At chocri, we will often highlight one of our very many toppings on its national day or month. We know our toppings inventory is pretty extensive. How do you choose which ones to try on your very own chocolate creation?

This month, we're celebrating papaya. September is National Papaya Month, and the tropical fruit is an excellent way to work more Vitamin C into your diet in a tasty, tangy way. In addition to being totally tropically delicious, papaya is hella versatile- it's popular in sweet dishes, savory ones like curries, and it even has medicinal applications. (It's also very common in spas for its natural exfoliating abilities.)

To honor National Papaya Month, we've marked papaya down 50% for all of September. So in addition to being a bright, flavorful and delicious addition to any chocri creation, Papaya is also an attractively priced one. You can find papaya on the fruit page of our "create your own" section.

Need some help in pairing papaya? Our recommendation engine can help you decide which toppings to add to your papaya-inclusive chocri.

Image: Flickr

As you know, we welcome any of your questions about chocri or chocolate in general. Today's question is another Twitter submission that comes courtesy of one of our tweeps, @ladcraig. She asks:

What are the most popular add-ins requested by Chocri customers?

The answer to this is surprisingly static. So much so, in fact, that we've already combined the top five of the most selected toppings into one super awesome bar. It's a great introduction to chocri, and the bar is Milk Chocolate with Strawberry, Roasted Almonds, Hazelnut Brittle, Cinnamon and Real Gold Flakes. You can find it in our Recommended Creations.

Of course, sometimes you have an idea as to what you want, and you just need a little nudge. Maybe some advice on which toppings go best with what you've already selected. In that case, we've just introduced a new recommendation engine to help you craft the perfect chocri. Let us know if you dig it in the comments!

[Image: Flickr]

After we covered the basics of our fair trade and organic chocolate in yesterday's "Ask chocri" post, we got another, similar question from our Facebook friend Bryan, and we thought it warranted its own answer. Bryan asked a question concerning what goes into our chocolate. He wants to know:

"Where does Chocri source its cocoa beans and other ingredients from?"

Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? :) Actually, that's another question without a simple answer. While the short answer is "lots of places," the long answer is "mostly Europe." Our chocolate is from Belgium, and unsurprisingly, a lot of our toppings come from Germany.

Toppings are a bit more broadly sourced, though again mostly European. An example would be our candied lilac and rose petals, which are from a little farm in the Austrian alps. They're real, and created and candied in small batches, by people with giant horns wearing lederhosen. Okay, the last part was hyperbole, but they are really painstakingly handcrafted, just like our blog posts.

Another topping sourced from Germany is mymuesli- if chocri has given you a jones for creating your own food items and you can no longer stand the same cereal everyone and their brother has, you might want to take a look at their 566 quadrillion organic muesli combinations. We've gotten great feedback about this particular topping, and the mymuesli website has some great info not only on their products, but as another example of co-creation. If you're into the idea of making your very own muesli but are in the US, you might want to check out mix my granola. Same idea, but if you enter the code CHOCRI at checkout, you get 15% off!

And lastly, our peanut butter drops are American- has anyone managed to do the humble peanut as much justice as the US? Of course, we can't cover every topping here, but if you have a specific question- tweet us or say hi on Facebook!

Edible gold flakes make a gorgeous addition to any chocri creation, but chocri fans are often a bit stymied by their inclusion. They're so pretty and shiny- but can you really eat them?

Fortunately for our aesthetically-minded friends, chocolate on chocri bars is perfectly safe to consume. Humans have been including this precious substance in special occasion treats for centuries, according to an online FAQ:

"In antiquity, gold and silver were used to prepare medicines and both were considered a digestive. They are still considered medicinal in Chinese and Indian medicine and in certain homeopathic applications."

You should also know that the flakes are indigestible, a common trait for certain every day foods, such as corn. While a constant diet of gold might get kind of pricey, gold flakes on chocolate are safe and incredibly fancy to behold. Are you looking to add a touch of gold to a special occasion? Take a look at our page on chocri wedding favors!