Choco Stops – The Adventures of Elle Coco

“If Someone Can Do It, We Can Do It” — Cata Chocolate, Costa Rica

Leaving the unrest of Nicaragua behind us our next stop was Costa Rica, and I was beyond excited for more chocolate stops. First up was family owned and run Cata Chocolate in Playas del Coco on the Pacific coast, where the main road runs down to the water and the shop sits just upstairs. It…

‘Chocolate is Magic’ – Baron Hasselhoff

The smell hits you before the door has even closed behind you. Rich, deep, intoxicating, that unmistakable aroma of cacao being ground into something truly magical. It’s a grey Wellington morning on Adelaide Road in Berhampore, and there is a distinct bite and sprinkling of rain in the air. A typical spring day. But I’m…

Chocolate Secrets of the Caribbean

After four long years I’m finally heading out to the Grenada Chocolate Festival, on the Caribbean island of Grenada (not the southern Spanish town of Granada – spelled and pronounced differently). My plane stops in Barbados for a few hours (it’s the Virgin Atlantic one and about £150 cheaper than the direct route or the one…

Before the Bar

After our foray into the Nicaraguan jungle in search of the ancient heirloom cacao, meeting with farmers along the way, it was now time to harvest the beautiful golden-red pods of deliciousness we had gathered. Have you ever wondered what makes chocolate taste like, well, often many more things than just chocolate? It’s not as…

Searching for Cocoa

TUESDAY 10th MAY: After an introduction to the world of fine cacao and its production methods at Ingemann’s processing and sorting facility, it was time to hit the (rather bumpy) road out to the cacao farms of north central Nicaragua. Here we would be meeting with the farmers, learning their trade and helping them with…

Miel y Cacao

SUNDAY 9th MAY: It’s 4.45am on a Sunday and I’m running for a train to the airport with two backpacks strapped to me, trying to eat a banana and call a cab company. Uber have failed me! I make the flight and set off on my most ambitious Chocolate Adventure yet. Having spent most of…

Golden Circle Surprise

Still feeling so relaxed we were falling off our proverbial chairs, we layered up to the max and made our way to 101 Laugavegur to catch our ride. It was our last day and we were heading out to see some of the most famous sights and sounds of south western Iceland, courtesy of Extreme Iceland…

Head North for Chocolate

Great taste in music, a quirky sense of humour, chocolate to die for and some of the world’s best scenery – Iceland really does tick all the boxes. Even those of you more partial to a bikini-toting, pinacolada-sipping beachside holiday can still find some solace (and outstanding chocolate) in this magical land of elf rocks, blizzards…

Malmo Musings

After a whirlwind 36 hours in Denmark, including visiting a micro cacao plantation in a greenhouse in the Danish countryside and doing yoga in Christiania with one of its longest-standing residents, it was now time to hit Malmo – Sweden’s third largest city, and one that is fast making a name for itself in the…

Morning Yoga and The Danish Chocolate Farm

MORNING YOGA: Yet another early start, up at 5.30am heading back to Christiania, nothing beats practicing yoga in a cozy wooden loft, jam-packed with enough Aloe Vera plants to keep Holland and Barratt supplied for a year, above a fragrant apothecary, overlooking one of Europe’s most successful independent, self-governing Freetowns – strictly NOT part of…

Category: Choco Stops