If you’re a chocolate-lover looking for a unique cruise excursion, then Project Chocolat in St Lucia is offering an incredible experience. As an immersive agri-tourism activity, Hotel Chocolat’s chocolate crafting sessions take you on an end-to-end chocolate journey, from the tree to the chocolate bar.
Below, we share more about chocolate crafting in St Lucia and the experience that enables you to make your very own chocolate bar.
Why St Lucia for chocolate crafting?
The sublime combination of sugar and fat makes chocolate many people’s favourite treat. This melt-in-the-mouth delicacy comes from the cacao tree, and the climate in St. Lucia is perfect for these trees to flourish.
Its warm, humid weather and rich volcanic soil provide the optimum conditions for the tropical rainforests, where the cacao trees thrive.
However, it wasn’t until the 1700s that the island of St. Lucia began to export cacao beans across the Atlantic to Europe.
Here, master chocolatiers used the beans to create the luscious sweet treat we enjoy as chocolate. In recent years, increased interest in sustainability and ethical practices has made agri-tourism popular, and plantations have opened their doors to welcome visitors keen to know more about the entire chocolate-making process.
In St Lucia, chocolate crafting has also become a favourite activity offered to visitors by the local chocolate producers.
Where does Hotel Chocolat let you make your own chocolate?
Project Chocolat in St Lucia is the Caribbean base for boutique British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat. It is located on Rabot Estate in Soufriere, St. Lucia’s oldest working cacao farm, which Hotel Chocolat took over in 2006.
It was a bold step for the well-known chocolate brand to begin growing its own beans to produce chocolate. However, it meant Hotel Chocolat could manage all aspects of the chocolate-production process and ensure organic and sustainable methods were adopted.
On this six-acre estate, you can tour the rainforests to discover the cacao groves, learn how Hotel Chocolat works with local partners to promote sustainability in St. Lucia and see first-hand how the cacao bean is transformed into chocolate. You also get a fantastic opportunity to learn how to craft your own chocolate bar in St Lucia at Hotel Chocolat’s chocolate-crafting sessions.
What do Hotel Chocolat’s crafting experiences in St Lucia include?
At Project Chocolat in St Lucia, you’ll have the choice of two chocolate-crafting experiences, both of which will give you insight into how chocolate is made and the chance to create, taste and buy some of your own.
Tree to Bar crafting chocolate in St Lucia
With the Tree to Bar experience, an expert guide will take you on an exploration of the cacao groves in the rainforest, explaining how the delicious chocolate treat loved by so many is made from the humble cacao bean.
You’ll discover how Hotel Chocolat uses heritage trees to develop its cacao plantation and how it supports better biodiversity for the trees to thrive by planting coconut, mango and citrus trees amongst them.
Growing a cacao tree is challenging, so they are often not grown from seed. Instead, seedlings are grafted onto existing roots, giving the chocolate producers more control and success throughout the cacao growing process. At Project Chocolat, you’ll be shown how to graft a tree before trying to graft one yourself.
Next, your guide will take you through the fermenting and roasting process, and then it’s time to get hands-on with the chocolate-crafting experience. You’ll create your own chocolate, grinding dried cocoa nibs and blending them with cocoa butter and icing sugar.
Once ground and melted, you’ll pour the chocolate mixture into a mould. The finished product is your own unique chocolate creation made in St Lucia.
A market-style lunch is also included in the experience, where you’ll get to sample a range of cacao-infused dishes. These could consist of delectable dessert dishes, such as chocolate lava cake, mousse and ice creams.
However, cacao is used in savoury recipes, too, so you may also find cacao-infused burgers, fish and chips and BBQ wings on the menu. The Tree to Bar experience lasts around 2.5 hours.
Bean to Bar crafting chocolate in St Lucia
If you have less time but are still keen to enjoy Hotel Chocolat crafting in St Lucia, the Bean to Bar experience is a good option. It does not include the tour of the rainforest. However, you do get to taste the cacao pulp from a freshly cut cacao pod and learn about the chocolate creation process before crafting your own chocolate bar.
Lunch is not included in the Bean to Bar experience, but you can purchase it as an add-on. The Bean to Bar experience lasts approximately 1 hour.
How much does it cost to make your own Hotel Chocolat bar in St Lucia?
St Lucia chocolate crafting is included in both the Tree to Bar and Bean to Bar Hotel Chocolat experiences. At the time of writing, the price for an adult’s ticket for the Tree to Bar is $119 and $60 for children. Bean to Bar costs $69 for adults and $34 for children.
Shopping at Project Chocolat in St Lucia
For chocolate lovers, it isn’t easy to visit such a heavenly place without buying a little something to take home (or at least back to the cruise ship!). Project Chocolat has an on-site shop where you can purchase its micro-batch chocolate selections, cacao-infused alcohol, beauty products, clothing and bags.
To learn more about booking a visit to Project Chocolat or a cruise that stops in St. Lucia, please get in contact with our cruise specialists.
