What to Expect at a Chocolate Making Workshop (Spoiler: It's Way More Fun Than You Think)

Never made chocolate before? Here's an honest, behind-the-scenes look at what happens when you walk through our doors — and why people keep coming back.

We get this question a lot: "I've never done anything like this before — what actually happens at your workshop?" And we love it every time, because it means someone is just a little curious, maybe a little nervous, and about to have one of their favorite afternoons in Santa Barbara.

So let's pull back the curtain. Here's exactly what you can expect when you walk into Menchaca Chocolates for a Chocolate & Art Workshop — from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave carrying something you made with your own hands.

First: You're Walking Into a Real Working Chocolate Factory

Our workshop space isn't a staged classroom or a rented event hall. It's our actual factory — the same space where Pete roasts cacao beans, grinds them down, and tempers chocolate every week. The smell alone is worth the trip. Rich, warm, slightly earthy with a hint of sweetness. It hits you before you even get settled in.

We're tucked into El Mercado Shopping Center on upper State Street, a little half-underground gem that surprises people every time. Cozy, creative, and full of personality — just like the chocolate.

Step One: Choose Your Chocolate Base

When you arrive, you'll choose your chocolate base — the foundation of the bars you'll be making. We offer our 60% dark chocolate, our oat milk chocolate, and seasonal options depending on the time of year. Not sure which to pick? Pete will help you figure it out. He has opinions, and they're always delicious.

Each option is made from our single-origin, certified direct-trade cacao beans from Guatemala and Ecuador. This isn't compound chocolate or baking chips — it's the real thing, made from scratch right here.

Step Two: The Toppings Bar (This Is Where It Gets Fun)

This is the part where most people's eyes go wide. We have 30+ toppings laid out and waiting — dried mango, goji berries, raspberries, almonds, gluten-free pretzels, mini marshmallows, coconut flakes, Himalayan sea salt, maple cookies, and more. Seasonal and rotating specials too.

You choose what goes into your bars. All of it, some of it, a wild combination nobody has tried before — that's entirely up to you. We've seen some truly inspired creations over the years, and a few that were bravely experimental. Almost all of them were delicious.

Step Three: Pete Pours. You Watch Magic Happen.

Once your toppings are chosen, Pete ladles warm, perfectly tempered liquid chocolate into your mold right in front of you. You'll see the chocolate flow and settle, catching the light with that deep, glossy sheen that only properly tempered chocolate has.

Then you layer on your toppings, press them gently in, and set the molds aside to cool and set. While that happens — here comes the part people don't always expect to love as much as they do.

Step Four: The Art Box

Every workshop includes a wooden keepsake box for your finished bars. And every box gets decorated by you — with real art supplies. Acrylic paints, inks, stencils, stamps, stickers, wooden embellishments, pens. LeAnne sets up a full art bar outside, and guests spend anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour creating something completely unique.

This is LeAnne's world. She's an artist — she ran a studio in New York, taught art in Brooklyn — and she brings that same warmth and creative energy into every workshop. Nobody feels judged here. Nobody has to be "good at art." You just get to play, and it turns out that's exactly what most of us need more of.

We've had couples on first dates, families with grandparents and nine-year-olds, bachelorette parties, solo travelers, and birthday groups all sitting outside painting their boxes and laughing. Every single time, the vibe is the same: relaxed, happy, and just a little bit magical.

Step Five: Take It Home

Once your chocolate has set and your box is dry, you pack up your bars — each one handmade, each one yours — and you leave. Most people end up buying a few extra bars on the way out too. We've heard from guests all over the country who say the chocolate made it home from Santa Barbara as the most prized item in their luggage.

The workshops run Fridays through Saturdays and typically last 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on how deep into the art box you go. Groups are welcome. Private parties are available. So are solo visitors. So are people who have done it before and just want to come back.

Ready to Make Something?

No experience required. No artistic ability required. No dietary restrictions standing in your way — (almost) everything we make is dairy-free and vegan. Just bring your curiosity, maybe a friend, and an appetite.

Come for the chocolate. Stay for the art. Leave with a memory — and a really good bar.

Book your experience or walk in Thursdays through Saturdays, 12–6pm at 4141 State St E-1 in Santa Barbara's El Mercado Shopping Center. We'd love to see you.

— Pete & LeAnne, Menchaca Chocolates