Lagusta's Luscious TRUFFLES!

Truffle notification emails archive

So, when we are planning on shipping out truffles, we send an email to customers informing them of this fact so they can place their orders (drop Lagusta a line to be put on this truffle-notification list.).

We thought it would be funny to archive those emails here. This page has no purpose other than that. Enjoy!

February 2008: Valentine's Day is safely behind us - now you can finally buy truffles just for yourself!

Yes, truffleistas, you can now buy Lagusta's Luscious vegan, organic, fair-trade, as-p.c.-as-can-be truffles just for yourself with absolutely no guilt. But be sure to act fast, because they are selling like...well, like really good, handmade truffles. Better than hotcakes, dare I say. Probably because hotcakes are not made of
chocolate.

A little truffle bragging:
Organicnote.com says: "These chocolates rank right up there with the best truffles I've had, including those with loads of cream, so the fact that they are vegan is a tribute to the chocolatier whose talent
really shows in these confections." Check it out.

Also, Indie-pendence, a blog devoted to spotlighting handmade items and independent designers, says: "Rarely am I at a loss for words, but that's exactly how I feel when it comes to Lagusta's Luscious truffles." Read all about it here.

OK, enough bragging!

Our next batch will go out March 21, so be sure to get your orders in before we sell out, in which case we will ship them April 4 - and don't worry, I will let you know if your order gets bumped and you can get a refund if that doesn't work for you. I guess it's annoying that we don't constantly have truffles available to ship, but it means that your truffles are always super fresh, and isn't it sometimes nice to have to wait for (and anticipate!) sweet things?

I'm still working out eco-friendly truffle packaging options, so please bear with us during this weird transition time where we are trying out all kinds of different packaging solutions. I'm working on custom fabricating (yes, this chocolatier recently finds herself on the phone talking to people about "custom fabrication" with a nagging
feeling she should properly be in the kitchen) 100% post-consumer recycled paper truffle boxes, aren't you excited? Suddenly I am obsessed with making Lagusta's Luscious a 100% zero waste company.
Isn't it weird how one day you wake up after shipping truffles the same way for five years and suddenly decide to devote your life to new ways? Does this have something to do with my recent 30th birthday? Oy!

OK, be sure to check out lagustasluscious.com, and be sure to respond to this message with a request to be removed from this list if my shockingly long rambling annoys you.

Warmly,
Lagusta

PS, OK, one more thing: If you're interested in vegan truffles, I bet you'll also be interested in another tiny animal-friendly company - my pals Kate and Kevin make a super cute arrow ring (I got three compliments on mine today!), lovely room sprays, and adorable Brooklyn Bunny merchandise featuring their bunny Roebling - check out their sheer and utter brilliance at dresserjohnson.com. and bklynbunny.com

January 2008: Lagusta's Luscious truffles - finally!

Please forgive me this most long of absences. I have been making truffles, trust me. But people have been ordering them in such vast quantities that I have been selling out before I could send an alert to all of you about them. Happily, I have rectified that problem somewhat - from February 8 until May 9, we will be shipping truffles out pretty much every two weeks. Yay! There is still a possibility that your order might sell out and we will have to bump you to the next shipping date (or refund your money, if you can't wait). But there is much less likelihood of this happening.

In addition, as I'm sure you're aware, Valentine's Day is coming up. In celebration of this most chocolatey of days, I've put together a special arrangement I'm calling My Love, You Make My Lips Pucker and Set My Heart On Fire. As the name implies, this is a special collection of puckery pomegranate truffles with a pretty rose petal garnish (I have yet to meet someone who is not madly in love with this little dear) and our newest hot mama: the chipotle truffle. Peep the picture of this sweet collection in the photo at the bottom of this message. The boxes are $13 each plus shipping and there is a 2 box minimum order, as usual.

Very important: because I am far too lazy to change the website around for this special deal, this is an email-only special, and the only way to get it is to order any 2 small boxes from the website through PayPal, then write "Valentine's Day assortment" or something like that in the message line when you place your order. Your receipt will say that you ordered 2 Nutty Assortments (or whatever), but you and I will know the truth (and I will email you to reconfirm the truth). If you'd like to pay by check, just respond to this email and we will set it all up.

In other truffle news: don't get mad at me, but the chipotle truffle is replacing the wasabi truffle in our "wild" assortments. Here's the skinny: We went to great lengths to get real wasabi, but the flavor of true wasabi is fleeting and didn't stand up to the intense chocolate flavor all that well. The deeply smoky, rich, dark flavors of chipotle, however, match chocolate perfectly. Also, chilies and chocolate are a traditional Mexican pairing, so our "wild" chipotle truffle is really, in a sense, a quite traditional flavor when put into context. The chipotle truffle is rolled in very finely chopped chocolate. It's not too hot, I promise. It's hot enough, I promise.

And finally: it is with great regret I have to announce $1 shipping cost increases. After sitting down and doing some heavy duty accounting, I realized that ever since May when the postal rates went up I had been losing a bit of $ on the shipping costs. So, the shipping increase is unavoidable, unfortunately. We will still deliver New Paltz, NY area truffles for free, and can hand-deliver NYC truffles for $12 if you want to spare your truffles all the jostling. (By the way, feel free to let me know how your truffles are arriving - are they all jumbled around? Let me know, I'm always worried about the little dudes. Most truffles are packed with these annoying plastic things that cradle each truffle within the box and keep them firmly in place, but I can't bear the karma of all those plastic things being in landfills for the next 10,000 years because of me.)

Phew! Sorry for all the words. Click here to go to the truffles website: http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html

Your devoted chocolatier-in-chief,
Lagusta

September 2007: Lagusta's Luscious September truffles - finally!

Hello folks!

It's been a wonderful summer in Lagusta's Lusciousland. I hope yours has been as filled with homegrown flowers, good local food, and progressive political campaigns. But now the temperatures are dropping and it's once again time to get back to truffle-making. Our next batch will be shipped September 28, and more shipping dates are on the site (http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html).

This list has gotten rather large (let me know if you'd like to get off it, by the way, I'd hate to be your spam) and truffles are a very particular product, each one handmade with care. What this means for you (besides delicious chocolate in your mailbox) is that if I get lots of orders and sell out early I might have to bump your order to the next batch in October. I'll let you know if that happens, though, and I'll even put a little smiley emoticon in the email so you're not mad at me. Which might make you more mad at me, as emoticons sometimes tend to do. It's a slippery slope, really.

So, to order just pop on over to http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html and use the handy buttons to place your order. Fun fact! You do not need a PayPal address to order truffles using the PP buttons. If you'd like, though, you can still pay with a check - just shoot me an email with your order, I'll give you the address, you'll be all set.

If you've already ordered truffles, thank you! They will be shipped in Sept.

Yours in chocolate,
Lagusta

Chief Executive Rabble-Rouser and Antipreneur
Lagusta's Luscious

PS: If you're bored at work, keep reading.

OK, can I just vent a bit about truffle cups for a second? I would think that a lemon truffle should go into a yellow truffle cup, wouldn't you? Of course you would! Apparently we're in the minority, because I've been looking for yellow truffle cups for TWO YEARS and I have come to the conclusion that they do not exist. People, I have gone to trade shows. I have talked to people in the "high end candy packaging industry." I finally decided to get them made for me, and visions of recycled paper truffle cups danced in my head. Dozens of phone calls later, I gave up. I couldn't find a place in the US to get them made, and I can't stand dealing with the automated systems most of these companies have when you call them up. So the lemon truffle will be clothed in a white cup. Sadness. It's such a gorgeous little truffle, all fresh and zesty. If you don't tell the rest I will tell you that it's actually my favorite.

May 2007: Lagusta's Luscious vegan organic fair-trade (yet really good even with all those p.c. qualifications) TRUFFLES

First things first: Due to some computer ridiculousness I won't get into, there is a slight chance you were recently accidentally added to this list. I shudder in horror at the thought of sending unwanted emails, so don't hesitate to respond with a request to be taken off this list. (If you were recently added and want to know what this truffle business is about, here is the short version: My name is Lagusta. My parents met at Woodstock and I ended up with this ridiculous name -- that's another story. I am a vegan chef [not a contradiction in terms, actually] in New Paltz, NY, and I make chocolate truffles. They are really really good. You just might want to pick up a box. I make them every 6 weeks and they are shipped the same day they are made.)

Second things second: The truffles recently got rave reviews over at godairyfree.com. Check it out: http://www.godairyfree.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1094&Itemid=73

Third things third: OK, this is getting long. Here is the point, already:
We will be shipping truffles out May 25. This will be our last shipment of the season (fun fact: we only ship truffles in months with "r" in them, with of course the exception of May). You can order truffles with brand new PayPal buttons over at http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html . You do not need a PayPal address to order truffles using the buttons. You can still pay with a check, just shoot me an email with your order. Kindly remember the 2-box minimum order. We might sell out, in which case you can either:
1) not order if the site says we are sold out for the May 25 shipment,
2) still order, but you won't get your truffles until September - unless you are in the New Paltz or NYC areas, in which case order away and we will hand-deliver your truffles to ensure they do not melt. We will still be making truffles throughout the summer, but we will only be selling them locally.
3) there really is no third option, but lists of two are no fun.

Thank you! Hooray for chocolate!

Best,
Lagusta

PS: I contributed an essay on the merits of coconut oil in the vegan diet to a great cookbook that just came out. I also edited the book and snagged a "with Lagusta Yearwood" line on the cover. Check it out!

March 2007: vegan truffles: true confessions: price reductions

Hello truffle lovers!

Did everyone survive Valentine's Day? Are you ready to order more truffles as a thank-you for the ones your sweetheart bought for you? We'll be shipping them out March 30. Go here (http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html#ordering) to get the info and place an order. Keep reading if you're at work and bored.

Although the truffles are a tiny part of my business, they are a huge part of my life. I have no desire to sell truffles nationally or even locally...I just like making them in small batches and shipping them directly to you folks. However, I am completely obsessed with making sure that my little truffles are the best vegan (or non vegan!) truffles in the world - or at least, on the internet. I've made a few small changes to the truffles (you'll like the changes, see below), so I did a Google search to see how mine stacked up against vegan and non-vegan ones all around the internet. What I found:

-If you Google "vegan chocolate truffles," good old LL truffles come up first! We're number 1! We're number 1!!!
-My site continues to be super cute in comparison with all others.
-I promise never to subject you to pix of truffles reclining on elegantly mussed satiny cloths with light streaming in on them, as all other sites seem to have done. Yuck.
-My truffles are the cheapest ones I can find!

So, the good news is that I've lowered the price of truffles. You see...I didn't like the way the truffles fit into the boxes. So I'm putting more in. So the $13 box of 7 truffles is now a box of EIGHT truffles ($1.62 per truffle - fancy fancy Vosges Haut Chocolates sells theirs for $2.77 per truffle!!). Similarly, the $52 box of 30 truffles is now a $42 box of 28 truffles (an astonishing $1.50 per truffle!!).

February 2007: Valentine's Day truffles

Hello hello!

Just a quick reminder that our Valentine's Day truffles will be sent out February 2 and the deadline to place an order is this Friday. All the truffle info you can stand to digest is online at http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html .

If I were a better businesswoman (something I don't have a desire to be, alas), I would write something like the following: These are no ordinary truffles - no supermarket candy aisle toss-in these, no no! These use the highest quality chocolate that is not only decadently delicious but also organic and fair trade, because we at Lagusta's Luscious [all 2 of us!] believe that delicious treats should be good for the planet and it's people, too. Our truffles use no milk products not because we like to create fights with Big Food, but because we love vegans, and vegans love cows. We also love eating, and vegans who love eating (full disclosure: we are vegans who love eating), so we worked hard to come up with a formula for vegan truffles without chemicals or weird ingredients. We hope you'll like them as much as we do. (OK, as you can see, I fail at those peppy sales talks. If you want truffles, just order them. If not, save your money to pay off your student loans, which is probably better in the long run.)

A word about our packaging: sometimes the box your truffles come in (the outside box, not the one holding the truffles directly) is a little ugly. That's because we use 100% recycled boxes and packing materials. So if your box looks like it's been used before, that's because it has. And if you get styrofoam packing peanuts in your box, that's because someone sent us styrofoam packing peanuts, which we were none too happy about either. We like those edible cornstarch ones.

Happy Valentine's Day,
Lagusta

PS: Have you read The Long Emergency, by James Howard Kunstler? It's a must-read for those of us thinking about end-of-oil issues. Also check out his deliciously contrarian website here: http://www.kunstler.com/

January 2007

Hello everyone!

Instant karma's gonna get you, friends! I'm taking a little time off from cooking and am hanging out in Australia. I was saying some rather disparaging things about Australians, specifically their attraction to low-grade alcohol and ridiculous behavior after drinking large quantities thereof, and immediately not only did two wisdom teeth come painfully elbowing their way into my mouth, but I also missed a vital step on a dark staircase and sprained my foot! So, I feel I should take this opportunity to publicly apologize to the strange and wonderful nation of Australia for any offense. Place stop hurting me! Wombats are ridiculously cute!

Perhaps needless to say, I am excited to get back to the USA, who I have joyfully mocked for years without debilitating tooth pain or an inability to walk as the result. And as soon as I do, the Lagusta's Luscious crew will be throwing our hearts into making Valentine's Day truffles for you and all the vegan, organic, fair-trade chocolate lovers in your life. We are taking orders now and shipping truffles February 2.

Vital stats:
-Truffles will be shipped February 2. Orders are due January 26.

-Minimum order is 2 boxes. For flavor combinations, please check out http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html#flavors.

-Truffles are shipped 2-day mail to ensure speedy delivery of fresh and uncrushed chocolates (We deliver New Paltz, NY-area truffles for free). Shipping costs for the continental US are as follows:
            -Two boxes: $6
            -Four boxes: $8
            -One box of 30: $8
            -Two boxes of 30: $10
            -Please email for shipping costs for different selections. At this time we do not ship out of the US because vegan chocolate-lovin' customs agents have stolen our truffles too many times! Sorry!

-We prefer payment via paypal.com to the address chef@lagustasluscious.com, but we will also take checks made out to Lagusta's Luscious and cash upon delivery. If you would like to pay via check, just email to let us know you're placing an order and we will respond with our address. You can also call 845-255-8VEG to place an order, but we will most likely not answer because we keep weird hours and have no social skills.

-If you are currently getting the meal delivery service, you can order 2 boxes of truffles for $15 as your dessert for the week of February 6. That's $11 off, what a crazy deal!

xoxo
Lagusta

PS: just shoot me an email if you'd like to get off this list. thanks!

November 2006

Last batch of truffles in 2006! This email is very rambly!

Hello hello vegan/organic/fair trade/delicious chocolate lovers!

Personally, (and I admit I might be a little biased) I think our little Lagusta's Luscious truffles just keep getting better and better. This time around, we're introducing a new flavor to our regular line up: ginger! A very cosmopolitan truffle, this little lady sports a gingery ganache center (and not a gingerly gingery center - if this newborn truffle was an old lady she would be of the Maude (of Harold and Maude) variety, and would be called "quite a pistol") and lustrous poured chocolate exterior, all crowned with a neat little crystallized ginger square. She is available in the "wild" assortment, and she is so gorgeous that at the bottom of this email is a picture of her....several of her, actually.

Anyway, sorry to ramble. This was supposed to be a super quick note to let you in on the **last batch of truffles in 2006**! 2006 has been a lovely year, but soon enough it will be time for it to go, and personally I will be watching the end of the year on a Tasmanian beach (not yet having been to Tasmania, I am only assuming there are beaches. Do not worry environmentalists - I am donating to carbonfund.org to offset my carbon emissions!). Before all that, though, we will be making one more batch of truffles. It will be shipped December 1, and the order deadline is December 24, which is of course Buy Nothing Day (http://www.adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/) although perhaps it's OK to order truffles that day, since you won't be getting them until the next week, what do you say? Perhaps you could just place your order that day and pay for it the next day!

So, the details:

-Minimum order is 2 boxes. For flavor combinations, please check out http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html#flavors.

-Truffles are shipped 2-day mail to ensure speedy delivery of fresh and uncrushed chocolates (We deliver New Paltz, NY-area truffles for free). Shipping costs for the continental US are as follows:
            -Two boxes: $6
            -Four boxes: $8
            -One box of 30: $8
            -Two boxes of 30: $10
            -Please email for shipping costs for different selections. At this time we do not ship out of the US because vegan chocolate-lovin' customs agents have stolen our truffles one too many times! Sorry!

-We prefer payment via paypal.com to the address chef@lagustasluscious.com, but we will also take checks made out to Lagusta's Luscious and cash upon delivery. If you would like to pay via check, just email to let us know you're placing an order and we will respond with our address. You can also call 845-255-8VEG to place an order, but we will most likely not answer because we keep weird hours and have no social skills.

-If you are currently getting the meal delivery service, you can order 2 boxes of truffles for $15 as your dessert for the week of December 5. That's $11 off, what a crazy deal!

xoxo
Lagusta, chocolatier-in-chief, antipreneur extraordinaire (google it!)

PS: just shoot me an email if you'd like to get off this list. thanks!

September 2006

Hello truffle lovers!

It's been a wild summer, but we're back and ready for truffle-time - I hope you are, too! Our organic, fair-trade, vegan chocolate truffles are better than ever before. The first batch of the season will be shipped on or around October 27. Be sure to place your order by October 13 to ensure we don't run out. For some reason over the summer (when it's too hot to make truffles) our little truffle-announcement list just about doubled in size (was there some article I missed?), so I am a tad nervous that we might need to shut down ordering early.

As usual, all the truffles info is online at http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html , but here's the basic info:

-Each box of 7 (New!!! One more truffle per box for the same price!) handcrafted, organic, vegan truffles is $13, the minimum order is 2 boxes. For flavor combinations, please check out http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html#flavors . We have a special deal of 30 assorted truffles for $52 - it's like getting one box free!

-Truffles are shipped 2-day mail to ensure speedy delivery of fresh and uncrushed chocolates (We deliver New Paltz, NY-area truffles for free). Shipping costs for the continental US are as follows:
-Two boxes: $6 (total $32)
-Four boxes: $8 (total $60)
-One box of 30: $8 (total $60)
-Two boxes of 30: $10 (total $62)
-Please email for shipping costs for different selections. At this time we do not ship out of the US. Sorry!

-We prefer payment via paypal.com to the address chef@lagustasluscious.com, but we will also take checks made out to Lagusta's Luscious and cash upon delivery. If you would like to pay via check, just email to let us know you're placing an order and we will respond with our address. You can also call 845-255-8VEG to place an order.

-If you are currently getting the meal delivery service, you can order 2 boxes of truffles for $15 as your dessert for the week of October 31. That's $11 off, what a crazy deal!

Yours in chocolate,

Lagusta

PS: Trivia question: name 2 spices that started out life as parts of flowers. The first five people to respond with a correct answer will win a free truffle with purchase. No googling allowed!

PPS: I don't want to be anyone's junk mail: I promise not to be hurt if you respond and tell me to take you off this list.

July 2006

yes, we have no truffles (for now)
Hello truffle-lovers!

Recently I have been getting an unusually high number of truffle orders, so I thought I'd send out this midsummer message to let everyone know that, due to the hot temperatures in our part of the world which make working with chocolate practically impossible without excessive air conditioning that doesn't fit in with our desire to keep this planet around a little while longer, we are on truffle-hiatus until October 2006. I know that some of you have gift certificates that need to be redeemed - do not fear! You will go to the front of the line when placing truffle orders in the fall, and thank you for supporting craftersforcritters.com!

In the fall, there is SO MUCH truffle excitement going to be coming your way, I am not sure you will be able to handle it. We bought this magical machine called a chocolate tempering machine that allows us to make better truffles than could possibly be imagined, and of course you will reap these benefits. Also on the horizon are new flavors, a reorganized and streamlined truffle ordering system, and lovely combo-boxes. Be excited!

Yours in chocolate,
lagusta

PS: Have you noticed that our government is crappy? Just something I've been noticing. http://www.alternet.org/story/38821/

PPS: I shudder at the thought of being your junk mail. I so totally promise not to be hurt if you respond to this message and ask me to take you off this list.

March 2006

Lagusta's Luscious Vegan! Organic! Chocolate! Truffles

Hello truffle-lovers!

The daffodils are pushing their way out of the ground here in upstate New York, reminding us that we want to get in a few more rounds of truffles before it gets too warm to ship chocolate.

We won't share details, as they are boring to anyone but chocolatiers, but we have tweaked the truffles to make them better than ever before! Wait until you see and taste!

Lagusta's Luscious will be shipping truffles around April 3. Could you kindly get your orders in by March 27?

As usual, all the truffles info is online at "http://www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html" , but here's the basic info:

-Each box of 6 handcrafted, organic, vegan truffles is $13, the minimum order is 2 boxes.

-Truffles are shipped 2-day mail to ensure speedy delivery of fresh and uncrushed chocolates. This means shipping costs will be between $5 and $10, depending on how far you are from NY.

-We have a special deal of 30 truffles for $52 - it's like getting one box free (the 30 truffles come in one box, and we cannot split them into 5 boxes).

-Our paypal address for payments is: chef@lagustasluscious.com. We also take checks made out to Lagusta's Luscious (mail them to: Lagusta's Luscious Worldwide Global Universal HQ, 1 Watch Hill Road, New Paltz, NY 12561) and cold hard (or warm and soft) cash upon delivery.

Yours in (organic and fair-trade) chocolate,

Lagusta

PS: If you'd like to get off this list, just reply to this email.
If you want to ensure that you always get truffle reminders, make sure
to add my address to your online address book.

February 2006

Lagusta's Luscious Vegan Chocolate Truffles Reminder E-mail
Valley Girl Edition

Hello hello choco-lovers!

Lagusta's Luscious will be shipping Valentine's Day truffles on and around February 3. If you could get your orders in by January 24 that would be, like, so totally super appreciated.

Might I recommend a lovely (and slim and cheap) book to you? It's called Chocolate Unwrapped, and it's all about how chocolate is super healthy. If you prefer to support independent bookstores, you can buy it from the great Powells here: "http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-1931229317-2" Awesome!

As usual, all the truffles info is online at "http:// www.lagustasluscious.com/truffles.html" , but here's the basic info:

-Each box of 6 handcrafted, organic, vegan truffles is $13, the minimum order is 2 boxes. Tubular!

-Truffles are shipped 2-day mail to ensure speedy delivery of fresh and uncrushed (as if!) chocolates. This means shipping costs will be between $5 and $10, depending on how far you are from NY. Rad!

-We have a special (bitchin'!) deal of 30 truffles for $52 - it's like getting one box free (the 30 truffles come in one box, and unfortunately we cannot split them into 5 boxes).

-We prefer paypal.com payments, and our paypal address for payments is: chef@lagustasluscious.com. We also take checks made out to Lagusta's Luscious and cash upon delivery.

-If you are currently getting the meal delivery service, you can order 2 boxes of truffles for $15 as your dessert for the week of
February 14 (assorted flavors). That's $11 off, what a crazy deal!

Yours in chocolate,

Tootles,

Lagusta

PS: If you'd like to get off this list, just reply to this email. If
you want to ensure that you always get truffle reminders, make sure
to add my address to your online address book. For sure, dude!