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  It's been awhile since I've posted.  Justin's situation is hard to write about, but I know there are people who want to know what's going on with Justin, my son.  In truth, he is getting sicker and weaker.  For awhile,he made great progress, talking, eating, and getting back into his power wheelchair.   Then he started getting weaker.  His left lung became covered with secretions, and he needed surgery to scrape things out. Then a CT scan revealed more new spine fractures (total of 7).  After that, he just hasn't been able to get over the hump.  This week, Justin decided to discontinue the weaning from the ventilator.  He is on full breath support and can no longer use the voice valve to talk without dangerous oxygen drops.  Pain medication has been significantly increased to help him deal with the pain. It's a tough thing for a 23-year-old to confront one's mortality.  We will continue this journey with Justin to the end to the best of our abilities.  We
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Peruvian Chocolate Factory

Long time readers will recall that Julia and I took a tour of a chocolate factory in Belize in 2019. It isn't a coincidence that we toured one in Peru.  First, I love chocolate.  Second, there is a roasting process for cocoa beans (technically, cacoa seeds) that is somewhat similar to the roasting process for coffee.

When I roasted coffee commercially, I was approached by an investor in a Hawaii chocolate operation  He wondered if there might be a way for me to roast cocoa beans in my Lodi shop. Meh, it wouldn't really be practical.  The temperatures are much lower for roasting.  And coffee beans and cacoa seeds don't mix very well on the same roasting machine in terms of odors and the clean-up.

But I'm still very interested in the process.  The chocolate factory was around the corner from our hotel and offered a free self-tour.  We feasted our eyes on the process but didn't buy anything here due to the "special" gringo prices.  We later bought chocolate at the general market (more on that later).

Cacao Seeds and Sugar


This photograph shows the seed grinder and the mixers for the cacao and sugar.  Factory workers are shaping and packaging.

Roaster is upper right

 
Final product

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Comments

Bill said…
Agree coffee beans and cocoa seeds might not mix well. Similarly, too much chocolate in a chocolate stout beer can ruin the taste. Chocolate coffee stouts are even harder to take. A good stout doesn't need added flavors.
October 21, 2022 at 10:12 PM
John said…
I'm all for brewers using unusual ingredients if it makes the beer taste good. Unfortunately, I haven't tasted a coffee stout or coffee porter that I like. They all taste like stale coffee to me. Lately, I've been enjoying milk stout, which is simply the addition of lactose for creaminess and added mouthfeel. But they keep adding coffee, chocolate or peanut butter to milk stouts, which I don't want.

I've been drinking and recommend "The Poet," an oatmeal stout made by New Holland Brewing Company out of Michigan.
October 22, 2022 at 5:24 PM
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