We went to the ChocoMuseo in Antigua today. We signed up for the “bean to bar” workshop. This wasn’t our first chocolate factory tour, but this was so much better than any of the others. They didn’t include picking cocoa pods or fermenting or drying the beans, but we did get to roast them, grind them into paste using a mortar and pestle, make various chocolate drinks, and finally make our own chocolate bars. We also learned a lot along the way. I really enjoyed the whole experience. If you’re ever in Antigua and you like chocolate, this is a workshop for you. And it’s only $25 per person. Very worth it.

There were a total of five people in our group at the ChocoMuseo. All gringos, of course. One girl has been living and working remotely for six years. There other two people in our group were a mother and son from New York. We all got along well for the two hours we hung out together.

It’s interesting to see how many gringos are wandering around town now. Before Semana Santa, we pretty much had the town to ourselves. We were surprised whenever we saw gringos in those days. Then Semana Santa happened and Antigua has been filled with gringos ever since. I guess a lot of places are doing spring break now, so maybe that’s why we’re seeing so many more.

We talked about the difference between cacao and cocoa. Cocoa is a product of cacao; it’s the powder that’s left over after you extract the cocoa butter. We learned to look for a percentage of cacao and not a percentage of cocoa. There’s a huge difference between the two. We made our own cacao paste today by roasting the beans, removing the shells, and then grinding them into the paste. You can’t really eat the paste directly, it’s way too intense.

We also got to pour our own chocolate bars and then put them in the fridge to crystalize without tempering. Charmaine and I sort of switched roles. I went with dark chocolate and she went with milk. I added a bunch of good stuff to mine, including chili pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and pistachios. It turned out better than I expected.