About Science of chocolate
(previously known as Bean To Bar World)
Mission
Elevate Your Mind Beyond Consumption. Learn How To Think About Chocolate.
Offerings
+ What Does SOC offer?
The Science Of Chocolate is a portal for quality chocolate education. Here you can book or join in-person and virtual tastings, kitchen classes, chocolate tutoring, workshops, and events to help you experience chocolate in a whole new way.
There is also a growing online shop with a curated collection of fine chocolate products, accessories, decor, and learning tools. Everything for those who wish to make chocolate part of their world!
+ About The Chocolate Here
All chocolate sold here and used in tastings and workshops is made with fine quality cacao from around the world, is above fair-trade standards, and created by many small-scale independant chocolate makers from around the world.
Values
+ Critical Thinkers over Followers
Followers consume based on what others tell them. Thinkers have the confidence to make their own informed decisions. The goal here is to encourage you to be a critical thinker of chocolate. Present you with research-based expert-level information while eschewing industry bias. This will allow you to draw your own conclusions based on what you know, not just what you are told.
+ Celebrate Human Craftsmanship
Quality craftsmanship is dying in the food industry, along with food sovereignty and human creativity. The chocolate industry itself continues to be swallowed by big multinational companies taking over everything from cacao farms to chocolate makers and any facet of the industry they can get their hands on (lab-grown chocolate is another example).
Great chocolate doesn't come out of nowhere. Great chocolate is made by great people. Chocolate was invented by the people of South and Central America thousands of years ago. People today who continue on the tradition of well crafted chocolate are to be encouraged and supported. Chocolate is not simply fuel, but also satisfies our minds through flavour and creativity that spans both time and culture.
+ Traditional Approach To Science
Today, the word science is misunderstood and misused. At SOC, science is simply a tool used to explain and understand the "why?" and "how?" questions we have about chocolate.
Science, when used properly, seeks out to present information as accurately as possible, point out bias, and strive to maintain integrity. Science here is not used to push agendas, opinions, or cheerlead the chocolate industry. SOC is simply a space that looks at chocolate and cacao in the most honest and straightforward way possible.
An image I took of a cocoa bean up close with an electron Microscope. Image by The Science Of Chocolate.
About Geoseph Domenichiello
CHOCOLATE SOMMELIER · MASTER CHOCOLATIER · CHOCOLATE MAKER · INSTRUCTOR
Educating since 2008
Making fine chocolate approachable and satisfying.
From Science To Chef
I graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science where I focused on biology and animal sciences. During this time I worked at a reptile zoo hosting educational events for children, and in a guppy lab at my University. As much as I loved working with animals, my passion for being in the kitchen and creating with my hands drew me towards pastry school instead of graduate school. 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.
Developing my curriculum
My time in Wellington, NZ with a miniature chocolate Wellington Fountain.
Chocolate bridges my passions for science and the culinary world. When I began there were no chocolate courses or programs available, so my education came from learning on the job as a chocolatier and teaching myself everything else. Thankfully I already had the researching skills and simply swapped “amphibian physiology” for “cacao and chocolate”.
For years I read every text book and research article concerning chocolate and cacao that I could get my hands on. I found most books on chocolate, even today, only scratch the surface of what I wanted to understand. This is why I’m so passionate about sharing primary research and information with the public. Why water it down when you can have the same information the experts get?
Keeping this information to myself seemed wasteful, so I took it upon myself to better educate the public through building an educational website, hosting tastings, workshops and kitchen classes. Like anything you love, it’s always more fun sharing it with others! And it makes more sense to educate those who could make a real difference - the general public.
Work Over The Years
Handmade bonbon by Geoseph. See more of my chocolatier work and gallery here.
In 2007 I discovered fine chocolate, and soon 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.
On CBC Vancouver. Click here to watch/read media publications.
With the growth of the niche bean-to-bar chocolate industry, I realized the huge gap in knowledge the public had in regards to fine chocolate. So in 2017 I pushed harder on educating the public and hosted countless tastings, classes, markets, and even started up a Vancouver chocolate meetup.
I developed the world’s very first bean-to-bar map, a tool to locate independent chocolate makers worldwide. This is also when I began making my own chocolate from the bean, and hosting 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 2021 I opened up my first tasting room & retail shop in Salmon Arm, BC, moved it to Toronto for a short while, but ended up back on the Pacific Coast in 2025.
My previous chocolate tasting room in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Designed by yours truly.
Today
One of my goals is to make fine chocolate approachable. Chocolate has the stigma of being intimidating and difficult. But if you’re persistent, anyone can learn to work with chocolate successfully. My efforts over the years has helped many people around the world from the gourmet home chef, to new chocolate businesses, consultants, tasters and judges, and anyone wanting more confidence working chocolate.
My current little chocolate den in Vancouver, Canada.
At the moment I reside in Vancouver, Canada where I work with chocolate, make chocolate, host classes & events, and sell a curated collection of chocolate from those whose work I admire. But all this is simply to fund a life of paddleboarding the West Coast with my dog and cooking up the best arancini outside of Sicily.
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.
The original map was a desktop version, which you can still access here.
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.
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!
