Raaka Chocolate — Local services in New York

Lapin and I came here for the bean to bar chocolate making class. I been to a couple of classes and since he never been to one, we figured it would be a fun way to spend a day. The classes are located in the Raaka’s factory in Red Hook. The place is pretty much out of the way, we would have never thought to walk down this path. The class also included a tour and our guides, William and Christina (if I am not mistaken) were nice. At first, I must admit they didn’t seem as friendly but as the class lingered on, they were nicer. The tour began with video but the projector wasn’t working and apparently, either was the fridge and chocolate tempering machine (I am sure there is a better name than the one I am using). The tour itself was very informational, fun and interactive. We got to taste a couple of cacao beans. The best part was using the tempering machine to pour our own chocolate into the 3 chocolate bar molds. They set out an array of standard toppings - dried blueberries, sesame seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, sea salt, black pepper, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, rice krispies, and two other toppings that slipped my mind I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have any of the toppings in their bars that you could buy. After creating our three bars, we were able to have a tasting of all the chocolates Raaka have available for sale. I literally found like 5 bars that I NEEDED in my life. After the tasting was done, I made a bee-line right for the store (it’s the same spot you check in) and purchased 5 bars and a box of 4 truffles. The chocolates are a bit pricey but if you buy from the factory, you can get 3 bars for $15 instead of the standard ($8 per a bar).

My only qualm is that the class was supposed to start at 5pm but it started almost at 5:28pm because they were waiting for latecomers. We took a taxi and ran there (the taxi-man got lost) just to be on time. It was quite annoying that they made the entire class wait for people that never showed up. Also, be sure to pack water as they do have water available but towards the end of the tour is...

Pretty good chocolate. Using good and clean ingredients. Very mindful. Chocolate has a good flavor but it’s not anything special. I can’t quite taste the rawness, the fruity fermented aromas of unroasted cacao, because it is quite masked in sugar/coconut/or perhaps too much of the cacao fat. Anyways. The packaging of the little chocolates is very cute. But again, it doesn’t have that wow. That super real cacao taste. That homemade. That something special. It just does not. Tastes like another high end expensive chocolate you find in expensive grocery stores. I have tried some chocolates that do that something so special. Raw and real and I can truly taste the cacao. It tastes so real. So true to the sacred fruit. Not commercialized. And those chocolates are special. (If you want recommendations let me know. I work in the chocolate world :) the sacred and medicinal of cacao). I only tried this raaka because I saw it while grocery shopping and felt curious. It was nice to eat after dinner to have that sweet something. Chocolate. But again, not was I was hoping for. I’ll keep to what I know to be great. But I appreciate the effort Raaka. What it tastes like is like the chocolate producers need to go to the farms and work on the farms and fall in love with the cacao and strive to show that in the bars through flavor and through energy. That’s what is missing.overall , 4/5 to be nice. I could say 3/5 but honestly I appreciate the clean ingredients...

In a charming but industrial area of red hook sits raaka chocolate. Our first time here we went for a chocolate making class (2 hours). It was an extremely instructive class that included the history of raaka as well as the entire process of making chocolate end to end. We were able to tour the factory and see the different machines that go into the process of making over 10,000 bars a week on average!! The class itself allowed us to temper our own chocolate and sprinkle our own toppings ( suggestion: I wish there were more topping options such as crispy, textural sorts of things) a majority of the toppings were fruit based. The class also included SOOO MANY TASTINGS of their chocolate. All extremely delicious and carefully thought through with different flavor profiles. For a nice Sunday afternoon , I would definitely recommend checking out this spot for...