One of my favorite products Mont Blanc has ever created is a blender drink we formulated for one of our clients. A well-known coffee company had created this drink but was looking for a way to offer it to their customers so that it was easy to make and serve. This unique frozen coffee beverage is mixed in a blender and combines fresh espresso with milk and ice. It has the smooth and creamy taste of a coffee milkshake, and is one of the most popular menu offerings in their stores. Because it was so popular, however, there were operational problems with being able to make and serve a high volume of drinks while customers waited.

We proposed to create a liquid base for our client, using their coffee, that didn’t require the mixing of powders and fresh espresso in each store. What made this project so interesting was that it took two manufacturers to create the finished product. One of our suppliers used our client’s coffee beans to make an espresso extract. The extract then was shipped to a second manufacturer who combined it as an ingredient into the final blender drink base.

The product is still available and is packed in a 46 oz. container. When stores receive the mix, the entire contents are combined with a half gallon of milk into a one gallon pitcher. When the drinks are ordered, baristas simply pour the mixture into a cup filled with ice, blend, and serve.

Since we created this product, the drink’s sales have consistently increased and baristas are happier because making and serving frozen drinks is so much easier. One of the most gratifying aspects of my job can be the result of working with a customer that allows Mont Blanc to innovate - and then share in our client’s success.

It is the most expensive coffee in the world. But it isn’t from Kona, or even from Jamaica’s fabled Blue Mountains. It is from Indonesia and is called Kopi Luwak. The drink is made from coffee beans eaten by wild civets in the Sumatran jungle.

These jungle cats roam the forests and eat the coffee cherries off of the trees. The beans then pass whole through their digestive tracts and are excreted on the jungle floor. Villagers track the civets and scoop up the dried droppings and remove the undigested, whole coffee beans. The beans are then collected, cleaned, roasted, and ground and used to brew a cup of coffee. Supposedly, the digestive juices from the cat’s body give the coffee an unusual flavor.

I was determined to try this drink on a recent family trip to Indonesia. And as luck would have it, an Indonesian importer found a café that offered the delicate brew. We sampled it in two strengths. The first was 10 percent Kopi Luwak, with the remainder being a blend of other Indonesian beans. The second was 100 percent Kopi Luwak. The 10 percent drink tasted like any other cup of Indonesian coffee. But the 100 percent drink was truly distinctive. It exhibited the usual flavors of a classic Indonesian Sumatran coffee — earthy, smoky, musty, all of which make it my favorite origin. But the drink had a richer, more complex flavor, with more pronounced chocolate and caramel notes. The cost of each cup was about $10. I’m glad I tried it once, but for the price I prefer to drink a classic Sumatran for my daily cup.

Interestingly enough, Kopi Luwak last week made its American debut in Orlando.

I received a box of chocolate truffles as a gift. My friend gave them to me so that we could do a tasting and comparison. The box was a standard gold box with a transparent window to better see the chocolates nestled inside. I opened the box and looked at the dozen small, molded egg shaped truffles resting in the plastic tray. They were quite pretty, although the blue color on one of the white shells was a bit jarring. Still, I thought that the taste would be great since these chocolates had just been named best in town.

Taking my trusty kitchen knife, I cut the first one open. The center was a cross between a buttercream and a ganache; I popped it into my mouth. The center was soft, so it melted easily. The chocolate flavor, however, was overpoweringly sweet. It was a classic case of using an average chocolate for making fine chocolates. I swallowed, and instructed my friend to do the same. She said that it was very sweet. I nodded. The problem is that the chocolate wasn’t in balance. The center was flavored, but the outer shell was so sweet that it overpowered the filling.

Balance is a common problem in cooking and formulating. It is a constant challenge to make sure that the ingredients when mixed together make a harmonious whole. We deal with that situation daily at Mont Blanc.

We are constantly formulating chocolate syrups for our specialty café customers. In order to be successful, however, we must have their coffee beans to work with. Each of our café customers offers a different blend of espresso, using different beans and roasted to different sweetness levels. For us to create the perfect match, we have to pair the chocolate — is it too sweet, not sweet enough, will it overpower the coffee – with the coffee in their finished drink. Balance is key. Unfortunately, this chocolate maker hadn’t yet learned that lesson.