Why snorting cocoa is the new afternoon pick-me-up
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone created the Chocolate Shooter. (Reuters)
In a recent Wednesday afternoon, the post-lunch doldrums are just beginning to set in. I don’t have time to grab a coffee, so I spoon a little powder out on a clean surface, put my nose down, and take a sniff.
“Whooo!” I say, jerking my head up with a cough.
“Are you OK over there?” shouts a colleague from over a cubicle wall.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I’m fine,” I say, my cover blown. But it’s not as though I’m doing anything illegal. I’m snorting cocoa powder, not cocaine.
In 2007, Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone created the Chocolate Shooter, a cocoa-sniffing device that promises “a blast of chocolate pleasure.” It was originally created for a birthday party for Ron Wood and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, but sales of the gadget have since cracked 25,000 — with chocoholics around the globe high on the device.
The machine retails for 45 euros (about $48 at the current dollar-friendly exchange rate) plus shipping on the company’s Web site (chocolateshooter.com) and is available for international delivery.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But like actual illicit things, it’s not exactly easy to get your hands on one. The site doesn’t take credit cards; an international bank transfer is required.