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Nestlé Master Chocolatier proves you can make a chocolate teapot

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How useless is a chocolate teapot? Not at all, Nestlé Master Chocolatier John Costello proved when he engineered the impossible with a fully functional teapot made entirely from chocolate.

The BBC 's The One Show challenged Nestlé to test the myth that there is nothing more useless than a chocolate teapot by developing a pot which doesn’t melt when filled with boiling water.

To succeed, the pot had to be able to brew tea for two minutes and then pour a perfect cup of tea. Mr Costello enlisted his fellow scientists and engineers from Nestlé’s Product Technology in the northern England city of York to rise to the challenge and help create the teapot.

Nestlé’s team used dark chocolate with 65 percent cocoa solids so that the low fat content would hold the hot tea. It is the fat in chocolate which makes the chocolate melt when placed in your mouth, creating a pleasurable sensory experience.

The biggest challenge for the team was working out the level of chocolate thickness that would withstand the hot tea. Following several experiments and modifications, the Nestlé chocolate teapot was born.

Nestlé’s Product Technology Centre in York is a centre of excellence for chocolate, sugar confectionery and biscuits. It employs 185 scientists, engineers, nutritionists and confectioners from around the world who develop breakthrough technologies for the company.