How Cococlectic Subscription Has Found Success Offering American Made Craft Chocolate Bars

Editor’s note: Just in time for Father’s Day Cococlectic is offering a discount to celebrate all fathers and father-figures. Order now and enjoy 5% off any Сhocolate Subscription Box. Offer ends Sunday, June 20, 2022. Use POP10 at checkout.

Cococlectic bars and notes photo courtesy Cococlectic

Doreen Leong is the founder of Cococlectic, a chocolate subscription service that was chosen by readers of USA Today as one of the 10 best food subscriptions in America. The program is simple but clearly satisfies. Starting at $42.99 a month, subscribers receive 4 full-size (1oz - 3oz) dark chocolate bars from American craft small-batch bean to bar chocolate makers and that includes free shipping in the US. 

We spoke with Leong to learn how she came up with the idea, how she chooses the makers to feature, and to get a sneak peek at what’s next for her company.

Cococlectic Team Doreen Leong, founder, Brent Wallace co-founder photo courtesy Cococlectic

How did you get into chocolate and what made you decide to start the subscription service? 

It started with my sister, who lives in Singapore. She loves good quality chocolate but didn't have access to it back in 2013, so I would ship her boxes of curated chocolate bars. One Thanksgiving, I asked friends and family at the dinner table for their chocolate recommendations, and everyone at the table asked for a chocolate box to be shipped to them too. At the same time in 2013, the subscription business model was exploding so I took the idea and started Cococlectic. 

I knew I wanted to be different and unique - the chocolates had to be good, high quality and small-batch, and I wanted to support local American chocolate makers. Since we launched the business in 2014, I went to culinary school to get the formal training to understand the craft behind all things patisserie.

What’s your process for choosing the maker to feature each month? 

We identify the chocolate maker who meets our criteria - bean to bar chocolate maker, American chocolate maker, small-batch production, have ethical and sustainable sourcing and production practices. Our team samples their chocolate bars to ensure it is aligned with what we're looking for flavorwise. We work with the chocolate maker to determine the month we would feature them, to give them time to ramp up production of the bars for Cococlectic. 

Cococlectic bars subscritption box photo courtesy Cococlectic

The chocolate you feature is vegan, gluten, nut and soy free. Does this limit your selections? 

Not at all! With bean to bar chocolates, the chocolate makers only use 3 ingredients at most (cacao bean, sugar, cocoa butter), sometimes only 2 (cacao bean and sugar) to make the chocolate. That's really all you need really, in making chocolate. When we teach a chocolate class, people are always amazed at how chocolate is made, with just 2 simple ingredients. We feel this is the purest way to taste the quality of the chocolate (and the cacao) and the flavors that the cacao bean has to offer. 

What are your thoughts about non-dairy milk chocolate and chocolate with flavors or inclusions? 

I'm no expert in this area. I personally like my chocolate without any inclusions. To me, adding inclusions, nuts, flavors, non-dairy milk and such can accentuate the flavors of the chocolate bar when paired correctly, bringing out the 3rd flavor you would otherwise not have tasted if the chocolate or the inclusion were tasted separately. But some chocolate manufacturers (I wouldn't call them chocolate makers) who create inclusion bars forgo the quality of the chocolate, thinking the inclusions would mask the chocolate flavors and it wouldn't be noticeable. 

Frankly, when you taste a single origin bar from Madagascar or Nicaragua, for example, you get a lot of flavors, as if raspberries (Madagascar) or hazelnuts (Nicaragua) were added to the bar. Some dark bars can also taste like milk chocolate without adding milk to it. Some flavors can be achieved without adding any inclusion. 

Which are some of your all-time favorite American makers and why? 

This is a tough one! I have a lot of favorites and it depends on my mood and what I'm craving for. A recent new chocolate maker that's a fan favorite is Spinnaker Chocolate from Seattle. They just opened in 2021. They have a unique way of roasting their nibs that enhances the flavor of the bean. 

My all-time favorite bar is the Ritual 75% Madagascar bar, for the raspberry and berry fruit forward. I enjoy a lot of Madagascar bars. It makes your mouth water (it's very acidic), I love it, almost like you're having a Sour Patch, but 1000% better! I also love a Belize Maya Mountain chocolate bar from almost any chocolate maker. Cacao beans from this co-op are amazing. The co-op does such an amazing job with fermentation and working with the farmers to produce high quality cacao beans. 

Which are some of the most under-the-radar makers you’ve discovered?

This is also another hard one as Cococlectic's mission is to discover new and under-the-rader chocolate makers in the USA. We want to be the first to introduce you to new makers. So there are many but one that comes to mind is Starchild Chocolate, they are no longer in business sadly. They made the most amazing chocolate bars with coconut sugar. It was so smooth, rich and creamy and it was also a fan favorite. Another chocolate maker is 5 Mile Chocolate. Their bars are made with only 2 ingredients and they roast their cacao beans like they would coffee beans (they started as coffee roasters). A few others are Taste Artisan Chocolate, Maribea Chocolate and Conjure Craft Chocolate.

You started doing Zoom sessions during the pandemic. What kind of sessions do you host?

The pandemic has been extremely hard for us and the chocolate makers but we're very fortunate to still be able to support them and their craft. I am happy to announce that we have been very busy with our corporate virtual chocolate tastings and our monthly virtual customer tastings with the featured chocolate maker of the month. This has been a great avenue to spread the gospel of conscious chocolate consumption. Folks understand that chocolate is agriculture and with anything you eat/consume, you want to know how it's grown, who's growing it and what's being used to grow it. And that chocolate doesn't just come from grocery stores. 

What are your plans for the future of Cococlectic? Or anything else you’d like to share? 

We, drumroll please... officially launched Coffeeclectic! We are now a small-batch specialty coffee roaster! Unlocking this is huge! Although the process of roasting coffee beans and cacao beans is vastly different, this will bring us one step closer to roasting our own cacao beans and making our own chocolate in the future. Many endless possibilities. I also see a storefront with live classes and a cafe in the near future! More to unfold soon.