December 5, 2026
An afternoon at the workshop making table chocolate from the bean: roasting, shelling, grinding and shaping your own tablets to take home.
Upcoming
What it is, what you'll find there and who it's for, in a few words.
Table chocolate is the kind that is melted into water or milk for breakfast, and for generations it was made at home with cacao from the yard and a hand mill. This workshop brings that craft back in a single afternoon, following the same steps we take at the workshop every week.
We start by tasting beans at different stages of fermentation to understand where the flavour comes from. Then we roast, shell and grind, first by hand and then with the mill, until the beans turn into a glossy paste that smells of hot chocolate.
With that paste everyone shapes their own tablets, which are left to cool while we make a round of hot chocolate to share. It is simple, hands-on and slightly sticky work that needs no cooking experience.
You take home what you make, the written recipe and, above all, a new way of looking at chocolate. Groups are small so that everyone gets to use the roaster and the mill.
It is an indoor workshop with few places: here is what you need to book your spot.
In many homes in Meta, chocolate wasn’t bought: it was made. The cacao was roasted in a cauldron, peeled by hand and ground in the kitchen mill, and the tablets were kept wrapped in paper for the whole week.
That habit has been fading, and with it the idea that chocolate is something you can make. At the workshop we want to bring it back, even if only for an afternoon, with the same cacao we use for our products.
The aim isn’t for you to leave as a chocolatier, but to understand what goes into a tablet and why the bean, the roast and the grind change the result so much.
Six stops, from raw bean to finished tablet. You do every step yourself, with help whenever you need it.
We taste beans with different fermentation to recognise the differences in flavour before we begin.
We roast the beans in a cauldron, stirring constantly until the shells crackle and the aroma changes.
We peel the roasted beans by hand and set the shells aside, which we keep to make tea.
We grind first in a hand mill and then in the electric one, until we get a fine, glossy paste.
Everyone shapes their own tablets and leaves them to cool on banana leaves.
We make a round of hot chocolate with the day’s paste and pack up what everyone is taking home.
We provide the materials and the tools; just bring the willingness to get a little messy.
The workshop is led by the person in charge of roasting and grinding at Heragon. They are the one who decides how long each batch spends in the cauldron and when the paste is ready to be shaped.
They teach the way they learned: by doing. That is why the workshop has little theory and a lot of practice, and every question is answered with a bean in hand.
What people usually ask if they have never made chocolate before.
No. Everything is explained step by step and there is always someone beside you to help with the roaster and the mill.
The tablets you make, about 250 grams, and the printed recipe so you can repeat it with your own cacao.
You can choose: we make one part with 100 % cacao and another with panela, so you can taste the difference.
Yes, from age 10 and with an adult. Some parts involve heat, so they always work alongside someone.
Message us on WhatsApp with your name and how many people are coming. We’ll confirm your place the same day.
What to know to get there and enjoy it without surprises.
Roasting and grinding involve heat. Children must be accompanied by an adult for the whole workshop.
The workshop handles cacao, milk and nuts. If you have any allergies, let us know when you book.
From the people who came across the table at a fair or at the market.
Fui con mi mamá y fue de esas tardes que uno no olvida. Empezamos tostando el grano en el fogón de leña, lo pelamos a mano, lo molimos y al final cada una armó sus pastillas con panela y canela. Nos contaron la historia de la finca y por qué el cacao de aquí sabe distinto. Lo mejor: el chocolate que nos tomamos al final, hecho con lo que acabábamos de moler. Volveremos con mis tías.
We made our own table chocolate from the roasted bean. I never imagined how much work goes into a single tablet. I left with my chocolate balls and wanting to come back.
Translated from Spanish
Limited places
A morning on the farm following cacao from start to finish: cutting pods, extracting the pulp, seeing how the beans ferment and ending with a tasting of the wine and chocolate they become.
The family farm, Pío XII rural district · Guamal, Meta
Importante
A showcase of the region’s baking and sweets. We took the chocolate bar and the table chocolate; the wine did not quite fit, but people talked about it all afternoon.
Casa de la Cultura · Acacías, Meta
Nuevo
The first time we set the table up outside Guamal. The husk tea ran out before midday, which we were not expecting.
Parque de los Fundadores · Villavicencio, Meta
If you're coming, write to us first and we'll set aside whatever you'd like to try. And if it's not close to you, we ship too.