and nutty chocolate flavors have absolutely NO nut nor fruit mixed into it. It's all naturally flavored from the cacao bean. I am not a dark chocolate fan but the fruity one I really liked. The Fruity flavor had 68% cacao and it's cacao beans come from Peru. I liked it even more than their milk chocolate which I felt was too 'milky'. [Larry, my serious chocolate connoisseur friend, what do you think about TCHO chocolate?]
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| Lovely hairnets for hygiene purposes |
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| Lots of candy in mini packs for sale |
After the tour we went to Sears Fine Foods (considered a SF Institution since 1938) for brunch.
After our delicious meal, we explored the City like tourists.
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| Can you guess where this place is? |
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| The largest Nordstrom's ever.. at least in this State. |
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| A cool interactive store window. Just press the buttons and watch the scene move and change. |
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| Enjoying two Beard Papa's! |
To Be Continued...
