A Joyful Indulgence

For many people, eating a chocolate bar is a pleasure often consumed rapidly, with little attention paid to its ingredients. But there’s a new store in town that invites us to savor the experience of eating single-origin luxury bean-to-bar chocolate, which is a completely different indulgence

“It is fair and appropriate to think of bean-to-bar chocolate in the realm of wine,” explains Indigenous Chocolate owner Monique Evans. “Because just like wine has terroir, cacao does as well. Each country of origin, from which we import, has a very distinct flavor profile, and beans from different countries and even different regions will also express themselves through the terroir (land) of that particular region.”

Evans and her husband, Brent, are chocolate sommeliers. They studied to identify the notes and textures in different chocolate samples, along with the origins and production of cacao, the history and culture of chocolate's roots, and the art of hosting guided tastings and pairing chocolate with cacao tea, drinking chocolate, wine, and other spirits.

The Evans recently opened their shop in Cashiers and still sell their chocolate at The Village Green’s weekly market and at a few retailers around town. Monique is a former speech-language pathologist with a background in teaching and writing, and Brent was an electrical engineer who ran his own business. Brent is the chocolate maker but is also adept at fixing mechanical things, which comes in handy if the roaster or other machinery malfunctions.

It’s obvious when talking with Monique how much the couple enjoys educating people and sharing their love of single-origin chocolate made from cacao beans harvested in one specific region.

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Cacao sourced from diligent, ethical vendors

“As with any product, it’s important to think about what you're eating, where it comes from and who's making it,” says Monique. “When you come into our shop, you get an opportunity to talk with us and know all of those things.”

Their cacao is sourced from approxi-mately 15 to 25 regions around the world, and each bar is crafted from only two ingredients: the highest quality cacao (74%) and organic vegan cane sugar (26%). For comparison, an average Hershey’s candy bar contains sugar, milk, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, lecithin, natural flavor and PGPR (an emulsifier typically derived from castor bean oil).

Cacao is only found in areas north or south of the equator by about 20 degrees. The couple works with distributors who source from farmers in South and Central America, Africa, and the South Pacific to find the best cacao available on the market. The beans are shipped to the Evans in 50-kilogram sacks (approximately 100 pounds). Each sack of beans makes close to 1,000 bars of chocolate.

From start to finish, each chocolate bar takes seven days to create, from roasting through packaging. “Brent has chosen beautifully,” says Monique, “because he has chosen to roast softer, at a lower temperature, for a shorter amount of time than some makers, which brings out tons of fruity notes in our beans. The roasting process susses out the flavors of the particular terroir the beans came from.”

Stop in for chocolate; stay awhile for a tasting workshop

Visitors can stop by the shop in downtown Cashiers to enjoy bonbons, drinking chocolate, and chocolate tasting flights. For those wanting a more immersive experience, the Evans offer an “Indigenous Chocolate Experience Tasting Workshop,” a semi-deep dive into the world of cacao: a brief history of cacao, where it’s grown, how it’s harvested and processed on the farm, and their procedures to create exceptional chocolate. From there, Monique and Brent take customers through the factory, explaining their production processes.

Customers then embark on a tasting journey of at least six single-origin bean-to-bar chocolates.

Monique and Brent guide customers as they discover different notes and flavors within each bar, but avoid suggesting certain bars or sharing which ones are most popular.

“That’s why we tell people all the time that tasting our chocolate is like a wine tasting,” explains Monique. “Each person's palate is different, and my palate is different today than it was yesterday. So, the flavors you would taste in the cacao, just like wine, will differ from day to day, depending on what you ate and how hydrated you are. There are a lot of factors that go into taste.” There are also no right or wrong answers, as everyone’s palate is unique and exploring different flavors is part of the joy of the experience.

Speaking of joy, Brent says that’s the main reason the couple decided to open their shop: To see people smile. “Chocolate brings joy and makes people happy,” says Monique. “Our job is education, but we're in the business of creating joy in a product that can be of the highest quality available.”

When they aren’t busy running their shop, Monique and Brent love to hike and explore the plateau. Both were born and raised in Louisiana, and they spent 25 years of their life together on the water. Then, four years ago, for their 20th anniversary, they took a trip to North Carolina and fell in love with Cashiers.

“We have deeply settled ourselves into being part of this community,” says Monique. “Brent joined a board. I joined a board, and we do charity work with different organizations. We wanted to be members of the community, not just business owners who sell to tourists in summer.”

Indigenous Chocolate store hours are listed below, but Monique says if they are available, they’re happy to open the shop after hours. Just give them a call at 225-315-7808.

Indigenous Chocolate

188 Burns Street, Cashiers

Wednesdays: CLOSED, but find their booth at Locally Grown on the Green, 11 am to 3 pm

Thursdays: Noon to 4 pm, Fridays: Noon to 4 pm

Saturdays: Noon to 3 pm, Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays: By Appointment