A good way to start talking about Kaicao (Calle de la Encomienda, 15) would be to explain where its name comes from: “A few years ago, when my husband Ido Talmor and I decided to come to live in Madrid and set up a chocolate factory, we were looking for a unique name that rhymed with cocoa. We just had to add our son’s name: Kai,” explains Tuba Talmor, one of the owners, on the other end of the phone.
This detail, which came up at the end of our conversation, is the epitome of this business located in Lavapiés: Kaicao is, first and foremost, a small family chocolate factory. And it is also a shop-shop from which this couple has been offering a product that is both high quality and healthy for some years now.
The whole project – which was born from a visit to a cocoa farm in the Dominican Republic – is based on this maxim and is part of its hallmark: “Our product is very natural and we do not use added sugars: we use powdered dates to sweeten our chocolates“, Tuba tells us.
Beyond the ingredients, undoubtedly another of the reasons that make Kaicao a special place is that they offer tours and experiences that have been revolutionizing the idea we have of chocolate for years: “As the space and the equipment is small, the visits are made, at most, for groups of 13 to 15 people. And they fill up.
(Re)discovering chocolate: from the bean to the final bar
One of the most popular activities is their 1-hour Bean-to-bar VIP Tour. It is priced at 13€ and includes a 100% pure ceremonial cocoa drink, prepared with oat milk or water -making it a completely vegan drink-. The use of the term “ceremonial” is not trivial: “For Latin America, drinking cocoa is a ceremony similar to that of matcha tea for Asians. It comes from many centuries ago, from the Mayas, Aztecs and Incas,” says Tuba.
Afterwards, they present the Bean to bar industry (referring to when the same person or, in this case factory, controls the entire elaboration process from start to finish) and give to taste roasted cocoa beans of different profiles. “Tasting is very important to appreciate the differences in flavor and aroma and understand why they are never mixed -something big brands do. We treat cocoa in a similar way to how specialty coffee is treated.”
Throughout the tour, visitors are shown all the steps involved in the production of chocolate and other cocoa-based products: the factory is a glassed-in space where all the processes are on view. As a finishing touch, they offer to taste all the products of the factory: “chocolates of different purities, camel milk chocolate -and in a vegan version- and what we call chuches”.
These tidbits range from hazelnut cream with dates to dried fruit or dates stuffed with chocolate-covered nuts. “Besides, every ingredient we use can be tasted fresh, and people like that too.” And just take a look at their reviews on Google to realize that everyone who comes to the visit leaves delighted with the experience and with a new vision of the world of chocolate.
But this is not the only tour or experience that is available. They have other options such as the one that focuses exclusively on the cocoa ritual and soon they will be adding a new one: it will be for creating your own chocolate bar from scratch, from the selection and roasting of the beans to the choice of toppings.
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