Cocopotamus Chocolate

A World Of Chocolate Flavors

How We Choose Our Gourmet Chocolate Flavors

Many people have been asking one question. How do we choose our Cocopotamus fudge flavors? The first thing we always think of is the founding philosophy we had in mind back in 1995 when we opened our very first dessert cafe. To help bring the people of the world together. Not just people of one belief or another, or one color or another. All the people, everywhere. We wanted that first NYDC cafe to be a place where everyone could come and just be themselves. This philosophy of food as a uniting force makes us always go back to the idea of "all people, everywhere". Everywhere. That's, like, the world, right?! And it is a fun world out there - we know, we have lived & traveled in lots of it! We love to see new places and meet people from around the USA and around the world. Sharing ideas, insights, recipes, suggestions. You've no doubt heard the expression, "The world is my oyster"? Well, to us, the world is our pantry and our test-kitchen. Fresh, juicy California oranges to flavor our orange-dark chocolate sensation, "Ommm...." fudge. Fragrant, heady Mexicancanela cinnamon for fudges like "Hottie" and "Naked Hottie." Aromatic Indian cardamom, pure, rich Mexican vanilla, and deep-roasted espresso from Italy. Fragrant Mediterranean rose water, sweet Hawai'ian Turbinado sugar, and a special blend of maple syrup from Canada and Vermont. The world is so delicious!

Flavors of the World

We get flavor ideas and ingredients from the world. Taste-testers from the Pacific-Northwest wanted more, better java flavor in their chocolate. And so, "Cuppa Joe" was born. Soon after, we added almonds and Kirsch to it and created it's uncle - "Godfather". Taste-testers in the Southwest wanted a fudge with a little more kick, so we invented "Hottie". At home we sometimes wanted it with cinnamon but not the chili, and so "Naked Hottie" got started. People who love our dessert cafes in Asia asked for fudge with some of the same flavors as our hit cafe items. The top request? Something that tasted like "Lemon Shiver", our award-winning and best-selling frosty ice cream drink. From that of course we accepted the challenge: "Lemon Shiver" fudge was created, zesty, zingy and oh-so-bold. We also get flavor ideas from our travels. For example, "Sumos Never Sleep" was inspired by our many wonderful mornings at Doutor coffee shops in Yokohama, Japan. (Yum!)

Why Dark Chocolate?

Another question about our flavors is: Why does Cocopotamus only make dark chocolate fudge? What about white chocolate or milk chocolate?

Again, great question. One reason we shied away from white chocolate was because it is sweeter and doesn't have as much complex depth of flavor. Also, we found that so many people told us, "Oh, I don't like white chocolate." And personally, we don't love it either. As for milk chocolate, we have nothing against the good stuff. But we found that there were just so many more reasons to make dark chocolate fudge our obsession. First,high quality dark chocolate has a more sophisticated range of flavors. The dimensions of taste, from that hint of bitterness to the amazing top notes that can be fruity, earthy, even nutty - we just love dark chocolate. Another thing we couldn't ignore was the mounting evidence of health benefits from eating dark chocolate. But the biggest reason of all had to be personal. At our house, the more we got interested in chocolate the more we wanted the good stuff. And the more we tasted and learned about good quality chocolate, the more we found our palates developing towards the darker end of the chocolate spectrum. Basically, we just began to love dark chocolate and to want to work with it more and more. And whatever we are concocting, we eat and share with those around us. So before too long, we were getting a rep for being the dark chocolate fudge guys.