Hello, and welcome to the new year. I hope it is going well for you. We are through the holidays, and made it in one piece and getting ready for new things. Due to some unforeseen circumstances at Santha (they are temporarily closed for a trip to India) we are effectively out of stock of the Melangers. At least for USA models. Other models can still ship worldwide (actually, if you wish to pay an $100 or so in shipping, they could be shipped to the USA from India). After that, the latest ETA for the new shipment of Melangers is set the middle of March. Units with the 99 hour timer will then be available.
Are you ready for Valentine's Day? We will have a couple new molds (a couple new hearts and a "kiss") in a week or so. Keep an eye out. Now it the time to start planning that special chocolate to give to your sweety.
Are you maybe looking at starting a little Artisan chocolate company? Sell at the local farmer's market maybe? To help you get going, will are just finishing up the details to offer roasted beans. The "catch" is that they are in 20 pound increments and of only two varieties (Madagascar and Dominican Republic). If you don't need the roasting, then well also offer entire bags (60-65 kg) at a substantial (around 45%) discount off retail. We have always done this, but will soon have pages and links set up.
Finally, I have been testing a small table top rotisserie convection oven. It will roast 3 lb cocoa rather nicely. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but not very expensive either. I will probably be offering these up within the next couple months.
That's it. Let's see what 2007 brings.
Happy Chocolate making.
P.S. The new shopping cart system is going pretty well, and definitely has made my life less hectic. The only two glitches that have been uncovered are this. We have a Flat Rate USPS option. It is for orders under 8 lbs. AND when the order is only cocoa bean and nibs. It will show up if you have other items as it is a weight based system. Please don't choose it if you are ordering other items (molds and cocoa butter seem the most common). They do not always fit. Also, if you desire your cocoa beans as nibs, please select 1 lb as nibs, and increase the quantity to the amount you want. It is NOT like it used to be where you have to leave me notes. If there suggestions how to make these items less confusing, suggestions are welcome. I would hate to decrease options (no USPS or nibs) just to keep the errors down. Thank you everyone.