Chocolate-making proves hard, but sweet, work

Koa Kahili describes himself as a "chocolate sommelier."

Ironically, the owner and founder of Garden Island Chocolate wasn’t a fan of chocolate when he was growing up.

"To me, chocolate tasted OK, but I wondered why everyone else seemed to be crazy about it," he said. "Once I tasted fine chocolate, though, I realized I had been eating inferior, low-grade chocolate. No wonder I didn’t like it that much! Now that I’m eating high-quality chocolate that I make myself, I love it."

Kahili holds a master’s degree in Polynesian and Southeast Asian art history but didn’t see himself making a career of teaching or working for a museum. When he returned to Kauai in 1998, after earning his degree at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he took a job as a guide for a company doing boat tours along the Napali Coast.

In his spare time, Kahili fished, camped and farmed 5 acres in Kilauea on the north shore of Kauai. He grew a dozen crops and was especially interested in exotic tropical fruits, including cacao, the primary ingredient for chocolate.

Hawaii is the only state that grows cacao. Kahili noticed many people on Kauai were growing cacao as an ornamental, but no one was making chocolate. When Kahili asked why, their response was the same: "It’s too hard."

But he wasn’t discouraged. "Unrelenting curiosity led me to learn how to do it," he said. "Plus, I love challenges. If I hear something can’t be done or is too difficult to do, I’ll make it happen."

And he did. He began planting cacao (5,000 trees now flourish on his property), reading books on chocolate-making, attending workshops on the subject and experimenting, often until the wee hours.

"My early attempts weren’t very tasty or pretty," Kahili said, smiling. "In fact, most of them wound up in the garbage can, but I was determined to get it right. It took me a year to perfect the process, and I’m happy to say what started out as a hobby has turned into a rewarding full-time business. I took a leap of faith, trusted my heart and went for it."

Observing its sixth anniversary this year, Garden Island Chocolate is the only company to grow cacao and make chocolate on Kauai. Kahili and his girlfriend, Angela Villa, do all the work — from cultivating and harvesting cacao, to processing it, to molding, wrapping and packaging 2-ounce chocolate bars for retail sale.

Four varieties, all containing 85 percent cacao, are available at select stores on Kauai: Dark Chocolate, Alaea Sea Salt, Cacao Nibs & Mint, and Macadamia Nut & Coconut.

Led by Kahili or Villa, Garden Island Chocolate’s three-hour tour begins with a tasting of a few kinds of chocolate truffles. They vary, depending on what’s fresh and ripe at the time — perhaps ginger, durian, Tahitian lime and spicy mole.

Guests then enjoy a stroll through the orchards, sampling whatever is in season; right now, the bounty includes longon, soursop, dragon fruit and mountain apple. Cacao pods yield another treat: The juicy white pulp surrounding the raw beans has a sweet lemony flavor akin to lychee.

Visitors also try two varieties of dried and roasted cacao beans to compare the difference in flavors. Wine descriptors point out the unique characteristics of the 10 varieties grown here: for example, nutty, fruity, smoky, earthy, flowery, hints of toffee, clove or caramel.

Next comes a tasting of 20 types of specialty bars, available only on the tour. "Angela and I are constantly experimenting with new flavors," Kahili said. "The selection is different for every tour. Kava, garlic and almond butter might be among the choices one day. On another day, there could be garam masala, coconut milk curry and chipotle and cayenne pepper. We’ve even made a bar with local, organic ‘saindoux,’ which is a sophisticated-sounding French word for pig fat."

Always offered is a sampling of Grand Cru, a 90 percent cacao bar that sells for $100 by special order. "The price may sound outrageous for 2 ounces of chocolate, but it’s similar to a wine connoisseur who will gladly pay over $1,000 for a bottle of wine," Kahili said. "It’s premium chocolate that’s processed to perfection, and those who’ve tasted it will tell you it’s worth every bite."

Participants also sip Kahili’s original hot chocolate and learn the stages of chocolate making — from fermenting, drying and roasting of cacao beans; to grinding and blending them with sugar and vanilla; to the tricky tempering step, which hardens the chocolate and gives it a sheen and smooth texture.

Tidbits are shared throughout the tour, including how the cacao pod inspired the shape of the iconic Coca-Cola bottle.

"Our tour is comparable to doing a wine tour with a wine grower and maker," Kahili said. "Angela and I are hands-on with everything, making small batches of chocolate to ensure the highest level of quality. Chocolate is comfort food; it makes people feel happy. Just ask them, ‘Would you like to have some chocolate?’ and watch their faces light up with a big smile."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.