Last month I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Melbourne, where I had the opportunity to meet all of the finest chocolate makers in the city. It was fantastic to get a taste (literally) of Melbourne’s blossoming bean-to-bar chocolate scene. It’s still early days for craft chocolate in Australia but there’s a palpable enthusiasm for the movement, coupled with a lovely sense of community that I was honoured to be welcomed into.
I thought I’d share some of the photos from my trip with you, plus at the bottom of this piece you’ll find my top three tips for delicious treats in Melbourne. Enjoy!
Ratio Cocoa Roasters
Atypic Chocolate
Hunted + Gathered
Monsieur Truffe
Top 3 Delicious Treats in Melbourne
As you can tell, I tasted a vast amount of delicious things during this weekend. I thought I'd pick out three highlights that you should search for, if you're ever paying a visit...
1. Solomon Islands drinking chocolate at Ratio Cocoa Roasters
I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to hot chocolate but this 70% single origin mug of joy really hit the spot. You can have this made with macadamia milk, which I strongly recommend.
2. The Coffee Bar at Monsieur Truffe
This bar is made with coffee beans instead of cocoa solids, and it has the most amazing molasses and licorice flavour notes. Very unique.
3. Flourless Orange Tea Cake at Atypic Chocolate
This gluten and dairy-free cake is coated in 70% Solomon Islands chocolate. Need I say more?
Thanks so much to all the great people I met in Melbourne. It's so exciting to see the craft chocolate scene develop over there, and I know this is only the beginning. I hope that there will be a day when we have a similarly buzzing bean-to-bar scene here in Wellington. Onwards and upwards!