On August 19th, 2013, I was given an opportunity to visit a chocolate factory with around 20 other food bloggers, courtesy of Yukmakan.com and Chocomory. (Thanks guys! ^^) I was both excited and skeptical about the prospect of going to a chocolate factory at first. I was excited because this is the first time I could meet the Indonesian food bloggers community and this is the first time I could visit a chocolate factory and actually make my own chocolate! However, I was skeptical because until now, very few of the chocolates made by local, small-to-medium businesses, including the one based somewhere in Central Java can actually wow me.

I rendezvoused with other participants in a bus shelter in front of fX, yet another mall in the heart of Jakarta. After waiting for another 30 minutes, we met with the rest of the Yukmakan team and off we go to Cimory Riverside, a restaurant serving sausages and dairy-based drinks as its highlight. This restaurant features a serene view of the Ciliwung River, which is why this restaurant is named as such.

Finally, We Are Here!

Cimory Riverside

The River view…

Let Moo Show You The Way! ^^

Once we arrived, we were greeted by one of the owners of Chocomory, Mr. Axel and his assistant. They were very open and friendly. Once we were all settled, it is time to order our late breakfast/early lunch!

The Menu…

We were offered four of their best selleres to choose from: Ring Kanzler Sausage, Spiral Kanzler Sausage, Nasi Goreng Chicken BBQ, and Chicken Cordon Bleu. I chose to go with the Ring Kanzler Sausage, a jumbo sausage with a side of wedges, slaw/salad and cheese crisps.

My order came a few minutes later. The plate looks nice and complete, having a few side dishes to accompany the sausage. The sausage itself is well-cooked in my opinion. The overall texture is springy. The wedges are also okay. It is soft and crumbly inside, and crunchy on the outside. However, I didn’t feel that the herbs used in the wedges’ batter made any big difference in terms of flavor. The barbecue  sauce provided made a very versatile condiment, complimenting both the sausage and the wedges with sweet, tangy and slightly herby flavor. The cheese crisps adds a nice touch to this dish, both in terms of presentation and flavor. I imagine that it will go really well when combined with the salad provided. Although it might not be why it was placed there originally. I think that adding a little mayo or thousand island dressing to the slaw/salad will help boost the flavor as it is quite bland.

After the lunch, we were directed to the chocolate factory, which is located on the second floor of the building. Once we reached the second floor, we can directly see the factory. If restaurants have an “open kitchen” setting, well, apparently this factory has an “open factory” setting, where you can see all the actions done by the chocolatiers of Chocomory. After a few minutes of observations we were taken to what I believe as a presentation room. In this room, we were brought up to speed about Chocomory – how it was conceptualized, the minds behind Chocomory, inspirations for Chocomory, products and the future.

It’s quite exciting to know that this company actually cares a lot about the quality of their products. They use as many local ingredients as possible and imported what they can’t currently find in Indonesia. This ensures freshness to their products. Many of their products such as their caramel and pralines also involves a lot of human touch, meaning that the product receives much love and care along the way.

Some of Chocomory’s Top Products…

After the question and answer sessions, we were allowed to enter the factory. From the outside, this factory looks like a playground. Its decoration is inspired by fairy tales, specifically Hansel & Gretel. Once we’re inside, everyone were mesmerized by the sweet chocolate smell. It’s like inhaling sweet, milk chocolate into your lungs!

Inside the factory, the people of Chocomory explained to us about the process of making chocolates and showed us the raw materials from which the chocolate was made. It was called a pellet. Currently, the pellets were imported from Belgium, since Chocomory does not have the capability to turn cocoa beans to pellets just yet. However, the pellets do contain 36% Javanese chocolate.

We were given a chance to see the making of chocolate bars firsthand and we tested chocolate in their purest form accessible, which in this case is tempered chocolate. It tasted like a really dense and decadent chocolate paste.

Chocolate Bar in the Making

Chocolate Bar Filling

After the brief tour of the facility, we were finally able to make our own chocolates! Yes, we are making our own chocolates, and it is ours to keep (and eat, in the case of pralines)! We were first taught how to make pralines. Basically, it’s similar to making chocolate bars. We need to brush the molds thoroughly with the tempered chocolate, refrigerate, fill it with desired fillings, add more chocolates, and refrigerate to let it all set. A few of my blogger friends tried to make the pralines. I did not participate in the making of the pralines and chose to observe. Making pralines is slightly harder than it looks, however, my friends finally made it.

Chocolate Making Tutorial…

Everyone is watching very closely! ^^

While waiting for the pralines to set, it is now time for us to make our own chocolates! It’s a fun activity. I made mine with almonds and cashews. After letting my chocolates into the refrigerator, I joined the others to enjoy the hazelnut praline that we made. The hazelnut filling has a pronounced hazelnut flavor to it, as if it is screaming out toasted hazelnut flavors. It is quite unique and different from the conventional hazelnut flavors we normally come across.

After collecting our chocolates, we proceed to the Cimory restaurant for a break and we were served “Blueberry Yoghurt Shake”. It is a nice, healthier alternative to conventional milkshakes. This yoghurt shake still retains the richness and density which is distinctive of milkshakes, while adding some tang and fruity sweetness that is commonly found in yoghurt. I think that adding a little extra blueberry flavor to this drink will create a more memorable drink because I can barely taste blueberry in this drink.

To make the long story short, we were directed to their shops, given a few more goodies, and ushered to our bus. On our way back, we were given a Haagen Dazs ice cream voucher and dropped in fX.

A couple of days later, I sampled the chocolates that I personally bought from Chocomory, Chocoreo and Almond Crunch. I have to say that these chocolate-covered concoctions are by far some of the best I can ever get from a local chocolate specialty shop.

The Chocoreo, a chocolate covered Oreo, sounds very ordinary at first. At least, that’s what most people thought. However, I find that the sweet milk chocolate and the bittersweet Oreo cookie actually made a very nice contrast in terms of flavor. Even though it tasted quite ordinary at first, I have to warn you that this chocolate get you hooked! There’s something addictive about this confectionery. I don’t know what it is, but beware, or face the consequence of increased waist lines! ^^

The Almond Crunch, apparently the top seller of Chocomory is a very special treat indeed! This confectionery is actually a chocolate-covered almond caramel. It is unique because this type of chocolate confectionery is quite uncommon in Indonesia. The closest place where one can get this type of chocolate is in Singapore.

When you bite into it, you can actually smell a smoky, burnt sugar scent hitting your nose, then as you chew it, you can taste and feel perfectly salted, crunchy almond caramel, all en-robed with melting, creamy bittersweet chocolate in your mouth. That’s what you get when eating up this bad boy! 🙂

Almond Crunch & Chocoreo

In conclusion, honestly, I’m quite surprised that I can find such unique, and high quality chocolate creations in Indonesia. It actually gives me hope that one day, we don’t need to venture very far to satisfy our chocolate cravings. Cravings not only for good chocolate, but cravings to taste unique creations of chocolate. Chocomory’s tagline is “Where Happiness Comes Alive”, and I believe that they are fulfilling that tagline by providing people with a genuine chocolate experience to its customers, whether it is through their products or through their chocolate factory tours. Thank you Chocomory for such a genuine experience and thank you Yukmakan.com for letting me join! Salud! ^^

Chocomory

Jl. Raya Puncak KM 67

Puncak – Bogor

+6281212407500