Listen, if you put peanut M&Ms or York Peppermint Patties in front of me, I will DEMOLISH those suckers. Sure, I spend most of my waking (and sleeping) hours thinking about, writing, and tasting bean-to-bar chocolate, but once in a while, Snickers really satisfies.

Much has been written in response to the Mast Brothers scandal (or what our team refers to as "Mast-gate"). Nearly every perspective, rebuttal, or defense has been shared, so much so that I debated whether to publish this post, concerned I'd be adding to the noise. But there's one perspective that's missing and it's that of a (fellow?) chocolate maker.

We have a saying here: "it's not about the chocolate, it's about the chocolate." We mean that we have a laser focus every single day on making the best chocolate we can with the best beans possible.

Today they are packing and relaxing at home. Tomorrow they will meet us at the airport and we will embark on our 46-hour journey to our final destination of Kyela, Tanzania. Some of our students have never been outside of Missouri and one has never been on a plane.