Bay Area herbalist makes chocolate from the bean to the bar: ‘I’m in the business of making people happy’

Inside Ratza Chocolate in Tarpon Springs

Sara Ratza is a bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker in Tarpon Springs.

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Have you ever tasted real chocolate? A Bay Area chocolatier may have you questioning your taste buds.

"You have to put it on your tongue, and you have to let it melt on your tongue, and you close your eyes to really experience it. It will take you to another place."

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Sara Ratza is a bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker.

Ratza says craft chocolate-making is difficult because it is expensive, and it is a very long process to start from the bean and creating chocolate all the way to the bar or another confection.

She equates craft chocolate to craft beer.

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"You’re getting more of a quality product because you are working in small batches," Ratza explained.

Ratza has owned Ratza Chocolates for five years, but she has been making bean-to-bar chocolate since 2015.

Ratza Chocolates won a gold medal for its ‘Just Dark’ chocolate, which is the basis for all the chocolate she makes. Ratza also won gold for her pina colada-flavored chocolate.

Ratza says the bean-to-bar process begins with roasting the beans.

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After letting the beans cool for 24 hours, it is time to crack them open and de-shell the bean from the nib, which is the actual bean.

"The nibs are what we use to create the chocolate with," Ratza explained. "The machine will grind the chocolate for 24-48 hours depending on the proper flavor we want and the texture we want. After those 24-48 hours, we can pour the chocolate into whatever mold or creation that we want to create."

Ratza is a clinical herbalist, which means she has been trained to work with herbs as medicine.

"I take a lot of pride knowing I am creating herbal-formulated chocolate," Ratza said. "That’s really where my niche has had led me."

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During the summer, Ratza tries to keep chocolate-flavored mango on hand and in the fall she will be making caramel-apple bark.

Ratza also makes drinking chocolate from a pure bean that has been ground with herbs.

"I think I get the most joy from what I do out of seeing people trying real chocolate for the first time," Ratza shared. "A lot of people have never really had real chocolate because chocolate usually is not just pure chocolate. There are usually other things incorporated into it. I always say I am in the business of making people happy."

Click here for more information on Ratza Chocolate.

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