The Only Unbiased Research-based Chocolate Website
(previously known as Bean To Bar World)
Mission
To elevate your satisfaction with chocolate by making expert-level knowledge more accessible to you.
Connecting you to practical and accurate information on chocolate making, tasting, science, and history. The more you know, the better choices you can make.
Cacao flowers and immature pods. Image by Geoseph.
Values
+ Thinkers over Followers
Chocolate is a unique food with a rich history spanning millennia, yet the information surrounding it has always been inconsistent and biased. Today people work hard to tell you what to think about chocolate (businesses, influencers, award organizations). My goal is the opposite - to allow you to think for yourself. To offer you well-referenced and research knowledge as accurately and unbiased as I possibly can. From there you can draw your own conclusions, but based on what you know, not what I say.
I believe that quality information on chocolate should be easily accessible to all. It's the only way to foster and grow the craft of chocolate. This is why I've always kept prices for my events and services fair, and why I continue to grow the Chocolate School with tons of free information and resources to help you.
+ Celebrate Craftsmanship
Quality craftsmanship is dying in all creative industries. The food industry itself is being swallowed by big multinational companies taking over everything from farms to restaurants. Another goal of this website is to showcase and help small-scale entrepreneurs who wish to create chocolate and make positive change in the industry.
Great chocolate doesn't come out of nowhere. Great chocolate is made by great people. This is why I showcase a few small-scale bean-to-bar makers in my online shop, who focus on ethical cacao sourcing and quality ingredients.
It's also why I developed the bean-to-bar map, which is the original map that locates all chocolate entrepreneurs in the world who make chocolate from scratch.
And it's also why I love to host tastings, events, and classes so much. I want to share with you the incredible aspects of chocolate and help you to enjoy chocolate in the best way possible!
+ Treating Others With Dignity
The chocolate world is no stranger to scandal. The food industry in general is an industry that no doubt takes advantage of all sorts of people around the world. And chocolate is no exception. Child and slave labour in the cacao fields in West Africa but also around the world. Bureaucracy and greedy business in the manufacturing and retail sectors. And even in the niche of fine/craft "bean-to-bar" chocolate where people preach about ethics and "family" there is a great deal of bullying and choking one's peers for self-promotion and greed.
I want to make it clear that I'm aware of the reality of the dark side of the chocolate industry, and I don't shy away from it. This is why I encourage all of us to treat each other with dignity and basic human respect. I expect that at all my events, classes, and dealings online and in-person. There is far too much disrespect around us that we can't control, so let's make sure respect finds its way in situations we can control.
About Geoseph
CHOCOLATE SOMMELIER · MASTER CHOCOLATIER · CHOCOLATE MAKER · INSTRUCTOR
Educating on Chocolate since 2008
Making fine chocolate approachable and satisfying.
I’m the guy behind everything you see on this website. People constantly ask me how I ended up here. The truth is, I have wondered that myself. If you can believe it, I didn’t even enjoy chocolate very much growing up, especially dark chocolate. Perhaps it was my Southern Italian heritage that made me obsessed with food. Maybe it was my curious mind that adored nature wanted to understand the world around me. Or perhaps my desire to create with my hands be it art or well-crafted products. I would say what brought me here was simply following my passions: food, biology, and art, because working with chocolate encompasses all three of these passions for me.
My studies
An image I took of a cocoa bean up close with an electron Microscrope. Image by Geoseph.
I graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science where I focused on biology and animal sciences, but touched on fine arts as well. My passion for being in the kitchen drew me to pastry school where I honed in on my skills in the kitchen. It was there where I came across a job posting for a chocolate sommelier assistant, and after taking on the position in 2008 I was forever dedicated to chocolate. My desire to work with my hands, and my curious mind that drew me into biology and science offers a unique perspective to chocolate. I appreciate and respect the craft, while also the desire to understand how it all works. This has shaped my approach to be eschew much of the nonsense in the industry and focus really on what matters most: the skills and the knowledge.
Developing my curriculum
My time in Wellington, NZ with a miniature chocolate Wellington Fountain.
Since there were no chocolate sommelier courses or chocolate schools when I began, I had to teach myself about all things chocolate. My approach was through what I knew best - biology and research. For years I read every text book and research article concerning chocolate that I could get my fingers on. Little did I know that I was actually developing my own chocolate curriculum. Keeping this information to myself seemed wasteful, so eventually I took it upon myself to better educate the public on chocolate through building my website, posting free information online, and hosting countless chocolate tastings, chocolatier, and chocolate making classes over the years. I was already passionate about understanding chocolate, but like anything you love, it’s always more fun sharing it with others.
Chocolatier to chocolate maker
On CBC Vancouver. Click here to watch/read media publications.
In 2007 I discovered fine chocolate, and became a chocolate sommelier assistant in Toronto. 2009 I moved to Vancouver and worked as a chocolatier for many years creating products, developing recipes, designing new creations, and training others. Over the years I have worked at places such as Chocolate Arts, Thomas Haas Patisserie, Wellington Chocolate Factory, Mon Paris Patisserie, and more.
In 2017 I began focusing even more on public chocolate tastings, classes, markets, and even started up a Vancouver chocolate meetup.
Handmade bonbon by Geoseph. See more of my chocolatier work and gallery here.
This is also when I developed the very first bean-to-bar map. A tool used to help consumers locate small ethical craft chocolate makers around the world - also known as “craft” or “bean-to-bar” chocolate makers. Around this time I started making my own chocolate from the bean, and hosted bean-to-bar master classes. I created the bean-to-bar compass, a unique tasting tool that helps beginners improve their chocolate tasting capabilities and appreciate bean-to-bar chocolate. In 2020 the bean-to-bar map became an app, and I also went virtual with my tastings, lessons, and shop.
In Recent Years
My previous chocolate tasting room in British Columbia.
Today I’m educating through virtual and in-person tastings and kitchen classes. I curate a collection of unique products from around the world, develop my own recipes, and grow the Learning Center and Bean To Bar Map App. I also offer both virtual and in-person tutoring lessons and private chocolate events.
My previous chocolate tasting room in Ontario.
One of my goals is to combat the fear and insecurity people feel around chocolate. Whether tasting, tempering, or making chocolate, many people feel very inadequate and reluctant to ask for help. My work has helped many businesses, consultants, chocolate tasters and judges, or at-home chefs who simply want to learn and enjoy chocolate more. Chocolate is a beautiful medium to work with and appreciate, and it’s my goal to hep you appreciate this through a practical, fact-based, and objective approach.
I do move around a lot, like a leaf in the wind, but currently I reside in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Where chocolate will take me next is to be determined…
The Original Bean To Bar Map
While hosting my tastings, people would often ask where they can locate the makers of the incredible chocolate they tasted. It was (and is) a real challenge for people to locate makers.
I looked online to see if any bean-to-bar map existed that I could refer them to, but unfortunately none did. So I took on what felt like an impossible undertaking, and in 2017 began creating the very first map dedicated to bean-to-bar chocolate makers. I eventually added other categories such as cacao distributors, growers, equipment manufactures, and researchers. Eventually this map became an app with the help of a bean-to-bar friend, and here we are! An incredible tool that is free for everyone to use, share, and connect to.
The original map was a desktop version, which you can still access here.
If you appreciate this tool please share it with as many people as you can. The app is free to use, and free to be hosted on. You can download some free pdf marketing literature and help people discover makers! And should you feel the desire, you’re welcome to donate to help with my time and effort in growing and updating the app. Your generosity is always appreciated. A passion project from my heart to your fingertips, for the sake of bean-to-bar chocolate!