Chocolate Alchemy
Hidden away down a tiny lane in Loughborough town centre is Chocolate Alchemy, a coffee and chocolate shop set up in 2009.
A church to chocolate, Chocolate Alchemy imports a huge variety of the dark stuff from the four corners of the globe, from sweet and fruity Hawaiian chocolate to dark, deep and bitter Mexican. Chocolate Alchemy also handcrafts its own chocolates.
Upstairs on the first floor development room, the shop/café runs chocolate-making workshops. In the full two-hour workshop, you get coffee on arrival, plus a talk on the origins of cocoa; you then move on to a tasting session in which you try chocolate from nine different countries, before having a go at truffle making and combining flavours. You take home what you make and it’s worth avoiding chocolate for several days beforehand – overdose on the day is obligatory.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the workshop is sampling chocolate grown in different parts of the world. The variations in taste are stunning. The reason they taste so different is because of the conditions in which the beans grow – factors like how much rain and sun they get and soil type, plus more complex things like cross pollination. It’s the same principle as terroir with wine.
Member offer:
10% off all chocolate bars bought in the shop. Please present your card when paying.
Good little choc shop and cafe
Love this place, especially the chocolate afternoon tea! Prepare for the sugar coma!
Very nice little cafe and chocolate maker off the beaten track a bit in Loughborough. Coffee is really nice. They sell chocolate sprinkles to take away for your home brew coffee which are far better than any of the powdered stuff you get in the supermarkets. Chocolate making course is good fun (according to my wife) and the chocolates are excellent with flavours you don’t get in other places. Give it a try.