Scholar Series: Dr. Kristy Leissle, Author of Cocoa

Special Episode: A look back at Chocoa 2020

Hello Well Tempered podcast listeners and readers! If you're catching this on iTunes or my website you know it's been a while since I've broadcasted via this medium. After the start of the pandemic, I found it much more intimate to engage with guests through video conferencing -- the informality and honest connection that ensued, and yet equally as effective at conveying information, not to mention, much less editing on my part -- meant I spoke to more people than ever (50+ interviews in 2020). So if you've been holding out here for more content, the interviews continue, but the majority are now scattered about my Well Tempered Media Facebook and Instagram accounts. Latest episodes are non-gendered, featuring people from all walks of cacao and chocolate, and are published on Conversations in Cocoa via the substack platform.

Enjoy this throwback to an in-person conference! These 3 interviews were recorded last February 2020 at Chocoa held inside the Beurs van Berlage (former stock exchange), in Amsterdam. Chocoa 2021 - the 9th of its kind - held this February 24-26th, will be its first digital edition due to the enduring global coronavirus pandemic crisis. Well Tempered Media listeners are being offered a 20% discount code, at checkout on the tickets page apply 20LAUREN.

These were all impromptu interviews, all under 10 minutes each. I approached these guests in between various other meetings. It's a bit hectic on the showroom floor, but that energy of people coming together for a common adoration for good cocoa and chocolate was inspiring -- filled with hope, promise, care and compassion for a world of full of flavor, fairness and opportunities.

Guests featured in this episode:
Brigitte Laliberté coordinator of the Cocoa of Excellence Programme (also see the International Standards for the Assessment of Cocoa Quality and Flavour, of which Brigitte is the coordinator of the working group)
María Salvadora Jiménez of Fine Flavor Cacao Specialist at Daarnhouwer & Co.
Salla Mankinen Technology Director at Orijin.io storytelling and traceability software specialists

A special thank you to the team at Chocoa for inviting me to take part in the events and Chocolate Makers’ Forum. Also, you'll find a recent interview with Chocoa partner Mariana de la Rosa on the WTM instagram page where we have recorded Q&A session to get to know the details of this year’s digital offerings.

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Thank you for your near 5 years support of this podcast project. I've been honored to find myself in your earbuds and as a companion as you wrap bars or send emails. I wish you a very safe and healthy 2021. I miss seeing you and sampling your delicacies table-side, but have faith together we can still do great things to create a bright cocoa future.

Catch upcoming interviews with scholars and industry members, articles, audios, chocolate recipes, and Conversations in Cocoa at laurenonthewknd.substack.com

Scholar Series: Allison Brown, PhD Candidate in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development

Description: An interview as part of the Well Tempered Podcast’s ‘Scholar Series’ (recorded February 2020)
Guest: Allison Brown, PhD candidate at Penn State 
Area of study: Food Science and International Agriculture and Development

Allison Brown is a PhD candidate and USDA NIFA (United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture) predoctoral fellow studying a dual-title degree in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development at The Pennsylvania State University. She studies cocoa and chocolate using chemical and sensory analysis to fingerprint the flavor, taste, and mouthfeel of varieties of Theobroma cacao. In addition, she led a consumer research project to understand the importance of chocolate flavor to premium chocolate consumers. For the international agriculture and development portion of her PhD, she studies the impact of an in-country national cocoa sensory panel on cocoa quality, using Honduras as a case study. She draws on professional experience in food science product development, chocolate production, culinary arts, winery cellar work, and winery laboratory work. 

Most recently she has published work in The Journal of Sensory Studies, entitled "Flavor and Mouthfeel of Pseudo-Cocoa Liquor:  Effects of Polyphenols, Fat Content, and Training Method". 

Citation: Hamada, T. Y., Brown, A., Hopfer, H., & Ziegler, G. R. (2019). Flavor and mouthfeel of pseudo-cocoa liquor : Effects of polyphenols, fat content, and training method, (June), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/joss.12541 (Note: at the time of this podcast episode’s release, this article was available to access for free).

Her manuscript about premium chocolate consumer perception of chocolate quality and craft chocolate is currently under review.

UPDATE December 2020: Since release of this podcast episode Allison’s and her colleagues’ work ‘Understanding American premium chocolate consumer perception of craft chocolate and desirable product attribute using focus groups and projective mapping’ has been featured in PLoSONE. Their research was also referenced on Penn State’s news site.

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“ …(sensory evaluation) it’s not actually elite, it’s for the people. We all have these tools…we have our mouths. “ - Allison Brown 

Allison Brown, PhD Candidate in Food Science and International Agriculture and Development. photo credit: Allison Brown

Topics discussed in this episode:

Part I. We talk about different types of food analyses: 
-Chemical analysis: GC-MS, HPLC
-Sensory evaluation: hedonic testing (i.e. do you like this thing?), difference testing (i.e. are these different? triangle test), descriptive analysis testing (i.e. how are these things different?); the 3rd is used in Allison’s panel.

- Tasting cocoa liquors, creating references to other food products

- Attribute generation = key-in to your senses, looks, smells, tastes like (ensure air is present to volatilize chemical compounds), perceive flavor, then note aftertaste, oral touch

- The 5 basic tastes: bitter, sour, sweet, salty, umami
—-> Receptors versus ion exchange on our tongue recognize bitter and sour as basic tastes, astringency is an oral touch. Sour can cause a puckering sensation.
—-> Flavor on the other hand is different from basic taste; taste, smell, touch, burning (such as from capsicum), sound, sensory. A complex perception. The burnt flavor (such as related to burnt toast) falls into this category. 

- The ‘golden tongue’

Part II. We also talk about genetics, and how flavor could be linked to genetics (scroll to the bottom for a quick overview of genetics).
- there are 4,000 known accessions of Theobroma cacao in genebanks; lots of diversity. In her project she studied 11 cultivars.

-Mark Guiltinan and Siela Maximova (see here for information about their lab and access some of their publications: https://plantscience.psu.edu/research/labs/guiltinan) are plant biologists who have spent their careers researching the plant, Theobroma cacao. In 2010, they discovered the genome of Theobroma cacao (https://plantscience.psu.edu/research/labs/guiltinan/publications/manuscripts/genome-cacao2010), and use this information to understand how diseases and pests impact growth of this plant. 

- In her work, it was necessary to search for a tropical research center that could provide adequate needs of cultivars for sampling; Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola FHIA

Part III. Publications, Projects, and her Panel.
In fall 2019, they published in The Journal of Sensory Studies: Flavor and mouthfeel of pseudo-cocoa liquor: Effects of polyphenols, fat content, and training method. Researchers were: Terianne Y. Hamada, Allison Brown, Helene Hopfer, Gregory R. Ziegler.

In post-conflict Rwanda, high quality coffee began to be produced there (and marketed outward).
—-> To detect defects in coffee cupping, they introduced the ‘Coffee Doctors’ - who diagnose fermentation issues through sensory training tactics. This can be transferred to cocoa. Read more; article by Jenny Elaine Goldstein (2011): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07409710.2011.544226

More related coffee links:
Coffee Quality Institute - Rwanda
Transforming Rwanda’s Coffee Sector by Dan Clay (PPT)

For cocoa:
Examples of USAID work on cocoa liquor tasting panels in-country: African Cocoa Initiative Final Performance Evaluation Report
USAID Grants and the Democracy of Information, from Equal Exchange

Because no one has previously analyzed the impact of an in-country panel on cocoa liquor quality, Allison used exploratory, qualitative methods in Honduras. She conducted interviews with 35 members of the cocoa and chocolate supply chain, including growers, cooperative managers, Honduran chocolate makers, and American chocolate makers.

Fingerprinting taste and flavor of varieties ; do varieties taste different?
—-> Fingerprinting is determining which chemicals, both volatile and non-volatile, and flavors, tastes, and mouthfeels, are associated with each cultivated variety (cultivar) of theobroma cacao

Convergent validity - Why is this important for scientists?
This is important because it means two different methods tell you the same thing. It means your findings are highly robust.

Allison’s consumer focus groups:
---> People & Packaging
---> Storytelling

Further links related to this episode:

Dr. Kristy Leissle’s article on craft.
As well as her writing on the subject via Dandelion Chocolate’s blog.

PennState’s Dr. Gregory Ziegler, editor on Steve T. Beckett’s Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use; his work on bound and unbound polyphenols, fat content, and their nuances has informed Allison’s

#womeninchocolate for International Women's Day 2020

Dear womyn in chocolate and cacao,

It’s March 8, 2020. I realize that we are a community that cannot be defined by a day. I am proud to know so many of you digitally, audibly, and personally, and hope that you know that your actions, your dreams, your ways of moving through the world and this industry inspire me daily. #womeninchocolate launched in 2016 along with the Well Tempered podcast as a way to facilitate connection, to showcase our work and messages to each other, regardless of geographical location. This came after I stumbled upon what Google thought of women in chocolate; I knew that wasn’t a proper representation. More than 8,000 tags later (on this date on Instagram alone), I think we’re doing an excellent job of displaying to the world that the life and work of womyn in cacao and chocolate isn’t singular, isn’t sexual, and doesn’t belong to someone else’s narrative.

I reached out to a few incredible colleagues in chocolate and asked them to leave messages to other womyn: advice, thoughts, comments, words of wisdom, or even things they would have said to their younger selves. This post spawned from a campaign by Women For Women UK for a #MessageToMySister. Where Spanish was the language we communicated in, I have left those texts as originals and translated them into English.

May this be just the start of our chapter written together.

Lovingly, your sister in chocolate,
Lauren Heineck
WKND Chocolate and Well Tempered

Everything happens for a reason, everything has a solution, that's undeniable. Remember that life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance under the rain. And, if you need someone, I'm here for you. Yours truly, with a side of sweet theobromine, Sophie Vanderbecken Founder of Le Cameleon in Mexico City

Algo por algo pasa... todo siempre tiene solución, es innegociable. Todo pasa por alguna razón y los problemas siempre tienen una solución. Recuerda que la vida no es esperar a que pase la tormenta, es aprender a bailar bajo la lluvia. Y si necesitas a alguien, aquí estoy. Con cariño teobrominado, Sophie Vanderbecken fundadora y chocolatera de Le Cameleon en CDMX

Do what you can with what you’ve got. So often we find ourselves striving for better, more, fancier, cooler, whatever-er. If we just stop pursuing, and give ourselves five minutes to consider what we already have - what’s ALREADY in the fridge, closet, craft drawer - we practice our creativity, save resources, save time, stress and money. Everything we need is usually within reach, if we engage our imagination and do what we can do with what we’ve got. - Amy Horne, Chocolate Maker and Founder at Goldie Chocolate in Calgary, Canada

I encourage us to aspire towards greatness and believe in ourselves, looking deep into our hearts we will find the strength needed to overcome challenges and keeping perseverance as our best friend, we will accomplish our dreams. - Jenny Samaniego, founder of Conexión Chocolate in Quito, Ecuador

Chasing your dreams is great, but it comes with hard work and dedication. Nothing worthwhile comes easy. Once you are truly prepared, the right opportunities will present themselves. So, be patient, flexible, and calm, trust your gut, and stick with it.  - Anjuli Dharna, Sales Director at Uncommon Cacao in Oakland, California

I know how guilty you felt about food. Food lover struggling with the ideal of thinness, there might be another way: learn how to taste. Chocolate. Cheese. Oil. Allow them all. But make use of all your senses. Take your time. I hope you will find back the pleasure of eating. Guilt free. - Céline Francis, chocolate taster, writer and Founder of And Chocolate in Belgium

Though we are not physically present next to one another, our female strength and energy carries through and I feel it uplifting us all.... I try to tap into that when I feel alone climbing an uphill battle. We are not alone. We have a strong, global team of woman who have our back. - Esther Bobbin, Mother, craft chocolate supporter, Founder at United By Chocolate in Virginia, USA

Mónica Míguez, Journalist, writer and creator of Viento Chocolatero, San Sebastián/Donosti, Spain

Women manage roughly a quarter of cacao plantations in the world. However, it is often the case, that our land rights and access to certifications, loans and/or credit are more limited. Women are also often underrepresented in farmers’ organizations, local meetings, or in positions of power within their communities. For that reason I celebrate the choice made by Fedecacao to nominate María del Campo to represent Colombian cacao to the world, in a similar vein to what Juan Valdez did for Colombian coffee. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, it’s not the times that are changing, it is the women that are creating change. The cacao stewarding women of Colombia - and the rest of the producing world - absolutely deserve our respect and admiration; the majority are fighting daily to overcome many hurdles. Today, on March 8th, same as the rest of the year, they are on my mind and I acknowledge their efforts and value. Without them we couldn’t enjoy chocolate. That is why it is our moral obligation to put their rights at the center of the conversation. Sister/colleagues, I send you a hug from the other side of the world! We wish you the best and are thinking of you. Whatever you need, many of us are here - ready and willing to share and support your journey.

Las mujeres nos ocupamos aproximadamente de una cuarta parte de las plantaciones de cacao en todo el mundo. Sin embargo, a menudo, nuestros derechos sobre la tierra, los créditos o certificaciones son más limitados que los de los hombrees. También solemos estar infra representadas en las organizaciones de personas que trabajan la tierra, en las reuniones públicas o en las funciones de liderazgo en nuestras propias comunidades. Por eso celebro tanto la decisión de Fedecacao, en Colombia, de haber elegido la figura de una mujer, María del Campo, para representar el cacao colombiano en el mundo, como Juan Valdés lo hizo en su día con el café. Pero no nos equivoquemos, no son los tiempos los que están cambiando; somos las mujeres las que estamos haciendo que cambien. Y las mujeres cacaoteras de Colombia y de todos los países productores de cacao se merecen todo nuestro respeto y admiración, porque la mayoría vive en la lucha diaria, con muchas barreras que traspasar. Hoy, 8 de marzo, al igual que todo el resto del año, están en mi mente y en mi reconocimiento. Sin ellas no podríamos disfrutar del chocolate. Así que nuestra obligación moral es poner sus derechos en el centro. ¡Pongamos sus vidas en el centro! ¡Un abrazo desde el otro lado del mundo a todas, compañeras! ¡Os tenemos en nuestras mentes con nuestros mejores deseos! Y en lo que nos necesitéis, aquí estamos muchas hermanas para compartir vuestro camino.

Scholar Series: Dr. Sarah Arnold, Behavioral Entomologist at the Natural Resources Institute

Podcast episode description: Dr Sarah E J Arnold is a Senior Lecturer in Insect Behavior and Ecology at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich, UK, primarily focusing on pest behavior, chemical ecology, and ecosystem services.

After completing her PhD in sensory ecology in the Chittka Lab at Queen Mary, University of London, Dr. Arnold joined the University of Greenwich in 2010. Since joining NRI (a specialist research, development and education organization of the University of Greenwich), she has continued to develop her interest in pollinators, studying different aspects of how their environment may influence their behavior and health. She has published in areas including the role of pollen composition and nectar chemistry in pollinator performance, the importance of environmental characteristics of farms in affecting pollinator populations, and different aspects of their foraging and flower-finding behavior. She is particularly interested in how farms and other habitats can be managed to support pollinators’ needs better. As she works on both pest and beneficial insects, she rears various species of insects in the laboratory to explore their behavior and life history.  

Her work has appeared in international peer-reviewed journals, including papers on flower color evolution, insect ecology, and pollinator and storage pest behavior, and is one of the developers and managers of the Floral Reflectance Database (FReD). One of her latest projects, involving Caribbean fieldwork in conjunction with the University of Trinidad and Tobago and the Cocoa Industry Board of Jamaica - both areas with low yields of high quality fine flavor cacao - investigated the possibility of optimized production of Theobroma cacao via pollination by various Ceratopogonid species. Read on at the project website CocoaPop.

More about Dr. Arnold’s work and projects can be accessed here.

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Dr. Sarah Arnold. Photo uploaded with permission from Dr. Sarah E J Arnold

Themes discussed in this episode:

- What pollinates a cacao flower?
- Midges are part of the Ceratopogonidae family, a group of of flies measuring 2-3 mm long
- Ecology of midges; difficulties of breeding and physical discovery
- Pollinator behavior according to country/landscape of origin
- Attributes of a good pollinator; pick up the pollen, move to another flower (perhaps on another tree)
- Cacao self-incompatibility; meaning it prevents itself from self-fertilization
- Shape, odor, and complexity of the cacao flower; appeal for both humans and insects
- Diverse family genus of flowering plants, Malvaceae, includes: durian (pollinated by bats), cotton, okra
- Plant plasticity
- Cacao in greenhouses and botanical gardens; at Kew Palm House in the UK, Theobroma cacao has successfully grown there, pollinated either by midges or another species;

“It seems like the (cacao) tree needs the midges much more than midges need the tree.”

- Questions she asked in her research: what pollinators are present? How does this population change over the year? And how that might match when the crop is in peak flower?

- Samantha Forbes; a colleague from Australia, who was helpful in studies regarding rearing cocoa midges over generations in a laboratory setting.
—> For their project, it was the first known time midges from a cacao plantation were bred for months at a time, running over multiple generations. Previously eggs and larvae had been captured and raised to adulthood.
- Complications of recreating the bacterial conditions of the farm environment in a lab; mimicking banana pseudostem
- Pollinator life-cycles; midges lay their eggs in rotten material, generally the detritus of cacao pods
- Pollination rates of the midges; ~5% of the cacao flowers will be successfully pollinated. While they are present, their numbers are not abundant in the wild, however they are apt at transmitting pollen, generally in 1-2x visits to the flower.

“...working out the perfect level of pollination to optimize yield and optimize it sustainably from a cocoa farm, is an area of continuing research that is very important at the moment.”

- Hand-pollination. Is it viable?
- Effect of climate change on biodiversity in pollinators; potential population loss due to drought and heat waves.
- Farmers and pollinators — offering habitats, working together
- Methodologies for obtaining lab results for odor compounds; most drawing on studies from almost 40 years ago.
- Professor David Hall, Professor of Chemical Ecology , and general expert on all things involving the chemistry of scents.
- Testing natural floral odor versus a synthetic blend for attractiveness to pollinators.

Additional:
If research continues — Dr. Arnold says, it will be interesting to see if wild flowers have evolved differently; might they be more disease resistance? Produce higher yields, or will flavor develop distinctly? These things will greatly inform future breeding programs.

Where to find Dr. Arnold:
Twitter @sejarbold

Where to find Lauren, host of Well Tempered Media productions and chocolate maker at WKND Chocolate:
Instagram: @wkndchocolate
Twitter: @wkndchocolate
Articles, podcasts, chocolate recipes, and Conversations in Cocoa at laurenonthewknd.substack.com

Special Episode: Well Tempered Live at the Salon du Chocolat Paris 2019

Description: Well Tempered Live; a compilation of #womeninchocolate interviews recorded live during the 2019 edition - and 25th anniversary - of the Salon du Chocolat, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France.

This special episode of the Well Tempered chocolate podcast features three distinct perspectives, from three very unique countries: Grenada, Honduras, and Russia — all with specialty cacao and bean-to-bar or tree-to-bar concepts at the core of their businesses. Whether through agritourism, direct trade, international export, local distribution, and so on, the leaders of these chocolate companies reveal quick facts about their experience in the cocoa sector.

Meet the guests below, and listen to the complementing podcast on Apple Podcasts or download directly here.

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Featuring interviews with:

Shadel Nyack Compton third generation proprietor of Belmont Estate in Grenada
Instagram: Belmont Estate

Monica Pedemonte founder and chocolate maker at Palato Chocolate in Honduras
Instagram: Palato Chocolate

Olga Yarovikova chocolatier and Managing Director of Amazing Cacao in St. Petersburg, Russia
Instagram: Amazing Cacao


Where to find Lauren, host of Well Tempered Media productions and chocolate maker at WKND Chocolate:
Instagram: @wkndchocolate
Twitter: @wkndchocolate
Articles, podcasts, chocolate recipes, and Conversations in Cocoa at laurenonthewknd.substack.com