Owner description:
Chocolate From Branch to Bar begins with a stroll through the Steelgrass gardens, winding among groves of rare black bamboo, tropical flowers, and......
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Owner description:
Chocolate From Branch to Bar begins with a stroll through the Steelgrass gardens, winding among groves of rare black bamboo, tropical flowers, and exotic fruit trees. The focus of the three-hour tour is on chocolate, but you will also experience dozens of exotic plants and flowers, and taste the tropical fruits that are in season as your guides share our family's vision for creating sustainable diversified agriculture on Kauai.Soon we reach the chocolate orchard, where you'll see chocolate trees at all stages of growth, often bearing tiny blossoms that will develop into seed-filled cacao pods. We then move into our chocolate tasting tent, and you sit comfortably in the shade while we demonstrate the many steps involved in processing raw cacao into nibs and then finished chocolate. Cacao is recognized as a powerful health food; as you taste the way fermentation and sun-drying transform the seed's flavor precursors into the rich chocolate we all love, your guide will explain chocolate's antioxidant and other health benefits. Best of all, you’ll enjoy an eleven-course dark chocolate tasting, where you sample rare and delicious chocolates grown and made in Hawaii and all over the world, including Kallari and Republica del Cacao from Ecuador, Valrhona from Madagascar and Trinidad, Guittard from Peru, Santander from Colombia, Felchlin and Taza from the Dominican Republic. You’ll also learn chocolate’s history, from its first discovery by early Meso-American tribes, to its revered status as a divine plant in the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec cultures, to its introduction to Europe in the 1600’s, and finally how an American inventor, Milton Snavely Hershey, made the nickel Hershey bar (1905) and the Hershey’s kiss (1907) enduring American institutions. Our Chocolate from Branch to Bar tour runs from 9AM to noon, and is offered Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Advance reservations are required. Cost for the tour is $60 per person, and children 12 years and under attend free of charge. Steelgrass Farm is located on Kauai's East Side, in the foothills above the town of Kapaa. Once your reservation is confirmed, we will send you written driving directions to the Farm. The Tour is handicapped accessible, and since chocolate trees love moisture, we operate rain or shine.
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