This past weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in a chocolate factory tour and tasting at Raphio Chocolate in northeast Fresno. Raphio is such a cool place! Though it wasn’t my first time touring and tasting there, it had been years since my last visit. Raphio’s chocolate offerings have expanded so much, and their business has grown. I was excited to go back and have a few friends join in the fun this time.
Tours at Raphio generally take place on Saturday afternoons and are open to the public for $20 per person. You can also book private group tours for $18 per person if you have a party of six or more. Whether you go as a private group or join a public tour, the factory is small (but mighty!) and the maximum group size is 10 people, ensuring a very personalized experience. Tours can be booked online here.
My recent tour was led by Vanessa, an actual chocolate sommelier trained in recognizing the nuances and notes within the flavors of all kinds of chocolate. The tour began with Vanessa sharing a bit about the types of chocolate Raphio makes: single-origin dark chocolate and chocolate with inclusions made from locally sourced ingredients like Enzo olive oil and Kuppa Joy’s espresso beans. She talked about the health benefits of quality dark chocolate (there are many!) and explained how Raphio sources and makes their chocolate using methods that are more time-consuming than most commercial chocolatiers. These methods result in an extremely high-quality, healthy, smooth final product that, in my opinion, will spoil lesser chocolates for you once you taste it and appreciate all that goes into making it.
I learned a lot, and Vanessa was a great teacher, so I retained the information well. I don’t want to spoil the tour experience for you though, so I won’t walk you through every detail of the presentation. After the informational portion of the tour, you get to actually tour the factory and learn about the machinery involved in making Raphio chocolate. You even get to taste chocolate straight from the grinder, where it is melted and rich, made from just pure cacao and sugar—definitely not something you get to experience every day!
Following the factory tour came my favorite part of the experience—chocolate tasting! Vanessa walked us through an amazing, multi-sensory experience where we got to try 20 different chocolate samples. Each sample is small and just the right size for a taste, so it isn’t overwhelming to try so many.
It was hard to narrow down favorites because they were all so good, but I really enjoyed the 72% dark chocolate from India, the dark chocolate espresso crunch bar featuring Kuppa Joy espresso beans, and the unique and spicy chocolate that was made with Fresno Chile olive oil.
After the tasting, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase bars of your favorite chocolate at a 15% discount off the regular price, which is a great way to extend the experience at home and share some of Raphio’s amazing, award-winning chocolate with your friends and family—if you’re willing to share.
Taking a chocolate factory tour at Raphio Chocolate is one of those super cool local experiences that many people may not know is available here in Fresno, but it’s so wonderful that I hope to help more people experience it. P.S. If you can’t take a tour for a bit, you can still stop by and shop for delicious, artisan chocolate Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm on the southwest corner of First and Barstow near Hoover High School.
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