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Although craft beer and coffee have become popular in northeastern Florida, Jessica Diebel and Tucker Juan hope to make stick-shaped bean refined chocolate a new trend.
The two opened Makenu Chocolate at 30 Seminole Road, Atlantic Beach, respectively, and they plan to have a trial operation on August 28 or August 29.
Makenu will sell chocolate bars, Topsy Toffee owned by Juan and Deep Dive Truffles owned by Diebel.
Eventually, they may add hot chocolate or iced chocolate drinks, pastries and chocolate bar products called filled chocolates, which may include fruits, nuts, vanilla, and spices.
The price of the chocolate bar ranges from $6 to $12, depending on the composition and source of the cocoa beans.
There will be seats and display cabinets at the front of the store. The kitchen is behind the counter, but due to the open design of the store, customers can see the chocolate making process.
The two invested $160,000 to open the store, including the expansion and machinery needed to make chocolate.
The coffee beans are transported to the store. They go through a sorting machine, a toaster and crackers, and then remove the baked beans from the shell.
Then, the beans passed through a winnowing machine, which was built using drawings by Diebel’s father and uncle. A winnowing machine separates the shells and cocoa nibs.
Then, the cocoa nibs, sugar and cocoa butter are mixed together using melamine to form the smooth texture of the final product.
Finally, put it in a thermostat to heat the chocolate and start the crystallization process. This will ensure that the chocolate does not sweat, breaks easily and shines. It is transferred to a mold where it solidifies and wraps the chocolate.
Diebel started her therapist career in Colorado, then returned to Jacksonville to work at Bold Bean Coffee Roasters. She discovered the similarities between coffee roasting and cocoa roasting.
She always drove the idea of ​​opening a chocolate and wine shop, so in the next few years, she researched chocolate production and established connections with the entire industry, including with Juan, who already runs Topsy Toffee.
He wanted to develop his own toffee company, and Diebel wanted to do the same with her toffee company, and also opened a tofu shop.
They went to a cocoa farm in Belize in 2018 and decided to start a chocolate shop together from there.
Dibel said: “For a long time, I think the idea of ​​actually opening a chocolate shop is very fantastic.” “It feels like Willy Wonka in the movie, or if you see other people doing it, But this is not a choice. In the past year, it has actually become a choice.”
They have planned more community participation and chocolate making demonstrations, where they show customers how to make chocolate bars and explain in detail the origin of the beans.
Dibel said: “Being a small business owner in the community where I grew up is very surreal.” “I think I have the opportunity to enjoy my work in a way that I can communicate with the community and provide them with our values Something that aligns with the goal is really cool.”
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