chocolate makers of Costa Rica
I hope you’ve enjoyed the series of posts I’ve done about my visit to Costa Rica for the 2014 Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival. I’ve already introduced you to Caribeans Chocolate in the November 17th post. In today’s post, I’d like to introduce you to a few of my other favourite Costa Rican chocolate makers.
Henrik Bodholdt is an expat European and founder of Chocolate Craft of Costa Rica. He is also a chocolate educator and chocolate maker under the name Beach Chocolate Factory. Under the Chocolate Craft banner, Henrik helps market assorted artisan chocolate makers of Costa Rica via this site. The Beach Chocolate Factory is located in Playa Potrero, on the Pacific Coast in the Guanacaste Region of Costa Rica, but you’ll find Henrik at various chocolate events around the country. I loved his Lava bar, with just the right hint of heat, the Celeste bar with its fruity notes, and my favourite, the Tenorio, which is an incredibly smooth and full-flavoured chocolate.
Tao Watts is the chief chocolate maker at Samaritan Xocolata, also on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in Perez Zeledon. Tao is an expat originally from Maryland USA, and now long-time resident of Costa Rica whose chocolate creations are as beautiful to look at as they are delectable to taste. Tao is a true artisan who adds a beautiful femininity to the chocolate truffles, bonbons, barks, bars and custom confections offered in Samaritan’s line of products. Of the ones I was able to taste, I really loved the Solo Bueno! wave bar, an explosion of 70% dark organic cocoa infused with coconut nectar crystals, chia, sesame, figs, blueberries, ginseng, chili, and more. These are available for worldwide shipping via Samaritan’s site. Yay!
Another woman who is passionate about chocolate and who is growing some amazing cacao in the Puerto Viejo area is Christina Orr, an expat originally from California, USA, whose chocolate company is called Talamanca Organica Cacao and Chocolate.
A conservationist and experienced gardener who has passionately brought that knowledge to the cacao fields, Christina is dedicated to creating just the right flavour profile in her cocoa beans by experimenting in the fermentation method of her beans. Christina ferments each harvest of beans separately so that she can very precisely control the development of the flavour in her customized fermentation box. She has only recently began making chocolate from her beans and it will be interesting to see how her chocolate develops over time.
Pascal Blanchard dressed as Willy Wonka and his wife Kari Gabriel dressed as the Golden Goddess at the 2014 Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival.
Yes, I found some talented expat Canadians who are growing cacao and making chocolate in Costa Rica, too. Pascal Blanchard from the Eastern Townships of Quebec and his wife Kari Gabriel (who grew up in British Columbia, Canada, but was actually born in Costa Rica) are making chocolate products under the name Xocolat Chocolate. They have a small farm in the Puerto Viejo area, and in addition to producing award-winning chocolate, make fabulous crisps infused with cocoa nibs that they market as Cacao Coast Crackers. I loved them! People often ask me what they can do with cocoa nibs. Dropping them into almost anything will enhance the resulting flavour. But adding fresh cocoa nibs into a tasty batter for baked crisps is a winning recipe that this dynamic duo should market on a wide scale. For now … you’ve got to go to Costa Rica to get some.
A small stock of Xocolat Chocolate bars can be found on sale at Caribeans Chocolate in Puerto Viejo. At present, Xocolat doesn’t have its own website or storefront due to the small quantity they produce. Hopefully, that will soon change.
These are just a few of the talented chocolate makers I met while in Puerto Viejo. Join us the week of March 9th for the next post, when we’ll head to San Jose and discover Nahua Chocolate.
growing cacao in Costa Rica
February is the month in which we celebrate Valentine’s Day, so chocolate is high on the minds of many people. But have you ever thought about where the cocoa comes from that is used to make our beloved chocolate? Or what it’s like to grow cacoa? Having now seen cacao growing in five distinctly different regions, I can answer that, and would like to share what I learned on my recent trip to Costa Rica.
This is what a healthy Costa Rican cocoa pod looks like.
We saw how the Chinese Rose Beetle has been devastating cacao plantations in Hawaii. We saw how rats are a problem in St. Lucia, ants are the primary culprits in Peru, and black pod rot has been a problem for cacao growers in Ecuador.
There are also many challenges when it comes to growing cacao in Costa Rica. I visited CATIE (the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) while in this lush Central American country and learned that the experts are finding ways to fight disease and help the cocoa survive and thrive. The netting that surrounds the pods in the photo above helps trap the humidity on diseased pods so that the scientists can isolate the fungus and study it.
This photo shows cocoa pods at various stages of Frosty Pod Rot.
The disease known as Frosty Pod Rot or more formally called Moniliasis Disease has long been devastating cocoa plantations in Costa Rica and 12 other countries in tropical America including Mexico. But some progress has been made to battle the disease via ongoing research.
Cacao seedlings at the CATIE research station in Costa Rica.
CATIE has been studying cacao’s genetic makeup and attempting to develop hybrids of cacao that will be more resistant to disease. I was privileged to be invited to the 70th anniversary celebrations of CATIE and learned much from speaking to the cacao growers and agricultural experts who were present.
In addition to disease, the cocoa plantations battle rodents such as squirrels who like to chew at the pods in order to get to the nectar inside. By planting coconut and guava trees among the cacao, farmers are able to divert the squirrels’ attention and have them disturb other produce that is less valuable and easier for the rodents to get at. It’s not easy outsmarting the squirrels, as many of us know in attempting to divert them from our birdfeeders!
We all love to eat fine chocolate, but until I began my research, I had no idea how difficult it is to grow the cacao that ultimately becomes our beloved chocolate. No wonder artisanal chocolate is so expensive! The finest quality aromatic cocoa comes from Criollo and Trinitario cacao trees that unfortunately are the most susceptible to disease and intruders.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the challenges facing the cocoa growers of Costa Rica. In the next post, I will introduce you to some of the fine craftsmen and women who make the chocolate.
thinking about the Dominican Republic
Looking at my list of places I intend to visit this year made me realize I’d omitted one important destination. The Dominican Republic was the place that planted the seed for my desire to further investigate the world of fine chocolate back in 2009 when we were enjoying an Air Transat package to Punta Cana.
Air Transat offers a variety of packages to take you to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
That was a superb trip, and I’d love to go back and stroll that amazing beach again. But also to continue exploring the island, and visiting the cacao plantation where some of the finest cocoa in the world is grown.
cacao pods growing in the Dominican Republic
I first became familiar with Dominican grown fine chocolate when tasting the bars, bonbons, and truffles from SpagNvola, an artisanal chocolate company now based in Maryland, USA, but founded and operated by a very creative couple from the Dominican Republic.
The chocolate bars from SpagNvola taste like they’ve just come out of the jungles of Punta Cana. So full of fresh fruitiness! On SpagNvola’s site you can purchase a 3-pack of 70, 75, or 80% cocoa bars that are made from beans grown right on the SPAGNVOLA Estate.
The bonbons are beautifully decorated and filled with exotic flavours such as Passion Fruit, Mango, and White Peach. And the pure chocolate truffles come in flavours that include Dominican Republic Rum & Raisin, Passion of the Sea Salt, and Jasmine Rose. All absolutely enticing!
If you are passionate about fine chocolate and love to travel, a visit to Punta Cana is sure to satisfy on every level. Just ask the folks at your resort to help find a tour that takes you to a cocoa plantation. We took the one offered by Bavaro Runners and really enjoyed it.
Have you been to the Dominican Republic? Did your visit include a stay in Punta Cana? Did you travel with Air Transat on your journey? If so, how was it?
I’d like to thank Air Transat for sponsoring this post, but please rest assured that the information you find on this blog will always be impartial, whether it is in the form of a sponsored post, or the result of subsidized or independent travel. My job is to share my knowledge and opinion with you. Your job is to join the conversation!
Cheers, and please join us back here the week of February 9th for our next new post. In honour of Valentine’s Day, it’s sure to be a sweet one!
Chocolatouring in 2015
As I continue the research for the second volume of Chocolatour, my chocolate travels will take me to numerous places–some planned, some spontaneous visits no doubt! Among the places I have pegged to visit in the coming year are:
1. The Okanagan Valley and Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada. We’re spending the month of January at the Spirit Ridge Wine Resort & Spa in Osoyoos and I’m keeping my eye open in Osoyoos and the surrounding area for signs of noteworthy chocolate and activities you might enjoy.
Osoyoos, British Columbia is located on Lake Osoyoos and very near the US border.
2. I will be attending the NATJA conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from May 4-9, and will then head to Mexico City to visit the Nestlé Chocolate Museum.
3. I’ve been invited to come check out the Hershey Chocolate Resort in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA, and will also explore Philadelphia while in the area.
Our friend Neil found this giant Hershey bar in Branson, but I’m sure we’ll find even larger chocolate icons in Hershey, PN.
4. I’ve been meaning to return to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, to visit a number of chocolatier/chocolate makers and chocolate venues. At some point during 2015, I will make it there.
5. I’ve not been to the city of New York since 2001! There are several excellent chocolate makers in the city that I absolutely must visit, so a personal Chocolatour to the Big Apple in 2015 is a must.
Thanks to Jim Peets for sharing his photo of the Empire State Building
6. I will also be leading a group Chocolatour to the Hawaiian Islands for clients of CAA Travel in October to celebrate the state’s declaration naming October as Hawaii Grown Cacao Month. We will be visiting the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui during the last two weeks of October.
We will visit The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, located on the Big Island of Hawaii.
I have no doubt other destinations will come onto my radar over the next year, but these are locations I am committing to visit for the purposes of my chocolate research during 2015.
As you know, volume II of Chocolatour will focus on the Americas and the Caribbean, so the above list will greatly enhance the information I can offer you in the upcoming volume of the book. If you don’t yet have a copy of volume I, or are looking for a gift for your favourite chocolate lover, there is more info here.
Please stay tuned (subscribe using the button the right) for lots more chocolate travel posts in the months to come. And join us back here the week of January 25th for our next new offering, when we’ll head back to Costa Rica for more chocolate travel diversions.
My Top Travel Moments of 2014
This marks my final post of 2014. It has been a terrific year of chocolate travels–great fodder for the second volume of Chocolatour. Here are a few of the highlights:
1. February 22 I was a speaker at the Hawaii Chocolate Festival in Honolulu, and also did a great chocolate tour of the island of Oahu. It was fabulous staying at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, a magnificent beachside resort I’d first stayed at roughly 20 years before.
Waking up to this view from the Sheraton Moana every day was amazing.
2. We ended February with a visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. It was my 1st visit to the island of Hawaii, and I was not disappointed. Staying at the Fairmont Orchid made our time on the Big Island exquisite. The location and ambiance of the resort, incredible staff, and privilege of staying on the Fairmont Gold floor made our time at the resort equally as enticing as our exploration of the island.
Suzanne and I checking into the Fairmont Orchid
3. Visiting the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory in Kailua Kona and finding this breath-taking view at the Pololu Valley Lookout were also highlights of our time on the Big Island.
4. Meeting Paul Johnson and his wife Jeanne of Caribeans Chocolate in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Paul represents why I am doing the Chocolatour project, and that is to introduce you the chocolate loving reader and traveler to the passionate people around the world who live and breath chocolate.
Paul Johnson among his sacred cacao trees
5. Being slathered in warm, molten chocolate at the Pure Jungle Spa in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. This photo says it all!
6. Visiting Miami, Florida, to receive my Readers’ Favorite Award for Chocolatour and to explore South Beach with my friend Christine.
Miami is filled with architectural wonders, opulent yachts, and all sorts of other distractions. I’ll talk more about them–and this water show–in a future post.
It’s been a great year of travel for me along the Chocolatour. I hope you’ve had an equally great year of travel experiences, or if you don’t have the opportunity to travel, that you’ve enjoyed sharing them with me here.
Please subscribe to the blog via the tab at the right so that you won’t miss any further posts. Please share this post if you enjoyed it, and please join us back here the week of January 12th for our next new post.
Happy New Year, and thanks again for joining me on all the delicious chocolate travel journeys that I’m honoured to share with you– here, and in my book.
chocolate ecstasy at the Pure Jungle Spa
I promised readers Alison and Anita I would share my experience at the Pure Jungle Spa of Puerto Viejo here, as it was truly one of pure chocolate ecstasy!
I learned about the Pure Jungle Spa while at the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival. Owner Andrea Turcios enticed us with her presentation featuring a delectable bowl of warm, molten chocolate that is used to slather the body in the chocolate papaya wraps, facials, and chocolate massages offered at her spa.
Andrea’s assistant Ro seduced our senses, giving festival participants the opportunity to inhale the intoxicating aroma of the pure organic chocolate used in the various treatments.
Who could resist? Within minutes, I was at the spa, my swollen (sprained) ankle soaking in warm water adorned with fresh flower petals, while enticing my taste buds with fresh locally made chocolate.
The Chocolate Decadence treatment began with a lemongrass scrub followed by a coconut oil full body massage to get my senses tingling. The pièce de résistance was being slathered with warm, molten chocolate–to every conceivable coordinate on my body.
This truly sensual treatment can be provided to couples who really want to experience the wild side of chocolate! But I was flying solo on this trip, so was happy to chat with my very capable masseuse, Ro, who kept me entertained with the story of her life as she applied the aromatic chocolate that had my nasal passages jumping with joy!
The laughing continued as I tried to scrub the chocolate off in the privacy of the jungle shower in the lush garden out back.
My visit to the Pure Jungle Spa was definitely a highlight of my visit to Puerto Viejo and will be covered in volume II of Chocolatour. But there’s lots more to come from my visit to Costa Rica. Please be sure to drop by the week of December 29th for our next new post.
And if you’ve been to the Pure Jungle Spa, or another spa that offers some form of chocolate treatment, let us know! Pleasure is only fully appreciated when shared.
Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival
The folks who organized the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Fest in Costa Rica really know how to throw a party! The festival runs for four days and offers a wonderful variety of events to enjoy throughout the laid-back beach resort community.
I had been invited to be a judge at this year’s festival, so had the pleasure of judging the single origin chocolate and the flavour infused chocolate truffles. It was tough tasting 11 single origin samples, but we judges persevered!
Judging focused on five categories: the aroma, mouthfeel, flavour, and finish (lingering flavours on the tongue), as well as the judge’s overall impression of each chocolate. Quite a tasty task, although I admit to not liking one of the truffles.
The chocolate judging was followed by a fabulous dinner at Stash’s featuring an excellent chicken molé and talapia fish encrusted with locally grown macadamia nuts. A truly delicious meal in a lovely setting. The walls at Stash’s are adorned with local art, and the tropical gardens on the grounds are a welcoming touch.
I adored this piece of original art on the walls at Stash’s. Can you spot the toucan and iguana in the piece?
Day two of the festival was the largest public event, at which chocolate makers and chocolate lovers gathered to indulge in all sorts of chocolate flavours, entertainment, and craziness, including aerial dancers and the hypnotic dance of the cacao in which we were all invited to join in.
Day three of the festival was one of my favourites. There were several interesting presentations, including one by American chocolate maker Steve Devries, who was visiting from Colorado.
Later, we indulged in a series of delicious chocolate pairings at Chili Rojo, one of the finest restaurants in Puerto Viejo. Each chocolate maker had the opportunity to offer samples of their finest chocolate paired with the libation of their choice. We had Talamanca Chocolate’s Allspice bar with Single Malt Scotch, Tawny Port paired with 70% Pinca from Xocolat Chocolate, Carmenère wine from Chile paired with Bread & Chocolate’s Macadamia and Hazelnut Truffle, along with a Spumante paired with an orange truffle. Is your mouth watering yet?
Next up was Samaritan Chocolate, who paired their Pumpkin Pie Spice Chocolate with a Chocolate Stout. Caribeans Chocolate paired their espresso-infused 72% dark chocolate and their Three Kings Chocolate with several aged rums. Wow! And Talamanca Organica paired their 70% dark chocolate with an Organic Shiraz red wine from Italy. What a night!
Paul Johnson and his wife Jeanne treated us to Caribeans Chocolate paired with Zacapa, a 23-year-old amber rum from Guatemala in the Chocolate Tasting Lounge at Chili Rojo.
The following day we did the “Chocolate Crawl,” where we visited various eating and drinking establishments for some form of chocolate offering. The various savoury chocolate dipping sauces served at Koki Beach (pictured below) were amazing. Who’d have thought that a cocoa-based sauce would pair so nicely with plantain and corn chips?
You can see a video of the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Fest made made by Henrik Bodholdt on my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YCSaQpYgHg&sns=tw. You can also order Costa Rican chocolate bars via Henrik’s site at http://www.chocolate-craft.com.
Next years’s Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival is scheduled to begin Halloween night! Mark your calendars for October 31-November 3, 2015, and plan to be in Costa Rica to meet some amazing people and eat some mighty fine chocolate.
Please join us back here the week of December 15th, when I’ll introduce you to some of the chocolate makers mentioned in this post.
Caribeans Chocolate of Puerto Viejo
If you’re like me, you look for unique and local flavours from places you visit and seek out gifts and souvenirs that highlight those flavours. No surprise, my primary focus is on the chocolate of any given place, and I’m always thrilled when a chocolate shop I visit has travellers in mind.
Such is definitely the case with Caribeans Organic Artisan Chocolate in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It was thanks to Paul Johnson of Caribeans that I was able to make my way to Puerto Viejo and be a judge at this year’s chocolate fest. We met online (I believe it was via Twitter) and a post by one of Paul’s colleagues on the facebook page of the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival alerted me to the fact that there was a major chocolate event happening in a country I was anxious to explore. I’m thrilled that it all worked out, and even more thrilled with the stash of chocolate, cacao (cocoa beans and nibs), and coffee I brought home with me from Caribeans. The coffee and cocoa beans and nibs are packaged in durable plastic that easily survives a journey around the world.
Paul Johnson is a fan of cigars, so he patterned his climate-controlled “choclador” chocolate tasting room in the ambiance of a humidor used to store and showcase cigars.
And what about the chocolate? Well, it’s not for sissies. Caribeans chocolate is conched for only 24-36 hours, so it not the silky smooth chocolate you may have tried in other places. It is pure, and quite intense. All bars are made from 72% cacao except the milk chocolate. It’s nice and thin, and has a good snap to it. I like to call it authentic chocolate, as it only contains cacao, some cane sugar, and whatever natural flavourings may be included to create a special bar. Like the “Tequila Shot” bar that contains the leaves of Johnson’s own lime tree and some granulated sea salt. I love it, and will have to try it with a shot of tequila!
Paul and his wife Jeanne are excellent marketers, and give you the option of purchasing tiny 25-gram bars in a multitude of flavours (also available online), or the 150-gram larger “Special Reserve” bars featuring the finest cacao beans Caribeans has to offer.
Jeanne Sanborn Johnson welcomes you with a tasting tray of single origin chocolate.
It’s really worth taking the Caribeans Chocolate Forest Experience Chocolate Tour that shows you how Caribeans grows its cacao and makes its chocolate. The price is just $26USD for a three-hour tour that includes a fabulous guided tasting experience featuring this view!
If you really want to go all out and experience the world of Caribeans Chocolate and The Mango Walk guesthouse I profiled in the previous post, I recommend indulging in the “Chocolate Makers Dream” vacation. I guarantee you will leave a changed person, having learned all about this amazing chocolate destination of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.
Please join us back here the week of December 1st, when we’re continue our journey of chocolate discovery through Puerto Viejo.
The Mango Walk of Puerto Viejo
There are so many vivid memories from my week of chocolate exploration in Costa Rica, I’m not quite sure where to start! So I’ll begin with the fabulous guesthouse that hosted me during my visit to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
The Mango Walk is the brainchild of Jeff and Sherry Ghiotto, childhood sweethearts from Florida who moved to Costa Rica a few years ago after building their dream home–which they now share with chocolate lovers to the Puerto Viejo area.
Sherry and Jeff Ghiotto captured on film by their daughter Jessica Ghiotto of JAG Photography during Halloween celebrations, 2014.
The Ghiottos have a cacao forest on their property that has been restored for cocoa production with the help of Paul Johnson of Caribeans Chocolate and Coffee Roastery. You’ll meet Paul and his wife Jeanne in a future post on this blog.
I had the pleasure and privilege of staying on the second floor of The Mango Walk, which offers splendid views of the Caribbean Sea, as well as a natural environment with no less than 50 shades of green, resident sloths and howler monkeys.
There is a wrap-around deck complete with hammock for those lazy days when you just want to chill. My brief time in Costa Rica allowed no time for that, but I would highly recommend this property for those who relish seclusion and an immersion in nature combined with the occasional intrusion from creatures of the dark.
Thanks to Jessica Ghiotto who shared this remarkable space with me, and showed me how to be brave and self-reliant when it came to removing unwanted visitors from our abode. I was so amazed with this moth (whose wing-span was no less than four inches) that I just let him stay as long as he wanted.
Have you been to Puerto Viejo or the jungles of Costa Rica? What images are most engraved in your mind? Did you encounter any extra large members of the insect world that stopped you in your path?
Let’s share some memories and virtual images of Costa Rica, and then please join us back here the week of November 24th for our next post on this emerging land of chocolate.
a return to Costa Rica
I visited both coasts of Costa Rica back in December of 2001, while on a Panama Canal cruise. We had the opportunity to visit Puerto Limon on the east coast, where we explored the port city of Limon and Parque Vargas–and after passing through the canal–the port of Puntarenas located on an inlet on the west coast, from where we embarked on a day trip to the capital city of San José located in the central interior.
I’ll be back in San José next week, as I’ve been invited to be a judge in the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival that runs from October 30-November 2, 2014.
I can’t wait to return to this Central American country, as when my husband and I were there for only two days back in 2001, we both agreed that we would love to return and become better acquainted with this very charming country.
Costa Rica has a much healthier economy than other Central American countries like Honduras and Guatemala. That is likely tied into the fact that Costa Rica puts a very strong emphasis on education, and has a literacy rate of 96%!
Tourism is the number one industry in Costa Rica, and so you find that English is widely spoken. That may be partly because of the huge expat population in the country. There are an estimated 100,000 Americans living in Costa Rica, and by no coincidence, the primary hosts for my upcoming visit are an American couple that own and operate Caribeans Chocolate.
Agriculture is the second largest industry in Costa Rica, and although bananas and coffee have historically been the primary agricultural crops, the growing of cacao is forging forward as an important agricultural activity, and there is now a significant amount of great chocolate in Costa Rica to be found–which is why you will find me there!
You can be assured that I’ll have a stream of posts that will share the chocolate of Costa Rica with you, information about growing cacao in Costa Rica, and highlights of the Puerto Viejo Chocolate Festival. I can’t believe it’s taken me 13 years to return to this country. Here’s hoping my new experiences will far exceed the memories of our excellent first visit.
Have you been to Costa Rica? If so, what have been your impressions? Your favourite experiences? Please share your comments here, and then stay tuned for my next post, which will follow my return from Costa Rica on November 4th.
