CHOC AND AWE
Battling the winter blues? Cheer up with a chocolate holiday. Brook Sabin and Siobhan Downes unwrap some of New Zealand’s sweetest destinations...
CHOCOLATE BROWN, WARKWORTH
If you’re taking a day trip up the Matakana Coast, be sure to make a choc-stop at Chocolate Brown, a chocolaterie and cafe in Warkworth.
Housed in a former garage, it might look unassuming on the outside but, on the inside, it’s a very dangerous place for the sweet-of-tooth, offering a huge range of artisan chocolates, old-fashioned sweets, and fresh fudge in more than 50 f lavours.
You can watch the chocolatiers at work, and sample some of their special choccies. Or cosy up beside the fire in the cafe, enjoying a decadent house hot chocolate. chocolatebrown.co.nz
WELLINGTON CHOCOLATE FACTORY, WELLINGTON
Hidden down an inner-city laneway is Wellington Chocolate Factory, home to some of the richest, most delicious hot chocolates you’ll ever taste.
This bean-to-bar factory has been producing its certified organic chocolate since 2013, and true chocolate nerds can learn all about this process on one of the Discover the Art of Chocolate Making tours.
Be sure to arrive hungry – you’ll be offered one of their famous hot chocolates as a welcome drink, and throughout the tour there are plenty of opportunities for sampling. If you’re lucky, you might even get to try a spoonful of warm liquid chocolate, straight from the refiner.
You’ll also be sent home with a full-sized chocolate bar in a flavour of your choice, in a beautiful wrapper designed by a local artist.
Even if you can’t make a tour, the Wellington Chocolate Factory cafe is one of the nicest places in the city to be on a cold day. Get yourself a cup of chocolate nectar, sit down with a good book, and spend a couple of hours basking in the scent of freshly made chocolate. wcf.co.nz
MAKANA CONFECTIONS, KERIKERI AND BLENHEIM
Makana Confections has thoughtfully placed boutique chocolate factories on each island, to make it as easy as possible to access its delicious handmade treats.
Both factories have been set up like winery cellar doors, so you can pop in, watch the chocolate makers at work, and try a few free samples, before figuring out which goodies you want to buy.
There’s a huge range of classic truffles, caramels, and chocolate-covered nuts and fruit. But the star of the show is definitely the Macadamia Butter Toffee Crunch – huge slabs of traditional toffee coated in milk chocolate and covered in macadamia chips. We recommend getting two boxes to take away – the chances of polishing off one on the car ride home are extremely high. makana.co.nz
SCHOC CHOCOLATES, WAIRARAPA
Did someone say free tasting? Greytown’s Schoc Chocolates is like visiting Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory if it decided to relocate to a tiny turn-of-the-century cottage. Creator Murray Langham calls it a Chocolate Therapy Studio, and we suggest you check yourself in for some serious rehab.
Inside is a cocoa wonderland with truffles, boxes of chocolates, hampers and marzipan. The piece de resistance is the “chocolate tablet”: Schoc’s version of a chocolate bar. You’ll find a wall with more than 60 flavours and – drum roll, please – you can taste any of them. If you have a sweet tooth, head straight for rose milk.
If you have a taste for unusual chocolate, the tablet wall will take you on an unexpected journey. Schoc makes flavours as unlikely as carrot and coriander, curry and poppadoms, and even apricot and rosemary. The dark chocolate with ghost chilli (one of the hottest in the world) will undoubtedly warm your soul, if not detonate it.
Lastly, if you have a penchant for caramel, do not leave the store without buying a soft butter caramel truffle. It is so good, you’ll walk right back in and buy another. We say that from experience. schoc.co.nz
THE LAWRENCE MINT, LAWRENCE
Lawrence was once the centre of the Otago Gold Rush, but today it’s another kind taking the village by storm: a sugar rush.
The Lawrence Mint is a chocolate shop with a difference. It’s all about small-batch handmade creations, and in a tiny town of around 500 people, it has a steady stream of devotees worshipping at the altar of cocoa. The fudge and cheesecakes are also exceptional. The shop is only open on Fridays, and for one day of the week, it becomes the centre of gravity in Lawrence.
Part of its popularity is that everything is handmade using Belgian chocolate – and you can taste that love goes into every morsel. lawrencemint.com
OCHO CHOCOLATE COMPANY, DUNEDIN
When the Cadbury Factory closed down, it looked like Dunedin’s days as a chocolate city were numbered – until the locals decided to start their own. Ocho, short for Otago Chocolate Company, is now one of the country’s largest craft chocolate makers, producing up to 10,000 bars a week.
Located in the street art-filled warehouse precinct, the factory is well worth a visit – you can actually see the team roasting, grinding, tempering and wrapping all the chocolate by hand. On weekends, you can pay $10 for a 25-minute tasting session, where you can try cacao from around the Pacific.
Or just stop by the factory shop to pick up some bars – flavours include salted caramel, horopito and kawakawa, as well as mānuka honey, bee pollen and puffed amaranth. ocho.co.nz