Scrolling down Memory Lane! I worked as Chocolate Maker for Cultiva Coffee from 2015-2022. I started as a prep cook at their East Campus location. I remember the interview with Jason, in the office next to the 11th St location - he was intrigued that I made chocolate at home. Eventually I’d go into work, and bring chocolate in for everyone to sample. Later I got the email…what if we set something up together?
I didn’t want to be a business owner. In truth, it terrified me. Through the years I declined, even though it was mainly my passion project. It just took me awhile. I’d dip a toe and then hyperventilate thinking about producing and selling enough to pay rent (both the business’s and mine). But working at Cultiva with Sharon and Jason was an amazing opportunity as a “small business incubator.” I wish the bean-to-bar life would have taken off better in these parts, and truly, we were mightily supported along the way. But perhaps our ambitions for size, even though we were a small batch (65lbs at a time) operation, was a bit much, as this kind of chocolate has a price. It’s also maybe an acquired taste, and really, I was learning through making all these years (thank you for your patience through my experimentation and growth). Also, it’s a specialized trade - you have to be a little crazy to get into it in the first place, and dedicated. It was hard to expand when the maker was just me. If I’d be off or break down and out for whatever reason - no chocolate.
However, I am now the owner of this project that I used to say was my baby - I got to pamper it with all my attention. But I’ve accepted that it has to be a small project, even if it comes with just as much love, perhaps even more. I’ve had to leave the big melangeur (“Melly”) behind, the tempering machine, the roaster… Really the essential trinity for chocolate making (Ok maybe I’ve left off the winnower…). But these were the things Cultiva had to invest in as we grew, after we met that one winter afternoon over a drink (actually might have been sodas), and it was laid on the table - we either had to grow or end. And we grew.
We got the tempering machine first, then the melangeur, then the roaster (there was a short growing-pains stretch when I had to lug the beans over to Cultiva East to use the big oven to roast after they closed for the day), our new larger bar molds and packaging (Sharon used to screen print the old kitty wrappers) to make things more efficient for wrapping and distributing. The new Minou was designed by Anthony Banks, wrappers printed at Eagle Printing, and cut on the die at Porridge Papers. So much was done locally, by other small businesses.
This was 2017. We had launched in December of 2015 (the second-to-last photo on this page is of me and my sister on that evening), 2016 was a wonky time of learning the ropes, and in 2017 we went all in. And I can say that we would not have gotten anywhere without Bob. He was going through chemo in 2016 and would hang out at Labs (we used to have a couch there, and a piano!). He would come around and offer to help, whatever he could do. Bob really believed in Sweet Minou. How many ideas, people, events, connections came together because of Bob. Samantha (the HennaGesserit) also believed so much in Sweet Minou. We worked together on many projects, and she infused every one with magic.
This page is an ode to Cultiva Labs, where Sweet Minou grew up. I remember you. You’d stop in on your lunch break. Coming off the bike trail. Stopping in with your baby in a carrier. Making it over before we closed after you saw something I’d posted about on Instagram :) We weren’t a classic chocolate shop. We were pretty come-as-you-are. Things were changing all the time. Thanks for changing with us. I’ll always remember you and Sweet Minou at Cultiva Labs.
