Notting Hill: Make Your Own Amazing Chocolate: Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Workshop

In Melt’s Bean-to-bar chocolate workshop, you will learn how to make a chocolate bar from a cocoa bean. This is a wonderful process! The course will take place in Notting Hill in London. Your Melt host will guide you through this magical transformation, every step of the way and will interweave the history of chocolate and tasting. She will teach you how the Aztecs created such beautiful cocoa.

The first step in Melt’s Bean-to-bar workshop, you learn the history of chocolate. At the same time, you will taste how chocolate has evolved from the bean-to-bar. You will travel through time by tasting chocolate at all the key turning points. Following the journey from the Aztec’s raw cocoa to the sophistication of the Courts of Europe. You will taste Aztec chocolate with chilli and vanilla and modern bonbons made by Melt Chocolates. The history will focus on the “discovery of chocolate”, and its use as an aphrodisiac in 17th Century Venice by Casanova. Finally the modern chocolate entrepreneurs and their invention of the bar and milk chocolate.

Melt offers you the opportunity to learn how to properly taste chocolate. Learn about the origins of chocolate in Mayan and Aztec civilizations. We will explore how chocolate was discovered by the Europeans and the impact this clash of civilizations had on both societies. This chocolate discovery is sometimes described as the greatest event in history.

Then, you will begin to make the chocolate! We will teach you how to sort the cocoa beans and then roast them. Then we will crack and winnow them. Next, with a pestle and mortar, we will grind the chocolate beans until they are fine. Afterwards, you will taste the chocolate at each stage to see how the flavours of the chocolate change and develop over time. This journey releases different flavour notes.

Finally, you will then take 3 of your own beautiful chocolate bars home, worth £16, with Melt’s eye-catching packaging and a designer bag. This experience is suitable for Vegans. Please let us know in advance if any of the participants have any allergies. We have a big surprise – and secret reveal at the end of the course.

If you would like to make a private booking or you have any other specific requests please contact our office on 0208 354 0850 or send an email to office@meltchocolates.com.