For your truffle gifts this holiday season of 2019, we are excited and honored to be featuring the award-winning chocolate truffle box of Master Chocolatier Karen Neugebauer from Forte Chocolates.

Sea Salt Caramel in Milk Chocolate – WORLD GOLD, International Chocolate Awards 2018
Pumpkin Spice – WORLD GOLD, International Chocolate Awards 2018
Rosemary Orange Caramel – WORLD GOLD, International Chocolate Awards 2018
Lemon Pepper in White Chocolate – GOLD, NW Chocolate Festival Awards 2018
Marcona Almond in Milk Chocolate – GOLD, NW Chocolate Festival Awards 2018
Sea Salt Caramel in Dark Chocolate – GOLD, NW Chocolate Festival Awards 2018

These truffles are a perfect gift for anyone who likes fine foods. Every flavor in this box has won an award in at least one chocolate competition, domestically or internationally. Karen is one of the top ten most decorated chocolatiers in the world, and the quality of the truffles and the flavors prove it.

Many of our customers we see only once a year - for the annual holiday Intrigue Chocolate Truffle Box. Due to construction and the changing city landscape of Seattle, we no longer have access to a facility that can produce those truffles. Earlier this year we sunset our ganache truffles. Though we hope to eventually bring them back, for 2019 we wanted to offer an alternative to our loyal fans - so we worked with our sister company Forte Chocolates to do so.

Intrigue Chocolate and Forte have a long history together. We both focus on exploring and developing flavor through the medium of chocolate, are hyper vigilant about sanitation and process, and we share our expertise with each other. If you didn’t know, Intrigue Chocolate prepares all of Forte’s cocoa mix cans in our kitchen, and in exchange Karen and her team form our spiced bars in their facility. They are experts in the art of tempering. If you like honey in your chocolate bar - one of the most difficult ingredients to work with - then you want this team to make it happen.

You can pick up a box in our retail stores (Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill), and we can ship boxes to you or someone else by ordering Online.

At Intrigue Chocolate, we have some opinions on what makes the perfect cup. We started by designing the flavor of the cocoa mix. Now, in collaboration with local Seattle ceramist and graphic designer, we are presenting the mug. Both are available now as a bundle Online.

Although Corianton has been slinging clay as a side hustle for years, he is most well known for his graphic design work. At 25 he became the youngest Art Director for The Stranger, a well known Seattle news publication. He’s designed brand identities for restaurants, nightclubs, and Intrigue Chocolate Co! You can see more of his graphical work here: www.headquarters.studio

Aaron and I were recently at one of Corianton’s informal pottery shows and were struck by inspiration – a hand-crafted clay mug might just be the perfect vessel for hot cocoa. It’s tactile, rustic, and radiates warmth when held in the hands. But what about all of the other details?

We brainstormed.

Size – this cup is roughly 12oz. We determined this volume based on what we see customers like best at the coffeehouse. A 12oz mug is large enough for a full serving of cocoa, but not so large that it is difficult to hold. It leaves enough room for marshmallows or whipped cream, if that is part of your “classic cocoa” experience.

Ridges – Corianton suggested the smoothly spiraled finger ridges because they were so satisfying to hold. Hands just naturally mold to the suggested grip. Because they are subtle, they have the benefit of fitting every hand shape, while also feeling bespoke. The extra curve means more of your hand can touch the mug and warm up.

Color – Deep, rich, and speckled, just like cocoa powder. We chose a reflective, light glaze that will give the saturated brown of the hot cocoa some delicious contrast, while leaving the satisfying but stark white to the marshmallows.

Who do you know that loves hot cocoa?

Give the gift of experience this year, give the gift of hot cocoa. We have coupled the mug and the cocoa together to make a “Classic Cocoa Gift Set”, available now in our retail stores (Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill), and Online.

Snacking chocolate, our Broken Slab line, is our expression of fascinating ingredients paired with fresh, high quality craft chocolate made from the bean and wrapped in informal packaging. This is the newest creation of Intrigue Chocolate, and what we hope will appeal to the customer looking for a small treat every day.

An average chocolate bar is packaged into a fancy box, envelope, or wrapper to look beautiful on a shelf. This chocolate bar experience is best suited as a gift because of its visual appeal, or for the chocolate lover who carries a bar with them at all times – in a desk drawer, pouch or purse, or left on the counter at home to enjoy small bites at a time. Sometimes this means the time between when the chocolate is made and when it is enjoyed can be many months apart. That’s ok – the chocolate should be tempered well and won’t spoil, however the flavors and the texture may diminish over time.

Snacking chocolate, by comparison, is so FRESH! The flavor of the bean is distinct and present, the texture is smooth but still rustic, and the melt is delightful. By using less formal packaging, we can keep the price lower. And by packaging the chocolate in smaller quantities, you can purchase bundles and gift to many people in the office, at home, at a wedding or event.

The snacking chocolate will delight the purist who wants just the flavor of chocolate. If this describes you, you are in luck! We are making chocolate in small batches so we can rotate the origin quickly. Yesterday we were serving Bolivia and Belize, and today it’s Tanzania. If you’re someone that wants to learn the difference in flavor by region, this is a perfect way. We can even show you how to keep good notes.

Pairing the chocolate with dried fruits like strawberries and cherries - or with complimentary ingredients like toasted sesame or popped amaranth - is how we are putting our flavor expertise to good practice. If you were a fan of the rotating 400 flavors of truffle we crafted since 2006, you will love this new exploration of fine ingredients and flavors paired with craft chocolate.

Our Broken Slab snacking chocolate is available online, or in our retail stores in Pioneer Square on or Capitol Hill.