Christmas is just around the corner!

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Well it’s getting cold here in the UK… In fact it’s really cold (by UK standards that is)! The Hampstead Ponds, where I swim, are icing over (not that it stops me!).

Christmas is just around the corner.

Sarah, Becky, Lucie, and Chloe in our warehouse are all doing an awesome job. But Royal Mail is sadly not doing so well; it can take up to five days for Royal Mail to “receive” some boxes packed by the team, and another 3-5 days to deliver. So please do order AS SOON AS YOU CAN. And please consider upgrading to ‘first class’ as that is performing better.

Alternatively, why not gift a virtual tasting, or gift a 3, 6, or 12 month Cocoa Runners subscription via a gift voucher These are available for both UK and International customers (shipping is included in the purchase price), and you can gift these via a PDF.

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12 Days of Christmas

Please also do join our ‘countdown to Christmas’ where on Instagram we’re running a series of daily posts, activities, and competitions with awesome prizes including:

• Friis Holm’s FLODEBOLLER (aka amazing tea cakes, that until now you could only purchase directly in Copenhagen, but I hand-carried two back!),
• Omnom’s ‘Sunday Advent Decorations’ (again, not sold outside of Iceland; but we’ve a set to give away),
• Signed copies of James Hoffman’s latest book ‘How to Make the Best Coffee at Home’ (and yes, we are doing another tasting with him early next year),
• Chocolarder’s beautiful ‘cocoa cup’
• … and more! Make sure you follow us on Instagram.

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Podcasts

I’ve also been busy doing podcasts, interviews, etc. with appearances on ‘Bean to Barstool‘ and ‘The Chocolate Life‘. I really enjoyed both! And am really looking forward to doing a craft chocolate and craft beer tasting/pairing with David Nilsen in the new year.

Another great chocolate-related podcast is ‘Obsessions: Wild Chocolate’ which has fantastic interviews with Luisa Abrams and family, plus all the backstory on ‘wild beni’ cacao from Bolivia. I recommend that you have a listen, but also find some bars to taste along with below:

 

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Sunday Brunch

Please do switch on your TV set, or whever else you actually watch TV, and watch Sunday Brunch where I tasted Chocolarder’s new blonde bar, Fjåk’s reindeer moss and lingonberry bar and Chocolatemakers’ Sinterklaas bar with Simon, Tim, Gyles Brandreth, Joanne McNally and George Takei (of Star Trek fame). And you can get a head start on the bars here:

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‘Choc’-a-block with tastings

We’re “absolutely choca” with tastings at the moment! We hope to see you at one soon; either a virtual one or one in person.

Our December in-person tasting is now sold out, but we have tickets for January and February available at the links below.

And we’ve scheduled some great tastings with Square Mile for coffee pairing on January 21st, and with The Wine Society for Valentine’s Day. We also have plenty of big plans for 2023, so stay tuned!

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It’s not too late for Advent Calendars!

Though ‘Advent’ is well underway, you can still catch up by getting hold of one of our last remaining Zotter advent calendars:

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Craft Chocolate Gifts for Teachers

And finally, as it’s coming up to the end of term how about considering a great gift for teachers? We’ve crafted boxes for all sorts of subjects from English to maths, history to languages, science to art, and more!

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Again, thanks for all your support.

Please do order as soon as you can given all the mail strikes that are planned.

Spencer