A Tasty Chocolate Tour in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Hi, fellow chocolate fan! Obsessed with it? Me too! Luckily, there’s a chocolate tour in Puerto Viejo you can head to satiate your craving during your visit.

This was such a fun and delicious tour I had to write about it and let you know how much I loved it while backpacking in Costa Rica.

Table of Contents

Chocolate Tour in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
More Around Costa Rica

Chocolate Tour in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Planning Your Trip NOW?

👉 Check out the chocolate-making tour I did in Puerto Viejo!

A Mini Choco History

It’s known that cacao cultivation has a long history in this part of Costa Rica, dating back to ancient times when indigenous communities like the BriBri revered cacao as a sacred plant. The traditions of cultivating and processing cacao have been passed down through generations.

Mid-chocolate making session at Talamanca Chocolate in Puerto Viejo. — The chocolate making process

Over the years, Puerto Viejo has become a hub for sustainable and organic cacao farming. The commitment to preserving traditional methods of chocolate production, coupled with the biodiversity of the region, has positioned Puerto Viejo as an ideal location for chocolate and, therefore, chocolate-making tours!

RELATED: Your Guide to Puerto Viejo—Costa Rica’s Caribbean Surf Town

Start Outside on The Chocolate Tour in Puerto Viejo

You’ll step onto the family-operated organic cacao farm, tucked in a botanical garden, with plant life, chickens roaming around, and of course, cacao plants hanging out around you.

Giant cacao beans on a tree in Puerto Viejo. — Giant cacao plants hanging on a tree, these aren’t ripe for picking yet!

In this hands-on three-hour cacao experience, you’ll help with every step in the chocolate-making process and get to know the secrets of the chocolate-making traditions!

It starts outside, talking about the cacao plants, which, if you haven’t seen them, is quite cool! Once open, it’s a yummy but slimy white fruit covering the cocoa seed.

Holding rushed cacao beans during a chocolate tour in Puerto Viejo. — Crushed cacao beans

There’s a short talk about cacao trees, understanding their cultivation, and the role of fermentation and drying in shaping the flavors of chocolate.

Chocolate, Made by YOUR Hands

Roasting cacao nibs, molding into chocolate bars—every step is a manual effort. It’s a connection to the roots of chocolate-making, and on this tour, YOU’RE doing the work! Roasting, grinding, pounding, sifting, rolling… Damn, who knew chocolate-making was going to be this laborious!?

Chocolate tour host roasting cacao beans in Puerto Viejo. — Freshly roasted cacao

I had no idea, but I sure loved learning about it and getting my hands dirty in the making. There are so many steps and tools to make a perfect little chocolate delight that’s gobbled up in a second. It definitely made me appreciate good chocolate a lot more.

Nina holding crushed cacao beans during a chocolate tour. — Casually blowing chocolate with a fan, yes, this really was one of the steps to get the leftover shell pieces out!

It was super fun to participate, everyone in the group got to do something in the process, all while our knowledgeable teacher was explaining the why.

Tasting All The Chocolate

You’re going to snack on chocolate in its different stages during this chocolate tour in Puerto Viejo. I had it in raw and bitter form, in little nibs (possibly my fav version!), and even as a rich and thick hot chocolate drink! It was SO good, but it was so thick, I felt it coating my teeth. I had never had chocolate like this before.

To bring home, you’ll get the shells to make tea out of (interestingly enough), cocoa nibs, and also ten chocolates that you made with the class!

Final moulded chocolates on a table. — The final product!

Just in case you’re wondering, it’s going to be all dark chocolate, yum! No fake stuff, no milk, no additives, etc. Just some damn good pure chocolate.

👉 Check out the chocolate-making tour I did here!

This was one of the coolest things to do in Puerto Viejo; you have to experience chocolate-making while you’re here. I was here with my friend Robin, and we both did the class together and loved it!

Don’t miss out on chocolate making while visiting Costa Rica!