Man who started making chocolate in his condo now sells Toronto's trendiest treat
A Toronto chocolatier created Chachalate, a one-of-a-kind chocolate kitchen in Toronto that makes its chocolate entirely from scratch.
From buying ethically sourced cocoa beans, to grinding, tempering and fermentation - it makes for some exceptionally delicious artisanal chocolate bars.
Ryan Lee, founder of Chachalate Chocolate, has a keen focus on flavour and ethics when it comes to making chocolate.
The fruitiness of cocoa beans is a quality that can be overlooked, dark chocolate often being perceived as bitter, which prompted Ryan to make dark chocolate that is bold and fruity, bringing out the natural flavours of the cocoa bean.
On the ethics side of the operation, Ryan sources his cocoa beans directly with farmers, paying three to five times over the fair trade rate for their cacao. This gives the farmers liveable wages, and provides Ryan with some of the best quality cacao in the world.
"Chocolate was my first love, but you never really think about where it's coming from or what chocolate actually is," Ryan tells blogTO.
The chocolates at Chachalate are made from only two ingredients - cocoa beans and organic cane sugar - and every bar is wrapped and boxed by hand.
Their signature bar is a Tanzania 75% cocoa Chachalate, which is red fruit forward - notes of cherry, plum and raisin can be detected upon taste.
Want more stories like this? Make sure to subscribe to Side Hustle, blogTO's show about people in Toronto who have pursued their passion as a side project and found success, with new episodes every week on Snapchat.
