Today we welcome a guest post from Rachel as she gives us an insight into organsing the Brighton Chocolate Festival... 

Introducing Brighton to Bean to Bar Chocolate

Here I am, just two weeks away from hosting Brighton Chocolate Festival for the second time, panic eating 80% Nicaraguan chocolate, hoping I’ve done enough to make this year as good as 2022. Maybe even better?

I spent last Friday traipsing around Brighton’s multitude of coffee shops, offering them flyers and inviting the staff to the festival. While craft coffee enjoys widespread popularity, craft chocolate remains relatively unknown to many. However, it shares many similarities, from diverse origins to roast profiles and flavour notes. My mission is to convert hundreds of coffee enthusiasts into chocolate aficionados.

This isn't your typical Cadbury's or Lindt; these chocolate makers operate on an entirely different level. They can trace their cacao back to specific farms, describe the growing process, fermentation, and sun-drying methods. They can explain precise details like roasting times, grinding durations, and aging periods. And the flavours! It's not just about white, milk, or dark chocolate; it's discerning the distinction between a 71% Madagascan bar and a 75% Peruvian bar. Some crafters even use the same cacao to create dramatically different bars. You gotta taste it to believe it, and to do that you have to be there!

Though I took over the reins of Brighton Chocolate Festival just last year, it has a rich history. Before the pandemic, Discover Cacao was at the helm (don't miss their upcoming event: Denbies Chocolate Fair on October 16th). So I had some pretty big shoes to fill last year! Having been a stall holder with my partner James of J. Cocoa, it was an event I couldn't bear to see fade away.

My goal is to spotlight the incredible world of bean-to-bar chocolate and how the UK has some of the world’s most incredible award winning makers. Alongside local favourites like J.Cocoa (Hassocks) and Terre de Sienne (Worthing), we're bringing you Dormouse Chocolates (Manchester), NearyNogs (Northern Ireland), Chocolate Tree (Scotland), and many more!

Willy Wonka Who?