Sorting Machine Prototype
After doing a bunch of tests, we realized that winnowing was easier and our yield was better when we sorted the beans into different sizes (i.e. small, medium, large). We started out doing this by...
View ArticleBean Inspection Table
It’s important to inspect the beans before throwing them in the roaster as there can be lots of junk tagging along in the bag. We decided to build a bean inspection table (a glorified bin with some...
View ArticleNew first stage grinder
Rather than putting the nibs straight into a melanger (the machine we use to combine the nibs and sugar into chocolate), we use a peanut grinder to turn the nibs into a paste first. We recently...
View ArticleBack to Madagascar
Things move quickly around here. So quickly, that it’s been a few months since Cam and I went to Madagascar and he first posted about getting there. I made it a day or two behind Cam, after missing my...
View ArticleOur first video!
We all felt a little self-conscious watching this, but we have our first video! Todd did an excellent job telling our story, but my favorite part should be obvious. Our videographer, Liza, included...
View ArticleWrap Video
As promised, here’s our wrapping machine in action: If you’d like to learn more about chocolate making, take a look at Chocolate 101 in our online store.
View ArticleBar-to-Bean
By now you’ve heard of bean-to-bar chocolate, but have you heard of bar-to-bean? Our friend Ryan at Cat Trick Films made us an awesome and quirky video for our opening. Check out how chocolate bars are...
View ArticleMeet our production team
I’m very excited to share a video that Hannah Radcliff put together for us earlier this fall. Hannah lives in St. Louis, but stopped at Four Barrel on a recent trip to San Francisco and discovered our...
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Sorting things out in Texas
Cam and I took off for Texas last week to visit AMVT, a company that sells optical sorter machines. People’s eyes start to glaze over when I start talking about optical sorters until I mention that it...
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A Halloween Debut of a New Web Series Featuring Witches and Chocolate
Megan Giller is a longtime friend of ours and one of the most prolific journalists and authors in the field of chocolate. She’s also a feminist, a food historian, and our guest blogger for this post....
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