In January I was at the semi-annual meeting of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association in San Francisco when I was approached by Jeremy Karp, the Owner and Chocolatier of Batch PDX. He proffered a box of five of his hand-crafted truffles and suggested I enjoy them later. When I got back to my airbnb that night, I dug in.I was familiar with Batch PDX and had tasted Jeremy's Candy Cap Mushroom truffle at the Good Food Awards in 2017, but I did not have a good understanding of his talent until I tasted the truffles in this box. Let's just say I was impressed. And I'm not impressed often. I've tasted a lot of chocolate, and it's rare that I get excited about what I've tried.But I needed validation from my team. I've found that tasting chocolate after a long day of enjoying other foods is not always the best way to judge. I've also found that tasting chocolates in isolation with no baseline comparison can result in some "false positives". I got back to Seattle and tasted Jeremy's full line of chocolates with my team, and validated my initial impression. We all loved Batch PDX!We don't add new truffles to our collection often. Truffles have shorter shelf lives than bars of chocolate. While they sell well at the holidays, they don't sell as well the rest of the year, and we can't hold onto them as long. There's more risk involved for us. Given that we're out of the holiday season, I wasn't in the market to add new truffles to the mix. Until I tasted Batch PDX. They are so good we couldn't wait to add them to the Chocolopolis collection.We've added nine of Batch PDX's truffles and confections to our lineup so that we can see which ones you like the most. If you ask our team, we all have a difficult time picking favorites, and all of us pick different ones. If pressed I have a top three list, but even then it is difficult to rank order these excellent confections. What are my favorite three?

• Candy Cap Mushroom (think Maple)
• Spicy Passion
• Almond 'N Coconut (like the best Almond Joy you've ever tasted)

Ah, but it's like choosing a favorite child. While making this list I also considered the Nutty Crunchy PDX and the Yuzu Gimlet (like having a gin & tonic) as possible favorites. It really is hard to prioritize.Here's a little bit more about Jeremy Karp and Batch PDX.Jeremy is a perfectionist, which is clear from working with him. He designs a chocolate for the person who would eat it while maintaining balance. "Balance" is a word he uses often. He doesn't want to make chocolates that "slam you over the head", he wants to make chocolates that deliver interesting, balanced flavors.You will notice that his chocolates are elegantly and simply decorated. Jeremy believes in a simple look with clean execution, relying on his technical capabilities and his understanding of flavors to achieve results. Jeremy uses organic cream and organic butter because higher quality ingredients make a better product.How did he get into chocolate?Jeremy has worked in food and wine his whole life. His first job was scooping ice cream, pouring beer and serving pizza at a restaurant group in Chicago. He has been a line cook, a pastry chef and an artisan baker. Jeremy first attended college in Pennsylvania, then headed to Vermont to get a culinary degree. He moved west to attend the University of Oregon in the late '80s because he liked the West Coast and the Grateful Dead, and his wife was pursuing a Masters Degree in Nursing at the University of Oregon.Jeremy always loved ice cream and chocolate, but they were difficult to work with in a restaurant environment (heat, grease, etc). He decided to pursue chocolate because it is the perfect delivery device for a single bite or two. His work is only as good as the last chocolate someone put in their mouth. It's a challenge of taste and flavor to create these little things that give people an experience.In celebration of the launch of Batch PDX, earn double loyalty points for any purchases of Batch PDX confections through Saturday, March 17, 2018. We've put together an assortment of seven Batch PDX truffles to order online.