Bean to Bar Chocolate in Grenada | The Chocolate Professor

Nicknamed the “Spice Island,” Grenada is a major producer of nutmeg, ginger, mace, cinnamon, turmeric and cloves. However, this destination within the West Indies also produces exceptionally high-quality chocolate.

Brought to Grenada by the French in the early 18th century, cacao trees thrive amid Grenada’s rich volcanic soil and tropical climate. The production of Grenada chocolate is a bean-to-bar process with domestic farmers involved in every step of the way.

Grenada’s small number of chocolate producers prepare an assortment of chocolate bars, confections, and cocoa balls, which are used to make cocoa tea. Grenada Chocolate Fest founder and chocolate expert Magdalena Fielden shares that Grenadian cocoa tea is a traditional drink made from cocoa beans that originates from Grenada. She explains further, “The preparation of Grenadian cocoa tea involves using locally grown cocoa beans, which are roasted, ground, and made into balls. Once they dry, they are usually simmered in water along with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and sometimes bay leaves. Other times the spices are ground with the cocoa paste too to form the ball. The mixture is typically enjoyed for breakfast, sweetened with sugar or honey and optionally thickened with a little milk or coconut milk.”

The main difference between Grenadian cocoa tea and traditional hot chocolate is in the ingredients and preparation method. While hot chocolate is typically made with cocoa powder, sugar, and milk, cocoa tea is made using whole roasted cocoa beans, which gives it a more robust and flavorful taste. Additionally, cocoa tea is often brewed with spices, whereas hot chocolate is usually a simpler and smoother drink.

Overall, the key distinction lies in the use of cocoa beans for cocoa tea, which gives it a more profound cocoa flavor compared to hot chocolate made with cocoa powder. Grenadian cocoa tea is a beloved and comforting beverage enjoyed by locals and visitors alike, especially during cooler weather.

Some producers export their chocolates while others sell them mainly within Grenada such as at their factories or shops or at places including the House of Chocol a te in St. George’s. Some additionally host tours and tastings at their locations.

The island also hosts the annual Grenada Chocolate Festy in May, founded by Fielden in 2014 with the “godfathers of modern tree-to-bar chocolate” and founders of the Grenada Chocolate Company, Mott Green and Edmund Brown. A week long event, the festival offers tastings, classes and interactive events.

Tri-Island Chocolate

Aaron Sylvester founded Tri-Island Chocolate in 2018, after inheriting his grandparents’ two-acre food forest and wanting to rehabilitate it into something that could combine his passion for sustainable farming with Grenada's cocoa heritage.

At their factory based at the Spice Basket in St. George’s, Tri-Island Chocolate makes artisan dark chocolates with single-origin Grenadian cacao beans sourced from their own farm along with small ethical farms across Grenada, including Mount Edgecombe in St. Marks.

Tri-Island Chocolate’s product line features chocolate bars, bonbons, and their own chocolate shell tea. Fan favorites include the Tri-Island Dark Chocolate, a 75% bar with local bee pollen and with seasonal specialty bars infused with plantain and soursop.

The factory hosts tours and chocolate-making experiences such as making your own chocolate bar.

Belmont Estate

Within the northern parish of St. Patrick, Belmont Estate was originally a late 17th century colonial plantation. Today, it operates as an agritourism attraction and a CERES-certified organic farm, with an onsite chocolate factory.

The estate produces an array of dark, milk and white chocolates, ranging from 45 to 74 %. Vegan versions are available.

Try the Oil Down, a white chocolate bar named for Grenada’s national dish and flavored with turmeric and ginger, or the Pure Grenada Chocolate, a spicy dark milk.

Their “Spices of Grenada” kit is packed with ground turmeric, cinnamon and ginger and whole nutmegs and bay leaves.

The Grenada Chocolate Company

The Grenada Chocolate Company in Hermitage, St. Patricks, is the trailblazer of Grenada’s chocolate production industry. Established in 1999, this company is said to be the first chocolate-making company in Grenada. Founded as a local farming cooperative, it focuses on producing organic cocoa-derived products. Along with organic cocoa powder and cocoa butter, they offer dark chocolate bars ranging between 60-100%.

Highlights include Nib-A-Licious, a 60% dark chocolate bar, honors the company’s late founder, Mott Green, and features cocoa nibs and notes of red berries, tropical fruits, and citrus and Salty-Licious, a 71% chocolate bar with Caribbean sea salt, and Smilo, a gooey-center chocolate dessert.

Jouvay Chocolate

Jouvay Chocolate is the result of a partnership between Grenadian cocoa farmers represented by the Grenada Cocoa Association and the Burdick family, led by the European-trained chocolate maker, Lawrence Burdick.

In Grenada, Jouvay Chocolate is based at the Diamond Chocolate Factory in Victoria, where they produce their dark and milk chocolate bars. Some contain bits of nutmeg, crystallized ginger, and dried mango. Jouvay Chocolate offers a drinking chocolate as well.

At their U.S. location in Walpole, New Hampshire, Jouvay Chocolate makes their specialty chocolate bark. This bark incorporates roasted nuts blended into silky smooth chocolate and then garnished with cocoa nibs and various dried fruits and flowers.

Their Chocolate Bark Collection is a mix of dark and milk versions. Or go with single varieties like their Dark Chocolate Bark with Roasted Pecans, Orange Peel, Cocoa Nibs & Rose.

Crayfish Bay Organics

Crayfish Bay Organics started producing chocolate in 2018 in revitalized abandoned cacao estate, in the village of Nonpareil on Grenada’s northwest coast.

The company roasts organic cocoa beans using local charcoal for a short time and at a low temperature. They are then cracked and winnowed to produce nibs, which are then ground with sugar for five days resulting in a cocoa mass that’s then aged for up to six months.

The vegan and organic product line includes 75% chocolate bars, coconut cream bars, mint bars, nibs, and 100% cocoa balls.

Taste ‘D' Spice Factory

CEO Craig K. Paul is the founder of Taste ‘D’ Spice Factory, a company producing an assortment of milk and dark chocolate bars of various percentages and herbal and spiced teas.

Some chocolate bars also incorporate pumpkin seeds, cocoa nibs, dried ginger, mango or coconut cream. Recently the company introduced organic cocoa butter and an organic instant cocoa powder.

At this factory, in the community of Carrière within St. Andrew, teas, cocoa balls and chocolate bars in various percentages such as a 70% Dark Milk Spiced Chocolate bar are available for purchase.