Free Samples is just one good reason to visit Creo Chocolate.

Other great reasons would be to eat at the cafe, to buy handcrafted chocolate, and to learn about the craft of artisan chocolate making.

The three of us took a Make-a Bar chocolate tour. A very yummy experience.

We learned a lot too.

Has there ever been anyone cuter in a hairnet than this little girl?

Creo in Latin means to create. Creo Chocolate roasts, cracks, winnows, grinds, conches, tempers, molds and packages small batches of chocolate in their Portland factory.

• Chocolate is made from a fruit grown on a tree.
• After the blossoms are pollinated, it takes six months for the cacao pods to ripen.
• Creo Chocolate buys their cacao directly from the farmer in Ecuador. Direct trade is a working relationship between the farmer and the craftsman creating a sustainable living for both, as well as a lasting friendship.
• Chocolate is a fermented food. The fermented beans are laid out on the ground under the hot Ecuadorean sun to dry before shipping to Portland.
• Never use your teeth to eat chocolate. The small squares of a Creo Chocolate bar are purposely designed to fit on the roof of your mouth and slowly melt into velvety smoothness coating your taste buds.
• Cacao nibs are antioxidants. (That means good for you!)
• Real good chocolate satisfies.

Our custom-made chocolate bars.

There were many  ingredients to add to the chocolate bar including, but not limited to, dried pear, coconut or blueberries, candied ginger, seeds, cacao nibs, and spices.

After roasting and milling, this custom designed machine separates the husk of the bean from the nibs. Creo owners, Tim and Janet Straub, once owned a local strawberry farm.

Creo Chocolate

Real Chocolate – Real Relationships – Real Change

122 NE Broadway, Portland, Oregon

503-477-8927

Www.CreoChocolate.com

We also got to sample brewed drinking chocolate.

I bought the Spicy Dark, Brown Butter and Cafe au’ Lait bars. I highly recommend them!