Bean-to-Bar: Group Chocolate Making Experience in Brooklyn

I bought my wife the Bean to Bar experience for Valentine's Day and it was exceptional. It is a multi sensory experience, hands in, tasting and smelling you way through each step in the chocolate making process. I thought there would be shortcuts, but you select your bean, crack them, husk them, grind them, temper them, mold them and eat them. For NYC the 3.5 hour experience is a bargain for the price.

Amazing bean-to-bar chocolate making class. Feels like a fun Sunday science project and the instructor makes it really easy and fun. Really lovely and flavorful and tasty locally made dark chocolate.

I learned about this local Brooklyn chocolate shop when I received a gift from a friend in Chicago that had their delicious hot chocolate cubes. I bought a ton of bars plus the double dark chocolate hot chocolate powder for valentines day and I got rave reviews on that gift. Sooooo I decided to take a Bean to Bar chocolate making class. It was a ton of fun and we learned so much about chocolate making. It is so detailed that it is a 3.5 hour class. Our instructor was patient and knowledgeable and we left with 2 bags of mini chocolate bars that we made ourselves. All the chocolate is vegan and single sourced. I chose to make mine with nibs from Tanzania. Absolutely delicious!

My husband and I loved the bean to bar workshop! We learned a ton (did you know that white sugar is not vegan?!) and enjoyed every minute of the 3.5 hour class. We did everything, from QCing the beans for pieces of burlap, winnowing the beans, grinding, and molding the chocolate. The group size was perfect too (only 8 people) so we asked lots of questions and got to interact with the instructor, Esteban, throughout the whole day. Everyone who worked there was so friendly and I was really happy to hear Esteban talk about how much he enjoyed working at Raaka (he'd been there 6 years) and how he was a fan of leadership at the company. An added surprise was a mini chocolate tasting in the middle of the class (the coconut and pink salt flavors are to die for!). This bean to bar class was one of my favorite experiences in New York to date, and I've lived here for almost 6 years. I would highly recommend, and I plan on returning for their tea and chocolate pairing class (coming soon) or their truffle making class.

My girlfriend and I took the "Bean to Bar" class. This was a 3 hour class that covered every aspect of making chocolate, including bean selection, separating and grinding the nibs, combining and mixing sugar and cocoa butter, rolling, tempering, and finally molding the chocolate. Our class had 8 people working in pairs, though it looked like there was room for 10 people. The small class size was great so we could get individual attention as we worked and we could all ask questions. The instructor was very helpful and informative. The class was $115/person, which seems quite pricey at first. However, its a full 3 hour class with specialized equipment and an experienced teacher. Plus you get to sample chocolate the whole time and you end up taking ~2lbs of your own chocolate home with you. In the end, it works out to be a pretty reasonable price for a full afternoon activity. We had a ton of fun taking the class. We'd consider trying one of the other classes they offer.

Raaka choco making is a fun gift or group activity! The choco was delicious and interesting experience. I was a little uneasy about the 3.5 hr bean to bar class but we were busy and it went fast, it really was a perfect amount of time. It was very interesting to learn the process from the beam to the choco making process. They let you sample different types of choco and it was all vegan, great for the non dairy diets to enjoy!

The bean to bar chocolate making class was a blast! The instructor (Esteban) was fantastic, not only were his instructions clear and easy to follow but he was also extremely knowledgeable and shared interesting facts throughout the process. We were also very satisfied with the amount of chocolate we produced and got to take home (about 50 mini bars) as well as the tastings we got to do throughout the day :)

Wonderful and fun bean to bar chocolate making class at the Raaka Factory in Brooklyn. Excellent and detailed instruction. We got to make our chocolate every step of the way. We were able to choose our preferred (fermented and dried) beans from Uganda or Tanzania. We cracked them, winnowed them, milled them, tempered them and finally poured them into miniature chocolate bar molds. Highly recommend this class!

My boyfriend and I went to make our chocalate truffles and it was a fun experience and we enjoyed it. Definitely recommend it. Esteban our instructor was really informative and helpful. The hostess she was nice and helpful as well. Thank you

Took the bean to bar chocolate making class with Valerie on June 1, 2024. You really do it all and it is very well organized. All the students seemed to be chocoholics and really into the experience. There were also some chocolates to sample before the class if you came early, but you leave with some 70% made by yourself in a little bag either way. Good stuff. Would do it again (and again!).

I took a class here with 5 family members aged 20-80 and we had a blast, and learned a ton! Highly recommend, so much fun!

Such a fun experience! I took the Bean to Bar class taught by Esteban and was blown away by how in-depth the class went. You are literally making chocolate bars from scratch (cracking the beans, grinding it into chocolate paste, tempering the chocolate, and molding the bars). Another group was having a birthday party truffle making class in the next room and that also looked like a ton of fun.

We celebrated an adult birthday with the Bean to Bar workshop. I have to say that this was one of the most fun things that we have ever done! Over 3-4 hours, we took cacao beans and turned them into chocolate bars. The chocolate was amazing! Our instructor was amazing! We learned so much! I would recommend this to anyone and would do it again in a heartbeat!

One of the most fun places in NYC! I attended a class by myself 6 years ago and finally went for another one on New Year's Eve. The staff is so friendly, and they were understanding of my back pain and need for a cane. My partner and I both had an awesome time making truffles and drinking champagne. Highly recommend going to Raaka alone, on a date, or for any reason. Thanks for being such a rad and thoughtful chocolate company.

The bean to bar making class was an incredible experience! Couldn’t recommend enough!