Chocomize is proud to announce that it has upgraded its beef jerky. We are now using Slantshack Jerky! Slantshack was started by fellow Columbia alumni who had a strong passion for both beef jerky and co-creation. They developed some of the tastiest jerky in America. It was so good that Maxim named it one of the top ten jerkies in America. If we thought chocolate and beef jerky was a good idea before we teamed up with these guys, well we’re sure of it now!

In addition to making insanely good beef jerky, Slantshak is also a co-creation company like us. Here’s how they work: You first select the portion size. Then you can choose whether you want regular or grass fed beef. Next you can choose the marinade, rub, and glaze. Their rubs have all been developed in house and contain some great names like ‘Jerk McGurk’s Wild Rubdown’ and ‘Smoky Sanche’s Dusty Trail.’ So if you like being able to create your own chocolate bars, you’re definitely going to love creating your own beef jerky. Check them out at www.Slantshackjerky.com.

Halloween is our favorite holiday at Chocomize, and it's always a big competition between the three of us to see who has the best costume. I usually dress up as Harry Potter, while Fabian and Eric usually dress as up as something super lame. We were having an argument about who had the better costume idea for this year, and we realized that we wanted to see our fan’s Halloween costumes! If you think you have a great Halloween costume, post a picture of yourself on our Facebook page. We will pick the best costume, and the winner will get our chocolate of the month club for three months. That is three months of free Chocomize bars!

The contest will be open until November 7^th (one week after Halloween.) After that time, we will pick the best costume, and that person will appear on our blog.

Good Luck!

Halloween is just around the corner (you can tell this is a popular holiday for us) and so we did some research to find out some Halloween trivia. Here are some fun facts about the holiday that we bet you didn’t know:

-The traditional Halloween colors are orange and black with orange representing the fall harvest and black representing death.

-an even more random fun fact, there aren’t any words in the English language that rhyme with orange.

-Jack-o-lanterns come from Ireland where people used them to ward off evil spirits.

-The tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween night comes from the Celtics who believed that evil spirits came out on Halloween and that by wearing costumes they could avoid them.

-The US candy industry sells around 2 billion dollars every year for Halloween.

-Trick or treating is supposed to have originated from the Celtics. Before their big Halloween party (they called it All Hallows Eve) they would go door to door collecting food for their big yearly feast.

-Bobbing for apples is a ritual that dates all the way back to the Roman Empire.

-The first citywide celebration of Halloween in the US took place in Anoka Minnesota in 1921.

-Around 40 million people go trick or treating every year.

-Around 10 billion pieces of candy corn will be made this year for Halloween.

Halloween is just around the corner and in celebration we've created two new Halloween themed favorites bars. The first one called the ‘Trick or Treat’ bar is milk chocolate with candy corn, fall leaves, and candy bats (candy corn and chocolate tastes absolutely delicious together.) The second bar, named after one of Chocomize’s most played artists (in the production room) is called the ‘Thriller.’ It is dark chocolate with candy bats and orange and black sugar. Personally I’m a fan of the ‘Thriller’ bar, but Fabian insists that the ‘Trick or Treat’ chocolate bar is much better. We’ll leave it up to you guys to decide. Check them out on our favorites page.

-Nick

There’s a new study out that says those who eat 40 grams of chocolate a day, for two weeks straight, will be less stressed out than those who don’t. A study published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research (daily reading at the Chocomize headquarters…) shows that those with mid to high levels of anxiety can reduce stress by eating lots of chocolate. These guys should have gotten in touch with us first; we could have told them that nothing makes anyone happier than eating chocolate!

On another note, a recent study that examined 8,000 Harvard University graduates over a 18 year period shows that those who regularly eat chocolate live on average almost a year longer than those who didn’t eat chocolate regularly. The bad news? The results only held true for guys. Apparently there are some health effects that chocolate has on guys that don’t have the same effect on woman. Researchers have no idea why this is true, but sounds like the Chocomize founders are going to live a very long life.

We can’t believe its October already! The weather is getting cold (no more ice packs), the leaves are falling off the trees, and holiday season is just around the corner. You guys can probably guess that one of our favorite holidays is Halloween. We still can’t get over the fact that there is actually one day out of the year where people give out free candy. In anticipation, we’ve already started adding some holiday related decorations that you can add to your custom chocolate bars.

To go with the Halloween theme, we’ve also added candy bats that taste scary good (great pun huh.) In addition to the candy bats we’ve also added the perennial favorite candy corn and also sugar leaves to go with the fall theme.

If you have any other suggestion for Halloween or fall related ingredients, let us know! We always love getting ideas from our fans.

-Nick

Chocomize has been featured in the Grey Lady! As a lot of our fans know, Chocomize was featured in Oprah magazine back in June of this year. During that time period, we were completely inundated with orders. Amy Wallace, a reporter from the New York Times, heard about our story and thought it would be great to write about. If you want to read the whole article, check it out here. And to all our new fans just checking us out, welcome and have fun designing the chocolate bar of your dreams!

Unfortunately, with this being just my third The View from Candyland post, it is also my last.  Today, I bid farewell to the town of Cherry Hill, at least until October 14th, when I have to come back and fight the ludicrous traffic ticket I was given for not stopping to let a "pedestrian" who was standing still on the yellow lines in the middle of the street cross to the other side.  Turns out the pedestrian was an undercover police officer in the midst of a sting operation to crack down on people who drive past "pedestrians" standing in the middle of the street.  Or something like that.  In case you can't detect this already in my tone, I was none too excited to get this ticket which was worth a hefty chunk of money and points (no that "s" was not a mistake, multiple points) on my license.

It's been an interesting final week at the epicenter of custom chocolate creation.  Not only did we have a large corporate order to fill, which we got out just in the Nick of time (pun intended as Nick got lost while we were driving it to the UPS Store), but we also hammered out some great bars from individual orders, and just yesterday sent out the bars for the Chocolate of the Month Club.  With the weather finally cooling off, it's been nice not to have to pack ice and protective liners into every single order box.

Nick has spent the week without a computer of his own as he had to send it to Dell to be repaired, but he has been able to scratch and claw along on other people's computers to keep up communications while shifting more of his focus to the production side of things.  Don't worry, none of this has affected his ability to taste test the ingredients.  He assures us that the Skittles and Sour Patch Kids are still as delicious and un-nutritious as ever.

I won't bore you like Jim did with the whole rundown of what I'll be doing in my time afterward but I am on my way back up to New York City to try and make a man out of myself.  We'll see how that goes.  In the meantime, Go Phils.

As you probably already know, Chocomize’s interests are not limited to the creation of delicious combinations of premium Belgian chocolate and a vast array of quality ingredients.  With many of us growing up in the sport of rowing, the maritime arena is one with which we are very familiar and of which we are quite fond.

So when we stumbled across this little bit of quirky news, we couldn’t help but pass it along to you guys, all of our loyal fans.  Turns out that in France, chocolatier Georges Larnicol was able to successfully construct a functional sailboat hull and mast entirely from chocolate and sugar.

Anyway, without further ado, please check this out...it's pretty cool and it's funny when they almost flip.

As we mentioned in last week’s latest The View From Candyland post, we have been in the process recently of giving our website something of a face-lift.  We have spent substantial time looking at what we liked about our current look and how we wanted to change it in appearance and functionality.  We think that the new design offers a cleaner appearance, gives you more options of how to access our product, and highlights the fun, young attitude that permeates our company.  We hope the new look will make the site a little bit more palatable as you move through it.

As usual, though, we want to know what you think.  Right now, the above homepage image is the only thing we have to show, but let us know how you like it.  Leave a comment so we can hear some feedback.

Here at Chocomize, we recognize that in order to be the best chocolate company we can be, it’s important that we recognize where we came from.  That’s why we thought it would be useful to explain some of the early history of the world of chocolate.

By all accounts the earliest history of chocolate began in the Mesoamerica regions, which is comprised of the southeast corner of Mexico as well as parts of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.  It was in this region where the cacao tree was harvested by the native Olmec tribe.  The first and most elaborate common usage of chocolate was by the Mayan society that lived in the same region in the first century AD.  The Mayans held the resource in the highest regard, using it for everything from currency to religious rituals.

According to one source, a mere 10 cacao beans could score you a rabbit or a prostitute, while 100 would buy you a slave in the Mayan society.  While it was fairly common for the Mayans to consume chocolate (melting it down and drinking it along with liquor), it was a luxury reserved only for the wealthy.  After all, it would be the equivalent of rolling up a dollar bill and eating it.  Or doing this.

Chocolate was also used in its liquid form in its ritualistic religious uses, often in matrimony and baptism services.  They used chocolates as a substitute for blood in ritual practices, with the bride and groom symbolically exchanging chocolate during the ceremony.

There was even a Mayan god of cacao.  It was common, in fact, for ancient Mayan emperors to be buried with a jar of chocolate as a tribute to this god, Ek Chuah.  After all, Ek Chuah was not only the god of chocolate, but was also representative of conflict and war, making him a good deity to pay tribute to for the afterlife.  We don’t expect anyone to be taking their Chocomize bars six feet under anytime soon, but our custom chocolate bars are great for other big occasions, like Weddings.

Chocolate has come a long way since then and we are helping to further progress the evolution of chocolate by allowing you to pick from over 100 ingredients to complement your selection of premium Belgian chocolate at our Creation Station.

Well, it’s that time again.  Time to update our loyal readers about the goings on in the world of good, American-made custom chocolate.  Business is a-booming here and we are busting it to keep up with the unbelievable influx of orders.  It’s a great problem to have, and we are begging you to keep making our jobs harder.  We love it.

The Harry Potter tapes have taken a weeklong break, so we hope to hear back from Harry, Ron, and Hermione starting next week to find out what shenanigans Harry will get mixed up in next.  In a related note, have you guys seen the trailer for the Deathly Hallows movie(s)?  Man, those two movies are going to be awesome.  Just don’t bring it up to Fabian.  He’s not such a fan of the wizarding wonders of Hogwarts.

It’s a big time for the rowers in our group, as the World Championships in New Zealand are fast approaching.  Nick and part-time chocolate bar artist Sam Stit are both preparing for the big races on the other side of the globe that will be taking place at the end of October and beginning of November.  On Wednesday, Sam and Nick were officially named to the heavyweight and lightweight straight fours, respectively.

Nick’s laptop has seen better days, and as of today it is entering truly dangerous territory.  His monitor has been hanging on loosely for a while now, and the second of the two hinges that hold the monitor in place recently broke.  The computer is still functional, but it kind of looks like there was a tug of war over his laptop.  From what I can tell, there was no winner of the tug of war.  Just a loser: Nick.

Make sure keep your eyes out in the coming weeks, as the site will be getting a little face-lift.  We have been working on the makeover for a bit now, and we think we’re getting pretty close to a new look that we think will better reflect the young, fun-loving attitude clearly present in a group of people dedicated to building chocolate bars.

When you think of America, what do you think of?  Apple pie?  Baseball?  Obesity?  How about red tape?  Bureaucracy and procedural headaches might be the most American things there are, and Chocomize just reached the end of a paperwork process that was painstakingly slow.  After months of waiting, Chocomize has officially received its US trademark for its company name.

This doesn’t really change anything about our business, our service, or our chocolate (mmm our chocolate…) but we thought people would be interested to know we now have our papers all straightened out and our company is now officially sanctioned as the American company for hand-crafted personalized premium chocolate bars.

So, if you ever have a chance to stop into the sweetest corner warehouse in the 1879 Industrial Center, you can rest assured that our brand new trademark(pictured to the left) will be proudly displayed in between rowing pictures, the ubiquitous Chocomize poster, and our giant modern art paint-splatter painting.

In lieu of the traditional blog post discussing facts about chocolate and new deals to be found on the Chocomize site, I thought it would be fun to discuss a famous person who associates himself with chocolate.  The self-decided moniker (to go along with “Sir Slam” and “Dr. Dunkenstein”) makes him a perfect candidate for analysis.

So, let’s take a look at Darryl Dawkins in relation to some words commonly associated with the world of premium chocolate:

Rich: No brainer here, as Dawkins was a professional athlete, meaning that he made the kind of money most of us can only dream of.  As one of the first professional basketball players ever to receive a million-dollar salary, his estimated career earnings land him somewhere around $7 million, or enough to purchase almost 800 thousand Cinnamon Special bars.

Smooth: Chocolate Thunder did not get his name by accident.  While being notoriously powerful, it was his grace and agility as a dunker that earned him a high profile during his playing days.  He was also notorious for being something of a club rat, carousing in the nighttime with perhaps the smoothest player of the era, Julius “Dr. J” Erving.

Robust: Dawkins was a big boy, measuring out at 6 feet 11 inches and 255 pounds.  He was so big and strong, in fact, that he had a reputation for breaking the backboard.  He did it twice in the space of three weeks, leading the NBA to create a rule that it was a finable offense for a player to break the backboard.  Ever the nickname artist, Dawkins named his patented move “The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam."

For these qualities and the creativity only rivaled by our customers at our Creation Station, we salute Darryl Dawkins for doing the chocolate world proud.

As hard as we work to ensure that the orders we fill for you are accurate and delicious, sometimes slip-ups happen and we now present you with an opportunity to capitalize on our latest goof.

We had a bulk order come in recently for many milk chocolate bars with mini pretzels and dark chocolate bars with cinnamon.  Unfortunately, we swapped those arrangements by mistake, and now have 65 unclaimed bars that will be sold at the special price of just $3.00.

So, if you think a milk chocolate with cinnamon sound like a bar that you would like to try, shoot on over to the Favorites page and find the new Cinnamon Special bar being sold at a discount price while supplies last.

Hurry though, I have a feeling these bars will last about as long as the Chocomize beard-growing contest from earlier this summer.

A pleasant good morning and greetings from Candyland from your new author here at the smoothest, the sweetest, and the “richest” headquarters in the world of custom chocolate (hopefully soon the quotation marks can be removed from that last description).  Well, fall is coming which means the holidays are fast approaching and some of the latest out of 1879 Old Cuthbert has the gang preparing for everything from Halloween to Thanksgiving to the winter holiday season.

The next big holiday coming up?  Let’s try Canadian Thanksgiving, celebrated annually on the second Monday of October.  And how perfect the timing is, as Chocomize just streamlined the shipping process to Canada.  Previously our northern neighbors had to call on the phone to place an international order, but now the option is available to ship orders to Canada directly through our Creation Station.  And remember to use the coupon code Canada for 10% off at checkout now through the “other” Thanksgiving on Monday, October 4^th.

The team has been hard at work creating all kinds of interesting bars, my favorite of which (for its name as much as for its ingredients) is the “Tighty Whiteys” bar.  Don’t worry though, there’s more to our office than just chocolate creation.  Beginning last week, Nick has us all listening to the Harry Potter series on tape.  We have made our way steadily through the collection and are now in the midst of The Goblet of Fire.

We all agree that it has been much more enjoyable and stimulating than listening to the same top-40 songs over and over again on the radio.  However, as they say, this too shall pass.  Unfortunately, Harry, Dumbledore, and the gang will not entertain us forever.  If you have an interesting suggestion for the next book on tape collection we might enjoy, I for one would love to hear from you.  Feel free to leave any ideas in the comments section of the post.

It’s great to be here bringing our loyal customers and followers the latest from Chocomize HQ, and be sure to familiarize yourself with our list of Favorites bars.

We’ve had some really tasty combinations lately, check out our top five here:

1. Friday Night Football Fiesta
Milk Chocolate
Decorations: Candle
Candy: Peanut Butter Drops
Candy: Oreo Pieces
Candy: Kit Kat

2. Becky's Birthday Surprise!
Milk Chocolate
Candy: Toffee
Candy: Mini Marshmallows
Decorations: Happy Birthday Plaque

3. Hot & Spicy Hunk
Dark Chocolate
Nuts & Seeds: Hazelnuts
Herbs & Spices: Cayenne Pepper
Decorations: 23 Karat Gold Flakes

4. Love Bar
White Chocolate
Decorations: I Love You Heart
Decorations: Crystallized Rose Petals

5. It's not bedtime!
Milk Chocolate
Candy: Gummi Bears
Candy: Nerds
Candy: Chocolate Candy

Here at Chocomize, we are more than just the first customizable chocolate service here in the good ole US of A.  We embrace the international flavor of today's world, and have officially made it easier than ever for our brethren up north in America's Hat to get their chocolate fix.  Whereas before our Canadian comrades had to phone in their orders due to limitations in the shipping options on our website, we have expanded to include the Great White North so that our chocolate can make the trip across the border much more easily.

So whether you’re watching a Jim Carrey movie, headed to a Justin Bieber concert, drinking a Molson at a bar on your 19^th birthday, or staring at your Sydney (freakin’) Crosby poster, feel free to order all the Chocomize chocolate you can eat.  After all, if you get sick, the doctor’s visit will be free anyway.

With many people spending the holiday shortened week returning to the grind of a new school year and bidding farewell to the 90-plus degree temperatures of the summer months, we here at Chocomize wanted to help lift your spirits with a few goofy tidbits from the world of chocolate that we have stumbled across.  What else would you expect from a group that spends their days building chocolate bars and listening to Harry Potter books on tape?

The answer, of course, is items like these to distract you just long enough to forget about the fact that sweater weather is just around the corner.

For example, did you know...?

• The world's largest chocolate bar - which served as the main attraction at the 15th International Milka Chocolate Festival in Bludenz, Austria - weighed in at a remarkable 4,410 pounds.  The gigantic bar measured 16.4 feet by 6.5 feet and was reportedly viewed by about 30,000 spectators at it's unveiling in 1998.  It was produced by Milka, a popular European chocolate company owned by Kraft Foods.  I thought they just made cheese
• The most expensive chocolate bar in the world is known as the Wispa Gold special edition bar.  Released in 2009 as a tribute to the defunct Wispa Gold bars that were discontinued in 2003, the bars are have an outer layer of edible gold and are packaged in golden wrappers.  So if you have an extra $1,626.73 lying around, feel free to enjoy the most luxurious chocolate bar money can buy.  Or you could just buy the second most expensive chocolate bar - the limited release Apollo bar of Lost fame - that was auctioned on eBay for a mere $130.  Then you can give me the other $1,500 you were going to spend on a chocolate bar.
• This upcoming Sunday, September 12, is National Chocolate Milkshake Day.  While the milkshake is only a distant cousin of ours here at Chocomize, we respect the process of self-creation in all of its forms.  Even when it is created just from some chocolate ice cream, milk, and chocolate syrup instead of our premium Belgian chocolate and wide variety of ingredients.

Hopefully you have enjoyed reading our little chocolate tidbits, and remember to impress people by wishing them a Happy National Chocolate Milkshake Day on Sunday while watching some football.

Sometimes, a few business days is just too long to wait for access to Chocomize's premium chocolate bars with delicious added ingredients.  Luckily, if you live near Prineton, NJ, that will not be a problem for you anymore.  As of this week, a few fan-favorite flavors of Chocomize chocolate bars will be available at Olive's Restaurant, making access to our bars easier than ever.  The Olive's market is now stocked with and will be featuring the following flavors:

• Smores Bar (Milk Chocolate Bar with Graham Teddies and Mini Marshmallows)
• Milk Chocolate Bar with Chocolate Candy and Mini Pretzels
• Dark Chocolate Bar with Coffee Beans and Hazelnuts
• Dark Chocolate Bar with Cinnamon, Crunchy Almond Croquent, and Dried Raspberries