The Wine Down – Chocolate and Wine: Amanda Ormerod of Bootleg Chocolates

EPISODE SYNOPSIS: Sonja and Brandon are only too happy to act as guinea pigs for a crash-course in pairing wines and liquors with chocolates. Local fine-chocolate maven, Amanda Ormerod, opens our eyes to some of the finer points of making confections and how she ‘bootlegged’ her family recipes to bring outrageous flavor to the west coast. Making chocolates with exciting spice and liqueur combinations, Amanda tells us about the process of creating quality sweets–from inspiration to finding flavors. We also get into the issues of sourcing and consistency that face her as a small business owner, and the Bahamian roots of her tastes. With a set full of liquor and luxurious chocolate, it’s one of our most decadent visits. GUEST BIO: Amanda Ormerod, co-founder and owner of Bootleg Chocolates, came to be a chocolatier after a long career as a producer. She creates her chocolates based on family recipes which she traces from four centuries in the Bahamas. She then filters them through her own education in chocolate making at UC Davis, and hand-creates each one. With flavors based on rum drinks local to the Bahamas, as well as ginger, peppers, and other aphrodisiacs, Bootleg Chocolates has been a sensation in Venice, California. ADD’L LINKS: www.bootlegchocolates.com twitter.com/chocobootleg www.facebook.com EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 00:01 Welcome to the Wine Down. 00:45 Sonja welcomes Amanda Ormerod 02:06 From the Bahamas to making chocolate in Venice. 05:26 “What is Ganache?” 07:28 …