The Origin Story

It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that I walked onto our porch and asked Bryan, "Hey, what's up? What are you doing with a bowl of nibs and a hair dryer?" Winnowing the husks away, he explained.  We were making our own chocolate in a lentil grinder from India in a small guest cottage in Woodstock, New York, where we settled in following an extended honeymoon road tripping across U.S. National Parks, and exploring Samoa, and New Zealand.  

Along the way, Bryan decided that he was going to follow his dream of opening his own chocolate business where he would not just make chocolates, but actually create the chocolate itself from bean to bar.  At the time there were only about a dozen bean to bar makers we knew of in the U.S. In each city we visited, I jotted down a list of pros and cons in my notebook.  In the end, we concluded there's no place like home. Why not start out with the support of family, friends, and our local community?

In the summer of 2011, we settled on a space in the Olive Plaza, the main gateway to the Catskills, in Shokan, NY.  We scrubbed it clean, built a counter out of repurposed pallet wood, and opened our doors to customers in November that same year.  

We started out with a line of dark chocolate from Costa Rica, then quickly switched over to Peruvian origin, as we were drawn to the fruit forward flavor notes, and were compelled to work with beans from a country that was like a second home for me. I had lived, volunteered, and traveled in Peru.  

Only 2 years in, in 2013, Bryan was named in the Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professional Magazine.  Now, we're more than 15 years into our business and constantly evolving to put out chocolate bars and confections that we are proud to share.  We've won over 75 awards to date, and are so humbled to be considered by blind judges and our industry peers as one of the best in the world.  All for the love of chocolate.