Every week I field questions about the necessity of the Melanger and whether the sugar can dissolved in "just a little" water to eliminate a step. Basically, you can't do that. Or more to the point, if you do, what you will end up with is not classic chocolate. This Water and Chocolate FAQ gives a bit more detail. Also, we have a new cocoa bean in and with it comes a new origin. We now have a full bodied, peppery, Fair trade certified bean (very important here) from the Ivory Coast. That's right - the infamous Ivory Coast. I refused to even taste Ivory Coast samples without a guarantee of the conditions of the harvest (meaning the workers). Being Fair Trade takes care of that. With that in place, this is a great time to taste a new origin and some different flavors. Go check out the Review.