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A Day at the Chocolate Factory in Seattle By Sonia Lyris |
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It's also a working factory, so it's loud, and chocolate needs heat to melt and temper, so it's warm. Dress cool. Be prepared to wear unattractive hair caps and stay inside the safety lines. But do inhale. At six bucks per, the tour's cheap, but reserve in advance because it's often full. My hour-long tour included samples of dark and milk and other seasonal in-store-only creations, so yes, there are treats.
The Theo folks are chocolate geeks. They know about chemistry, farming practices, and your mouth. Their mission, they say, is to make sustainable chocolate through fair trade and organic practices, to respect the welfare of people, plants, and the environment all at once. Walking the floor, taking breath after magnificent chocolaty breath, I'm again struck by what's right in front of me: the magic of turning cocoa beans into chocolate. Theo is rare among chocolate makers, giving these tours to the public. You won't find this at most factories because of safety and health considerations. It's a lot of trouble. Why does Theo bother? I realize that Theo has another mission: to bring people and chocolate together in an intimate way, to show us what this stuff actually is and what it takes to get it to us. Chocolate is global, political, and human, and Theo does a good job making this understandable while also providing yummy treats. As for the chocolate, Theo shines in its flavorings and inclusions. I watched a chocolatier hand-mixing coconut curry chocolate, scooping it into a machine that drips it into bars. Theo's chai tea and coconut curry bars are so good I'll even eat milk chocolate, and the fig and fennel in dark is downright yummy. A delicate seasonal lavender caramel made me smile. Theo's factory has an easy charm. Tour or not, you can walk in off the street and sample nearly every bar they make. The place is well-lit, clean, and staffed by friendly folks who will gladly answer questions of all sorts. If you have a passion for chocolate—and you do, or you wouldn't be reading this, would you?— put the Theo tour on your Seattle itinerary. Here you'll see real alchemy: the transformation of the seeds of a tropical fruit into chocolate. It's like magic, but magic you can eat. |
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Theo Chocolate, named for
the Theobroma cacao tree, is a chocolate maker as well as
chocolatier, which means they do it all, from bean to bar, dark to
light, confections and solids, infusions and inclusions. Their
Seattle factory is housed in a large, old big brick building where
they put out samples, give tours, and - of course, make chocolates.
But Willy Wonka's chocolate
factory this is not. You won't see chocolate fountains or rivers of
dark goop pouring into molds. Instead you'll see huge steam-punkish
green, yellow and silver machines doing their thing and you'll walk
the factory floor, inhaling warm chocolaty air. It's the real thing.
I found out where cocoa
beans come from, how they're processed, and what happens between
there and my mouth. Despite my decades of devotion to chocolate,
I've always been a little fuzzy on just how it gets from the plant
to me, so I found it fascinating to touch beans, taste nibs, and see
the roasting, grinding, and tempering machines.