A Memorable First Chocolate Maker’s Masterclass

A day I'll remember...

It’s been a few days since our first Chocolate Maker’s Masterclass, and I keep thinking about the people around the table. Everyone came with such curiosity. There were questions, little side conversations, and those moments when someone tasted something and wanted to talk about it right away. It felt like a room full of people who were happy to be there. I certainly was.

When we held our first Chocolate Truffle Workshop in December 2024, I had no idea how much our workshops would grow. We’ve now had seven different workshop series. One of my favorite parts has been getting to spend time with our customers beyond the few minutes we might have together in the shop. We’ve gotten to know some of them so well that they’ve become friends.

I used to be an instructor, and I’ve always missed the feeling of sharing something I love with a room of people. These workshops have brought that back into my life.

Still, I was nervous about the masterclass. Our other workshops are two hours long. This one was eight. We spent months planning, preparing, and going over the smallest details. I could picture how I hoped the day would go, but with a new workshop, you never really know until everyone walks in and it begins.

Dr. Ging Quinones started the day with us, sharing her knowledge of cacao fermentation, drying, and bean grading. After lunch, we had a guided chocolate tasting, which was a pretty wonderful way to have dessert. We tasted chocolates from around the world and talked about the differences between compound chocolate and couverture. From there, we went through the bean-to-tablea-to-bar process, then spent the rest of the afternoon working on confections.

I know we couldn’t teach everything about chocolate making in one day. We tried to give everyone a good introduction and share as much as we could in a way that followed the journey of cacao. Our attendees made it easy to keep going. They were curious, engaged, and so generous with their questions and conversations.

At the end of the day, I was tired, relieved, and really happy. I felt fulfilled in a way I hadn’t felt in a while.

Thank you to Dr. Ging for sharing her time and expertise with us, to our team for all the work that went into the day, and to everyone who joined our first masterclass. You made a day we had been planning for months so memorable!