Meet The Chocolate Makers

​Fancy Food Show week means my chocolate friends are in town and they’re joining us for a special night of chocolate, watercolor, and conversation.

​We’ll taste craft chocolate while painting simple watercolor impressions using Hazel Lee’s Taste With Color flavor‑mapping method. No pressure, no perfection—just relax and enjoy the flavors and watercolor.

​And the guest lineup is incredible:

• ​Charlene Kent of Chocolate Midge — Trinidadian chocolate maker whose family has worked with cacao for generations.

• ​Liang of Kessho Chocolate — bringing her beautiful, precise, micro‑batch style of Asian inspired flavors.

• ​David Mena — bringing CACAO COLD BREW to sample. No coffee. Just cacao.

• ​Sarah Bharath — world‑respected ethnobotanist and cacao‑fermentation expert, here to answer your questions about cacao from seed to bar.

​This is a rare chance to learn directly from people who work with cacao at the deepest level.

​We’ll taste four origins, paint, learn, and enjoy an easygoing sensory evening that reminds us how chocolate connects us.

​— Nettie Atkisson Author and certified chocolate educator who leads hands‑on tastings for teams, communities, and events.