Description
Welcome to Kona, and the most exotic chocolate on earth ~ exclusively from Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory.
When we moved to our 6-acre orchards and home overlooking the Kona coastline in 1997 from North Carolina, fulfilling our dream to live where the mountains meet the sea, we dedicated ourselves to creating the finest products ~ Kona Coffee, and now 100% Hawaiian Chocolate. There is something about our volcanic soil, Island showers and tropical Hawaiian sun that blesses our crops with unique flavor that is world renowned.
This is especially true with our totally unique chocolate. We are ONLY the first producers to grow and process all-Hawaiian chocolate anywhere on earth. From the 1,600 cacao trees that surround our Keauhou home we process only Big Island grown cocoa beans. Our micro processing factory was the first one in Hawai'i ~ assuring total quality control from the fields to the final chocolate bars.
Original Hawaiian Chocolate is made with 100% Hawaiian cocoa beans which are grown, hand-picked, sun-dried on Hawaii Island in Kona and non-blended to assure purity and quality. Enjoy the distinctive texture and taste of single-origin Original Hawaiian Chocolate. Tours available by reservation. Chocolate is Aloha!
HOMEGROWN, HANDMADE, HAWAIIAN
How Our Cocoa Beans Become Chocolate Bars
It all starts with tiny cacao blossoms. Pollinated flowers develop small pods, which can take 5 months to mature. Ripe cacao pods are brightly-colored and ready for harvest, using hand pruners and extendable sickles. Harvested pods are cut open to extract the raw cocoa beans, which are collected in buckets and weighed. Raw cocoa beans are fermented for 6-8 days in special “sweat boxes”, where they naturally heat up to 122º and “sweat” off their coatings. The beans are then placed on drying racks in the sun for 22-28 days, until their moisture content reaches 7%.
Sun-dried beans are then roasted to lock in their flavor and sent to the winnower, which removes the shell and breaks the beans into bits called nibs. The nibs are ground in the conch for 2 hours, creating a concentrated liquid called cocoa mass. Vanilla and lecithin (an emulsifier) are added, along with other ingredients for dark or milk chocolate. Conching continues for 18 more hours producing a velvety smooth texture. Traveling from the conch through the holding tank, the chocolate arrives at the temperer, where it cools 2-1?2 hours from 120º to 86º. In the temperer, the cocoa butter crystals stabilize, giving the finished chocolate a brisk snap and satin sheen.
Each piece of chocolate is hand-poured, then cooled for de-molding and packing. Our unique packaging is perfect for gifts and sharing sweet memories of Hawaii! The hands that pick, process and create our chocolate are often the same ones that carefully pack and ship it to you. Pure Hawaiian goodness - from seedlings to bars of melt-in-your-mouth delight. Since we only produce a limited amount we treat each bar with tender loving care. We're very proud to offer our Original Hawaiian Chocolate for everyone to appreciate this rarest of life's pleasures.
Hours
We are excited to announce that tours are being offered at Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory. Visit www.ohcf.us/tourvisit.html for current tour availability.
Reservations are required for our tour. The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory tour is offered Wednesday and Friday mornings at 9:30am. It is a walking tour of the orchard and of course, includes chocolate sampling! Owner Bob Cooper conducts a fabulous tour full of information about every step in the chocolate making process, from growing the trees to molding each handmade delicious bar.
Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory is an active working plantation and advance and confirmed reservations are required for all tours. We are located in the Keauhou area of Kona. The cost is $25 per person, $5 for children aged 6-12 and children under 5 are free. Once your reservation is confirmed, we will provide you with directions to the farm. Please arrive 15 minutes before tour time. In consideration of all our guests, we do strive to start each tour on time.
We are also excited to announce The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Shoppe is open to the public Wednesdays and Fridays 11am-3pm.