Chocolate Sampler/Chocolate News and Reviews

Chocolate Sampler is a sporadic post on DyingforChocolate.com about fun, interesting news about chocolate.

Walmart is offering an exclusive Ben & Jerry's Flavor: Flourless Chocolate Cake Ice-Cream. Oh my!  Read more and a review by Brad Thomas Parsons HERE. Brad says it reminds him of Brownie Batter, and that was one of my favorites. Hard to find, so it must be a retired flavor. I guess I need to make a trip to WalMart. Quel Horreur!


Askinosie Chocolate, one of my favorite chocolate companies, is auctioning a set of five of the first single origin chocolate bars made with cocoa beans from Liberia. It’s a fundraiser to send high school students in the Cocoa Honors program to Africa in the Summer of 2010. Students will participate ni a service project in an African community either in Liberia or Tanzania. Auction ends April 11, so Bid  HERE now.

If you're reading this blog, you know that dark chocolate is healthy. Here's yet another study about how eating dark chocolate decreases the risk of heart attack. A chocolate a day, keeps the doctor away. Read the article, HERE.

And that goes for stroke, too, of course. And here's another study. HERE.

And, in another study, the Express reports that Chocolate and Wine can curb dementia. According to an expert, regular intake of chocolate, fruits, vegetables, red wine and tea help you against Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Robert Williams, a biochemist at Kings College London, says that all include chemicals called flavonoids may also helpful in dementia sufferers. Read more HERE.

My friend Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations sent me a link to an article about M.I.T's Laboratory for Chocolate Science. Now here's a reason to go back to school. Read the article HERE.

Speaking of Cambridge, a Harvard professor found a way to experience the taste of chocolate with calories.  “It is a very new concept,” said David Edwards, a professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard University. “It’s kind of like smoking chocolate.”  Edwards unveiled his sweet invention called Le Whif – a biodegradable lipstick-like device that delivers breathable taste sensations at Tory Row in Harvard Square. No thanks. Not for me. I love to taste my chocolate! Read the article HERE.

And on the other side of the continent in San Francisco, Timothy Childs, a former rocket scientist and founder of Tcho Chocolate, uses his iPhone to run his lab. Childs is committed to creating unique flavor profiles that bring out the bean’s origins, and to do that, he uses custom-developed machinery in his San Francisco chocolate lab. Helping him run that lab, from near and far, is the iPhone. Tcho is a staple on our Chocolate Scavenger Hunts in San Francisco. It's especially popular with our Hi-Tech clients. No surprise. Read the story and watch the Video about Chocolatology meets Technology HERE.