The Chocolate Life

Discover Chocolate and Live La Vida Cocoa!

Paul Johnson
  • Male
  • Puerto Viejo, Limon
  • Costa Rica
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  • Ancel Mitchell
  • Ernesto Bugarin Pantua Jr.
  • Krysia
  • ChocoFiles

Paul Johnson's Discussions

Refining/conching temperatures.

Started this discussion. Last reply by Duffy Sheardown Jun 6, 2012. 1 Reply

I am making chocolate in Costa Rica from tree to bar.  We recently received the Melager from CocoaTown which has speed control to better manage the refining and conching temperatures.  Does anyone…Continue

Tags: processing, refining, conching

 

Paul Johnson's Page

Latest Activity

Paul Johnson commented on Raul A. Lacayo's blog post In the Middle of the Western World
"Where is this?"
Oct 3, 2012
Paul Johnson commented on Clay Gordon's group Tastings, Travel, & Adventure
"My tree-to-bar cacao farm and factory is located in Costa Rica. Any cocolate lovers who want to travel and get in depth experience with the whole process are welcome to visit us! We have amazing lodging with ocean views of the whole Caribbean coast…"
Sep 21, 2012
Paul Johnson joined Clay Gordon's group
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Tastings, Travel, & Adventure

This group is for people interested in organizing tasting events and travel programs and adventures. Group members can cross-post events in the Events calendar and manage RSVP lists.
Sep 21, 2012
Paul Johnson replied to Lisa N's discussion Recommendations for travel to a cocoa farm
"October-n November is called the Caribbean summer in Costa Rica. Noemally rainy in the rest of the country but dry and sunny where Caribeans is located!"
Sep 21, 2012
Raul A. Lacayo liked Paul Johnson's blog post Shifting in to a new chocolate paradigm.
Jul 31, 2012
Ernesto Bugarin Pantua Jr. and Paul Johnson are now friends
Jul 12, 2012
Ernesto Bugarin Pantua Jr. commented on Paul Johnson's blog post Shifting in to a new chocolate paradigm.
"Wow this is very good.  Yes indeed the chocolate making is an art and the taste of chocolates really vary from place to place.  We are glad that this paradigm shift is gaining ground in the world and we are contributing our share here in…"
Jul 12, 2012
Ernesto Bugarin Pantua Jr. liked Paul Johnson's blog post Shifting in to a new chocolate paradigm.
Jul 12, 2012
Paul Johnson posted a blog post

Shifting in to a new chocolate paradigm.

1879 marks a significant shift in the world of chocolate. If you define chocolate as a solid substance that is eaten (not drinking chocolate) that melts in your mouth with a creamy smooth deliciousness, then this is the birth year of chocolate. It was the conching of the chocolate to break down particle sizes and sugar crystals to a fine liquid as well as to reduce the sour flavors, that defined chocolate from that moment on.Ever since that moment ,it was the chocolate maker who was in the…See More
Jun 19, 2012
Paul Johnson and Akbar Kaliwala are now friends
Jun 13, 2012
Paul Johnson posted a blog post

Cacao Restoration in Puert Viejo, Limon Costa Rica

The cacao forest that surrounds our chocolate factory is much like many other forests around here. It was planted about 120 years ago as part of a big push to prevent the Panama disease from reaching the banana plantations in the Caribbean Costa of Costa Rica. Once the fruit was coming, the harvest was plentiful and the cacao was good quality. Sadly, about 40 years ago a mold called monilla infected the fruit and many cacao trees were chopped down and replaced with banana. Some cacao was simply…See More
Jun 7, 2012
Duffy Sheardown replied to Paul Johnson's discussion Refining/conching temperatures.
"Hi Paul, You need to experiment! Can I suggest that you aim to start off at around 60C and gradually raise it to perhaps 65 to 68C over the first day or however long you are conching at. As usual there probably isn't a "right" and…"
Jun 6, 2012
Paul Johnson posted a discussion

Refining/conching temperatures.

I am making chocolate in Costa Rica from tree to bar.  We recently received the Melager from CocoaTown which has speed control to better manage the refining and conching temperatures.  Does anyone have any tips on what temperature ranges the chocolate should be within to have the best overall flavor?See More
Jun 1, 2012
Paul Johnson replied to Tony's discussion Humidity? Too cold fridge? Problems with bloom
"I make chocolate in Costa Rica.  We hand temper our chocolate and use a chest freezer to cool the chocolate.  Being a very warm humid environment, we encountered the same thing.  The best way to avoid condensation on your chocolate is…"
May 30, 2012
Paul Johnson joined Clay Gordon's group
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Classifieds - For Sale or Wanted

This is the group where ChocolateLife members can A) Advertise USED equipment for sale to other ChocolateLife members.B) Let other ChocolateLife members know that they are looking for equipment (new or used).See More
Apr 10, 2012
Paul Johnson and ChocoFiles are now friends
Apr 10, 2012

Profile Information

Dark, Milk, White?
Dark
Most memorable chocolate experience:
The first bean to bar we made at Caribeans Coffee & Chocolate.
My favorite chocolate is:
Caribeans

Paul Johnson's Blog

Shifting in to a new chocolate paradigm.

Posted on June 19, 2012 at 8:40am 1 Comment

1879 marks a significant shift in the world of chocolate. If you define chocolate as a solid substance that is eaten (not drinking chocolate) that melts in your mouth with a creamy smooth deliciousness, then this is the birth year of chocolate. It was the conching of the chocolate to break down particle sizes and sugar crystals to a fine liquid as well as to reduce the sour flavors, that defined chocolate from that moment on.

Ever since that moment ,it was the chocolate maker…

Continue

Cacao Restoration in Puert Viejo, Limon Costa Rica

Posted on June 7, 2012 at 9:57am 0 Comments

The cacao forest that surrounds our chocolate factory is much like many other forests around here. It was planted about 120 years ago as part of a big push to prevent the Panama disease from reaching the banana plantations in the Caribbean Costa of Costa Rica. Once the fruit was coming, the harvest was plentiful and the cacao was good quality.



Sadly, about 40 years ago a mold called monilla infected the fruit and many cacao trees were chopped down and replaced with banana. Some…

Continue

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