THING: Biscotti

From: The Art of Crunch Biscotti

Made by: Ronda Hamlin

Since: 2000

Right here in: Tacoma

I'm not: Kidding

When I say: Yum!

This stuff: Is delicious

By day, Ronda Hamlin beautifies faces by means of cosmetics.  With powder brush in hand, a smile on her face and with experience in mind, Hamlin brings home a steady paycheck from one of the nation's largest and best retail entities.

By night, Hamlin makes wonderful, amazing, yet-to-be-world-famous biscotti. No known as The Art of Crunch Biscotti, Hamlin's is a biscotti that has risen to great heights of local popularity since she introduced it to co-workers in 2000.

As I chat with Kathy, who hired Hamlin in 1999 to work in cosmetics, she tells me of her initial discovery of Hamlin's biscotti. "I told her she needed to sell that biscotti," she says bluntly. "She had two kinds, cranberry-white chocolate and vanilla-hazelnut, and they were amazing."

So amazing, in fact, is Hamlin's cranberry-white chocolate biscotti that it won a blue ribbon at the Western Washington Fair (Puyallup Fair) in 2002.

"That first Christmas in 2000 I sold about 20 dozen orders of biscotti.  Last Christmas I sold over 200 dozen biscotti," Hamlin says with a smile.

Although her original flavors of cranberry-white chocolate and vanilla-hazelnut are still included in her repertoire, Hamlin has added orange-almond, lemon-poppy seed and dark chocolate-almond. 

"I have a new line being developed called Biscotti After Dark," Hamlin tells me, describing the new biscotti as being gourmet, rich and meant to be paired with wine.

So, do you dunk the biscotti in your wine? I totally forgot to ask.

I jumped up and down for joy when I heard Hamlin has plans to team up with my girl Holly Richart from Fingerprint Confections to develop a caramel biscotti.  "There will be a layer of caramel between the biscotti and chocolate," Hamlin tells me as I wipe the drool from my chin.

That right there is friggen' brilliant.

Currently The Art of Crunch Biscotti can be found at Cutters Point Coffee on Sixth Avenue and Orchard in Tacoma, Blue Octopus in Sanford and Son Antiques Middle Floor Merchants and online via Facebook.  Soon you will also be able to find Art of Crunch Biscotti at Anthem Coffee in downtown Puyallup and online at Etsy.