wes

Not a problem. Just email me and I will get you something comparable to the Valrhona.

I actually had that Victoria Station coffee a few weeks ago and you are spot on, it sucks big time. The stuff in a spittoon would have tasted better. I did have a good cup at Pret a Manger which are all over the place in London but that Victoria Station stuff gave me the heebie jeebies

A sweet ground chocolate will always give you a richer flavor and can be made up easily but be careful because mold can become a problem if you hang onto it for too long.

No but I can tell you where to get the Guittard chocolate syrup. In fact if you will email me, I would be happy to send you some samples. The Guittard syrups are made for espresso based drinks, arent as sweet as other syrups so the sugars dont mask the flavor of the coffee and serve as the perfect compliment to the coffee bean. The white syrup is a pure liquid white chocolate and the caramel is a real caramel, not caramel flavoring a high fructose corn syrup. We are also coming out with the syrups in squeeze bottles which will be available in retail outlets. Ok..end of sales pitch

Thanks for the information. I got an email from Fullers and they tell me that its available in Alabama of all places so on my next trip that way I'll grab some.

Does anyone know where Fullers London Pride Ale can be found in the southern states? I cant keep going to London just to have one or two

The funny thing is that he used to be Ms. Chocolate but that surgeon did a heckuva job on her...er him. I get confused. Seriously he is a good guy and is the one who was responsible for bringing me into the company. As for the pricing structure, we usually hold our ground on pricing and dont react to market fluctuations quickly. Cacao beans are a commodity and bean prices change hourly when the market is open. Those kind of changes can make for an accounting nightmare if you change as often as the market. Heck when I started with Guittard in 1990 my price list was dated October 1988 and we didnt have a price change until 1993. Of course the market was in that 20 year low and we have had some pretty significant surges in that market since then but we have been successful in holding pricing until we simply had no other choice. You are right on about our varietal line of chocolate. Its amazing to me how the same bean, albeit from 3 different countries, can have such different and distinct flavor notes but thats part of the beauty of the cocoa bean. As of right now I wont be at the IBIE this year although that could change. Some folks thrive on trade shows but I would rather be in the field calling on customers.

LOL...you are making me blush. Seriously its no big deal at all. I am a message board junkie and even own a few message boards related to college sports. I may not check this one every day but I will be lurking around if you need me. Of course you can always email me if needed

You are correct. The E. Guittard line has both percentages listed but our core line does not. Our core line is marketed to bakers, confectioners and ice cream manufacturers and each of those segments has a different take on the vernacular we use. For example a confectioner is more concerned with the viscosity of a chocolate and less with the "cocoa mass", so when we talk to a pastry chef and then a candy maker we have to be able to switch gears quickly and talk their language.

Very nice. Great work!

Well I would be lying if I said that I hadn't used that line myself but I only use it if I don't know the answer and rather than give a customer a line of BS, I would rather research the answer before I put my foot in my mouth. As for distributor salesmen I have to speak in their defense. Most food service companies carry thousands of products and its hard to know each and every one of those products inside and out. Added to that is the fact that its a cutthroat business and most of them are under the gun to move products, see as many customers as possible and take orders. What that means is that the good old days of customer service are going by the wayside and that is a tragedy.

Hey no problem at all. I am just glad that I found this forum. Had it not been for a person who was attending the recent RBA convention in Orlando and stopped by our booth, I would never have found it. I was quite serious about anyone emailing me for help. While I live in Texas and handle a southern territory for the company, I can always put you in contact with the right distributor in your areas and of course I will submit sample requests for you if needed.

The E.Guittard line of products is available in the Chicago area through Sotiro's Foods, Inc., which is in Bridgeview, IL. Phone number is 708-233-6097. Ask for Glynn. I also need to point out that Great Lakes Gourmet in Novi, MI has the E. Guittard line and in fact just got a fresh supply today. Please if any of you have questions regarding distributors, Guittard products etc, feel free to email me and I would be delighted to help you in any way that I can. Also for those of you that mentioned E. Guittard product samples were promised but never delivered, then email me and I will make sure that you get them. We are trying to get our products into as many specialty distributors as possible but a word from you, the customers, goes a long way in helping them make that decision. Thanks Wes Phelan Guittard Chocolate wphelan@guittard.com