About SOC
(previously known as Bean To Bar World)
Mission
Elevate Your Mind Beyond Consumption. Learn How To Think About Chocolate.
Offerings
+ What Does SOC offer?
The Science Of Chocolate is a portal for quality chocolate education. Here you can book or join in-person and virtual tastings, kitchen classes, chocolate tutoring, workshops, and events to help you experience chocolate in a whole new way.
There is also a growing online shop with a curated collection of fine chocolate products, accessories, decor, and learning tools. Everything for those who wish to make chocolate part of their world!
+ About The Chocolate Here
The chocolate sold in the online shop and used in the tastings is made by independant chocolate makers who use fine cacao that surpasses fair-trade standards. Fairtrade is not synonymous with quality. The cacao sourced for this chocolate is not only higher quality, but sourced directly or transparently by each maker.
Values
+ Thinkers over Followers
Followers consume based on what others tell them. Thinkers have the confidence to make their own informed decisions. Here at SOC, the goal is to present you with the expert-level information on cacao and chocolate. Eschewing industry bias and marketing. This will allow you to draw your own conclusions based on what you know, instead of what you are told.
Research-based knowledge for all. Even if the information contradicts popular ideas or appears unfavorable to the chocolate industry. The result? A deeper appreciation of what matters, and a more satisfying relationship with chocolate.
+ Celebrate Human Craftsmanship
Quality craftsmanship is dying in the food industry, along with food sovereignty and creativity. The chocolate industry itself continues to be swallowed by big multinational companies taking over everything from cacao farms to chocolate makers and any facet of the industry they can get their hands on (lab-grown chocolate is another example).
Great chocolate doesn't come out of nowhere. Great chocolate is made by great people. Chocolate was invented by the people of South and Central America thousands of years ago. People today who continue on the tradition of well crafted chocolate are to be encouraged and supported. Chocolate is not simply fuel, but is a product which satisfies our minds through flavour and creativity that spans both time and culture.
+ The Chef's Kiss
Whether making chocolate, working with chocolate, or being an integral part of chocolate such as a cacao grower, distributor, or equipment manufacturer - those who are critical to the chocolate creations deserve the utmost respect. "The Chef's Kiss" is an old expression used to complement the chef for excellent work. And they desserve it more than ever before.
We live in an era where people who cannot create have gained louder voices than the creators themselves. Influencers, chocolate judges, bloggers, and associations do have their place, but in the chocolate scene, many have now created an environment where the creators are at the mercy of those who cannot create.
SOC strives to encourage the creators to be confident in themselves, in their work, and not be afraid to push back against the critics and those who wish to piggyback on the success of others. Let the chocolate industry be creator led!
+ Treating Eachother With Dignity
The chocolate world is no stranger to scandal. The food industry in general is an industry that no doubt takes advantage of all sorts of people around the world, particularly those who grow the food and ingredients. And chocolate is no exception. Child and slave labour in the cacao fields of West Africa but also around the world has been an issue for years. Bureaucracy and greedy business in the manufacturing and retail sectors.
Even in the niche of fine/craft "bean-to-bar" chocolate where people preach about ethics, equity, and "community" there is a great deal of unethical behaviour for self-promotion and greed, leaving people wondering if chocolate can ever be free of this hypocrisy. But although there are many problems within the chocolate industry, there are many solutions. Calling out the bad behaviour is a great place to start.
This is why I encourage all of us to treat each other with dignity and basic human respect. I expect that at all my events, classes, and dealings online and in-person. There is far too much disrespect around us that we can't control, so let's make sure respect finds its way in situations we can control. Be kind and loving to your fellow human.
About Geoseph Domenichiello
CHOCOLATE SOMMELIER · MASTER CHOCOLATIER · CHOCOLATE MAKER · INSTRUCTOR
Educating since 2008
Making fine chocolate approachable and satisfying.
From Science To Chef
An image I took of a cocoa bean up close with an electron Microscrope. Image by Geoseph.
I graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science where I focused on biology and animal sciences, but touched on fine arts as well. During this time I worked at a reptile zoo and hosted educational events and classes for children, and worked in a guppy lab focused on mating behavior. As much as I loved working with animals, my passion for being in the kitchen and creating with my hands drew me towards pastry school instead of graduate school. It was there where I came across a job posting for a chocolate sommelier assistant, and after taking on the position in 2008 I was forever dedicated to chocolate. In 2009 I began working as a chocolatier, while developing my own curriculum, and eventually teaching myself to make bean-to-bar chocolate.
Developing my curriculum
My time in Wellington, NZ with a miniature chocolate Wellington Fountain.
Some say I wasted my degree, but to be honest if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do today. When I began in chocolate there were no chocolate sommelier courses nor access to any professional chocolate schools. My education was simply learning on the job as a chocolatier, and teaching myself everything else. Thankfully I already knew how to source and do my own research, so I just started searching “cacao and chocolate” instead of “amphibian physiology”. Hence why you see many research summaries in the free learning center.
For years I read every text book and research article concerning chocolate and cacao that I could get my fingers on. Keeping this information to myself seemed wasteful, so eventually I took it upon myself to better educate the public through building a website with quality information, and hosting countless chocolate tastings, as well as chocolatier and chocolate making classes over the years. Like anything you love, it’s always more fun sharing it with others!
For a while I attempted to join the growing “bean-to-bar” or “craft chocolate” circles, but my desire to be objective and accurate about the facts conflicted with their desires to cheerlead and misconstrue information in order to sell more product and keep up a facade. So as any nerd with integrity would do - I decided to take a big leap away and delve back into The Science Of Chocolate. Today I focus on all aspects of the chocolate industry including bean-to-bar and chocolatier work.
Work Over The Years
On CBC Vancouver. Click here to watch/read media publications.
In 2007 I discovered fine chocolate, and became a chocolate sommelier assistant in Toronto. 2009 I moved to Vancouver and worked as a chocolatier for many years creating products, developing recipes, designing new creations, and training others. Over the years I have worked at places such as Chocolate Arts, Thomas Haas Patisserie, Wellington Chocolate Factory, Mon Paris Patisserie, and more.
Handmade bonbon by Geoseph. See more of my chocolatier work and gallery here.
In 2017 I began focusing even more on public chocolate tastings, classes, markets, and even started up a Vancouver chocolate meetup. This is also when I developed the very first bean-to-bar map. A tool I created so that customers could better locate small ethical craft chocolate makers around the world - also known as “craft” or “bean-to-bar” chocolate makers. Around this time I started making my own chocolate from the bean, and hosted bean-to-bar master classes.
My previous chocolate tasting room in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. Designed by yours truly.
I created the bean-to-bar compass, a unique tasting tool that helps beginners improve their chocolate tasting capabilities and appreciate bean-to-bar chocolate. In 2020 the bean-to-bar map became an app, and I also went virtual with my tastings, lessons, and shop.
It was at this time I also opened up a tasting room & retail shop in Salmon Arm, BC. I moved to Toronto for a short while with the same concept, but the West Coast air brought me back to Vancouver once again in 2005.
Today
Today I’m educating through virtual and in-person tastings and kitchen classes. I curate a collection of unique products from around the world, develop my own recipes, and grow the Learning Center and Bean To Bar Map App. I also offer both virtual and in-person tutoring lessons and private chocolate events.
My current little chocolate den in Vancouver, Canada.
One of my goals is to make fine chocolate approachable. To allow anyone who wishes to learn how to create or use chocolate feel welcome to do so without the industry nonsense and snobby attitudes. Chocolate has the stigma of being intimidating and difficult. Working with it is a skill in itself unlike any other culinary skill. But if you’re eager and persistent, anyone can learn to work with chocolate successfully. My efforts over the years has helped many people around the world from the gourmet home chef, to new chocolate businesses, consultants, tasters and judges, and anyone wanting more confidence working chocolate.
At the moment I reside in Vancouver, Canada where I work with chocolate, make chocolate, educate, host classes & events, and sell chocolate from those I admire. But all this is simply to fund a lifestyle of paddleboarding the West Coast with my dog and cooking up the most satisfying Southern Italian food outside of Italy.
The Original Bean To Bar Map
While hosting my tastings, people would often ask where they can locate the makers of the incredible chocolate they tasted. It was (and is) a real challenge for people to locate makers.
The original map was a desktop version, which you can still access here.
I looked online to see if any bean-to-bar map existed that I could refer them to, but unfortunately none did. So I took on what felt like an impossible undertaking, and in 2017 began creating the very first map dedicated to bean-to-bar chocolate makers. I eventually added other categories such as cacao distributors, growers, equipment manufactures, and researchers. Eventually this map became an app with the help of a bean-to-bar friend, and here we are! An incredible tool that is free for everyone to use, share, and connect to.
If you appreciate this tool please share it with as many people as you can. The app is free to use, and free to be hosted on. You can download some free pdf marketing literature and help people discover makers! And should you feel the desire, you’re welcome to donate to help with my time and effort in growing and updating the app. Your generosity is always appreciated. A passion project from my heart to your fingertips, for the sake of bean-to-bar chocolate!
